zsh: how to autocomplete file names after python script name?

Question

I've just moved from bash to zsh. It's a great terminal shell, but I'm missing one property - file name completion for non-standard executables.

For example, If ls gives thread_pool_examples and thread_pools:

Then typing du, space and tab would autocomplete the common prefix thread_pool, nd another click will iterate over the options:

Clicking Enter will pick the highlighted item.

The problem is that this does not work with my custom scripts. For example, if I run rmf - a Python executable in my path - and click tab, no autocomplete options will appear.

Any ideas how to make zsh autocomplete filenames for every executable?

Answer 1

Honestly, IMO something in your shell configuration is breaking things up. Try doing this to verify it:

zsh -f # starts a new shell ignoring your configuration
autoload compinit
compinit
./my-shell-script [TAB]

it completes with files. That is the default.

FWIW, if you want to bind a particular completer to a command/alias etc, you can do

compdef _jstack jstack

# simple _files completion
compdef _files my-local-python-script

# restrict to some file extensions
compdef '_files -g "*.(eps|ps|pdf)"' okular