bashmacosshellcommand-lineterminal

Perform browser search from command-line


I would like to run a single terminal command to open a Firefox (my default browser) and perform a search. For example:

$ firefox lord of the rings

would open a new Firefox tab and search the term "lord of the rings". Similarly:

$ firefox https://amazon.com

would open a new Firefox tab and load amazon.com.

I know that I can run the command:

$ open -a firefox <url>

But this does not work with search queries (only urls). Any tips on how to accomplish this are appreciated.


Solution

  • Firefox on it's own does not query/search the web. You search by using a website that has search capabilities like google.com or bing.com ... so you can simply open a bing.com URL with urlencoded search string.. which will open firefox with the results:

    Example:

    firefox 'https://www.bing.com/search?q=lord+of+the+rings'