Abbreviations are user-defined character sequences or words that are replaced with longer phrases after they are entered. For example, a frequently-run command such as `git checkout` can be abbreviated to `gco`. After entering `gco` and pressing @key{Space} or @key{Enter}, the full text `git checkout` will appear in the command line.
Abbreviations are stored in a variable named `fish_user_abbreviations`. This is automatically created as a universal variable the first time an abbreviation is created. If you want your abbreviations to be private to a particular fish session you can put the following in your *~/.config/fish/config.fish* file before you define your first abbrevation:
You can create abbreviations directly on the command line and they will be saved automatically and made visible to other fish sessions if `fish_user_abbreviations` is a universal variable. If you keep the variable as universal, `abbr --add` statements in <a href="tutorial.html#tut_startup">config.fish</a> will do nothing but slow down startup slightly.
