fix: add follow_symlinks option (#375)

Expose follow_symlinks configuration option for following symbolic links during file indexing.

- Add follow_symlinks field to FilePickerOptions (default false)
- Thread option through FilePicker, ScanConfig, walk_filesystem
- Add lua config: vim.g.fff.follow_symlinks (default false)
- Pass config from lua -> rust FFI init_file_picker

Root cause: WalkBuilder.follow_links() hardcoded to false at file_picker.rs:1738

Refs #375

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

crates/fff-c/src/lib.rs

@@ -270,6 +270,7 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn fff_create_instance2(
             watch,
             mode,
             cache_budget,
+            follow_symlinks: false,
         },
     ) {
         return FffResult::err(&format!("Failed to init file picker: {}", e));
@@ -924,6 +925,7 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn fff_restart_index(
             watch,
             mode,
             cache_budget: None,
+            follow_symlinks: false,
         },
     ) {
         Ok(()) => FffResult::ok_empty(),

crates/fff-core/src/file_picker.rs

@@ -444,6 +444,8 @@ pub struct FilePickerOptions {
     pub cache_budget: Option<ContentCacheBudget>,
     /// When `false`, `new_with_shared_state` skips the background file watcher.
     pub watch: bool,
+    /// Follow symbolic links during file indexing.
+    pub follow_symlinks: bool,
 }
 
 impl Default for FilePickerOptions {
@@ -455,6 +457,7 @@ impl Default for FilePickerOptions {
             mode: FFFMode::default(),
             cache_budget: None,
             watch: true,
+            follow_symlinks: false,
         }
     }
 }
@@ -471,6 +474,7 @@ pub struct FilePicker {
     enable_mmap_cache: bool,
     enable_content_indexing: bool,
     watch: bool,
+    follow_symlinks: bool,
 }
 
 impl std::fmt::Debug for FilePicker {
@@ -524,6 +528,10 @@ impl FilePicker {
         self.watch
     }
 
+    pub fn follows_symlinks(&self) -> bool {
+        self.follow_symlinks
+    }
+
     pub fn mode(&self) -> FFFMode {
         self.mode
     }
@@ -717,6 +725,7 @@ impl FilePicker {
             enable_mmap_cache: options.enable_mmap_cache,
             enable_content_indexing: options.enable_content_indexing,
             watch: options.watch,
+            follow_symlinks: options.follow_symlinks,
         })
     }
 
@@ -741,6 +750,7 @@ impl FilePicker {
         let content_indexing = picker.enable_content_indexing;
         let watch = picker.watch;
         let mode = picker.mode;
+        let follow_symlinks = picker.follow_symlinks;
 
         let signals = picker.scan_signals();
         let scanned_files_counter = picker.scanned_files_counter();
@@ -767,6 +777,7 @@ impl FilePicker {
                 watch,
                 auto_cache_budget: true,
                 install_watcher: true,
+                follow_symlinks,
             },
         )
         .spawn();
@@ -796,6 +807,7 @@ impl FilePicker {
             &self.scanned_files_count,
             &empty_frecency,
             self.mode,
+            self.follow_symlinks,
         )?;
 
         self.sync_data = sync;
@@ -1711,6 +1723,7 @@ impl FileSync {
         synced_files_count: &Arc<AtomicUsize>,
         shared_frecency: &SharedFrecency,
         mode: FFFMode,
+        follow_symlinks: bool,
     ) -> Result<FileSync, Error> {
         use ignore::WalkBuilder;
 
@@ -1729,7 +1742,7 @@ impl FileSync {
             .git_exclude(true)
             .git_global(true)
             .ignore(true)
-            .follow_links(false)
+            .follow_links(follow_symlinks)
             .threads(bg_threads);
 
         if !is_git_repo && let Some(overrides) = non_git_repo_overrides(base_path) {

crates/fff-core/src/scan.rs

@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ pub(crate) struct ScanConfig {
     pub(crate) watch: bool,
     pub(crate) auto_cache_budget: bool,
     pub(crate) install_watcher: bool,
+    pub(crate) follow_symlinks: bool,
 }
 
 /// A fully-configured scan job ready to run on a background thread.
@@ -87,6 +88,7 @@ impl ScanJob {
             watch: picker.has_watcher(),
             auto_cache_budget: !picker.has_explicit_cache_budget(),
             install_watcher: false, // the watcher is independent of rescan, it is not restarting EVER
+            follow_symlinks: picker.follows_symlinks(),
         };
 
         drop(guard); // just a sanity check
@@ -157,6 +159,7 @@ impl ScanJob {
             &scanned_files_counter,
             &shared_frecency,
             mode,
+            config.follow_symlinks,
         ) {
             Ok(sync) => sync,
             Err(e) => {

crates/fff-mcp/src/main.rs

@@ -269,6 +269,7 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
             cache_budget: args
                 .max_cached_files
                 .map(fff::ContentCacheBudget::new_for_repo),
+            follow_symlinks: false,
         },
     )
     .map_err(|e| format!("Failed to init file picker: {}", e))?;

crates/fff-nvim/src/lib.rs

@@ -57,7 +57,10 @@ pub fn destroy_query_db(_: &Lua, _: ()) -> LuaResult<bool> {
     Ok(QUERY_TRACKER.destroy().into_lua_result()?.is_some())
 }
 
-pub fn init_file_picker(_: &Lua, base_path: String) -> LuaResult<bool> {
+pub fn init_file_picker(
+    _: &Lua,
+    (base_path, follow_symlinks): (String, Option<bool>),
+) -> LuaResult<bool> {
     {
         let guard = FILE_PICKER.read().into_lua_result()?;
         if guard.is_some() {
@@ -73,6 +76,7 @@ pub fn init_file_picker(_: &Lua, base_path: String) -> LuaResult<bool> {
             enable_mmap_cache: true,
             enable_content_indexing: true,
             mode: FFFMode::Neovim,
+            follow_symlinks: follow_symlinks.unwrap_or(false),
             ..Default::default()
         },
     )

lua/fff/conf.lua

@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ local M = {}
 --- @field max_threads number
 --- @field lazy_sync boolean
 --- @field prompt_vim_mode boolean
+--- @field follow_symlinks boolean
 --- @field layout FffLayoutConfig
 --- @field preview FffPreviewConfig
 --- @field keymaps FffKeymapsConfig
@@ -201,6 +202,7 @@ local function init()
     lazy_sync = true, -- set to false if you want file indexing to start on open
     prompt_vim_mode = false, -- set to true to enable vim-mode in the prompt: <Esc> leaves insert for normal mode bindings (also allows <leader>p or <leader>l to jump around) the second <Esc> closes the picker
     wrap_around = false, -- set to true to wrap cursor to the opposite end when reaching the first/last item
+    follow_symlinks = false, -- set to true to follow symbolic links during file indexing
     layout = {
       height = 0.8,
       width = 0.8,

lua/fff/core.lua

@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ M.ensure_initialized = function()
   local ok, result = pcall(fuzzy.init_db, frecency_db_path, history_db_path, true)
   if not ok then vim.notify('Failed to databases: ' .. tostring(result), vim.log.levels.WARN) end
 
-  ok, result = pcall(fuzzy.init_file_picker, config.base_path)
+  ok, result = pcall(fuzzy.init_file_picker, config.base_path, config.follow_symlinks)
   if not ok then
     vim.notify('Failed to initialize file picker: ' .. tostring(result), vim.log.levels.ERROR)
     return fuzzy