Should fzf shell integration be initialised before or after calling compinit ?

[xd003]

Just wondering if the fzf shell integration for zsh

# Set up fzf key bindings and fuzzy completion
source <(fzf --zsh)

Should come before or after calling compinit ?

[LangLangBart]

fzf doesn't rely on the default zsh's completion system that is initialised when you call compinit¹². Therefore, placing it before or after compinit should not matter.

Example: Setting up fzf completion without calling autoload -Uz compinit && compinit results in no issues.

# minimal zsh environment
command env -i HOME=$HOME TERM=$TERM USER=$USER LANG=en_US.UTF-8 PATH=$PATH /usr/local/bin/zsh -f
source <(fzf --zsh)
# the FZF_COMPLETION_TRIGGER is by default set to '**'
ls **<TAB>

However, in the zsh setup files I've observed, it is placed after autoload -U compinit && compinit, not because it's necessary, but to ensure default user configurations are initialized first. This allows third-party tools to override them if needed, giving the setup a logical structure.

Other tools, for example, lincheney/fzf-tab-completion³ must be called after compinit to work properly.

Example: Setting up lincheney/fzf-tab-completion without calling autoload -Uz compinit && compinit

command env -i HOME=$HOME TERM=$TERM USER=$USER LANG=en_US.UTF-8 PATH=$PATH /usr/local/bin/zsh -f
source /Users/paria/Developer/fzf-tab-completion/zsh/fzf-zsh-completion.sh
bindkey '^I' fzf_completion
ls <TAB>
# _fzf_completion:93: command not found: _main_complete

autoload -Uz compinit && compinit
ls <TAB>

---

Did you encounter any issues that led you to ask this question?

Footnotes

1. zsh source code: /Completion/compinit ↩

2. A User's Guide to the Z-Shell: Chapter 6: Completion, old and new ↩

3. GitHub - lincheney/fzf-tab-completion: Tab completion using fzf ↩

[xd003]

Thank you for your detailed reply. I didn't encounter any issues per se, but I was curious about the best practices, as the README doesn't cover them.