diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7fd297e..fe86fc0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -56,17 +56,14 @@ hs() {
             esac ;;
     esac
 
-    local strip='awk -F" " "{OFS=\" \"; \$4=\"\"; gsub(/  +/,\" \"); print}"'
-
     local entry="$(
-        verbatim search --reverse "$@" | eval $strip | \
+        verbatim search --compact --reverse "$@" | \
         fzf --ansi --disabled --query "${*:-}" \
-            --bind "start:reload:verbatim search --reverse {q} | $strip" \
-            --bind "change:reload:sleep 0.1; verbatim search --reverse {q} | $strip || true" \
-            --delimiter ' '
+            --bind "start:reload:verbatim search --compact --reverse {q}" \
+            --bind "change:reload:sleep 0.1; verbatim search --compact --reverse {q} || true"
     )"
 
-    local entry_cmd="$(<<<$entry awk -F' ' '{ print substr($0, index($0, $4)) }')"
+    local entry_cmd="$(<<<$entry sed 's/\x1b\[[0-9;]*m//g' | awk '{ print substr($0, index($0, $5)) }')"
     entry_cmd="${entry_cmd//\\n/$'\n'}"
 
     if [[ "$entry" ]]; then
diff --git a/internal/search/search.go b/internal/search/search.go
index d55c7c9..f1dfe49 100644
--- a/internal/search/search.go
+++ b/internal/search/search.go
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@ import (
 	"time"
 )
 
+const (
+	dim   = "\033[2m"
+	reset = "\033[0m"
+)
+
 func Run(d *sql.DB, args []string) error {
 	fs := flag.NewFlagSet("search", flag.ExitOnError)
 	host := fs.String("host", "", "filter by hostname")
@@ -16,6 +21,7 @@ func Run(d *sql.DB, args []string) error {
 	before := fs.String("before", "", "filter entries before timestamp")
 	limit := fs.Int("limit", 10000, "max results")
 	reverse := fs.Bool("reverse", false, "newest first")
+	compact := fs.Bool("compact", false, "compact output with color")
 	fs.Parse(args)
 
 	query := strings.Join(fs.Args(), " ")
@@ -71,7 +77,19 @@ func Run(d *sql.DB, args []string) error {
 		if t, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339, ts); err == nil {
 			ts = t.Format("2006-01-02 15:04")
 		}
-		fmt.Printf("%s %s %s %s\n", ts, h, wd, cmd)
+		if *compact {
+			fmt.Printf("%s%s %s %s%s %s\n", dim, ts, h, shortenDir(wd), reset, cmd)
+		} else {
+			fmt.Printf("%s %s %s %s\n", ts, h, wd, cmd)
+		}
 	}
 	return rows.Err()
 }
+
+func shortenDir(dir string) string {
+	parts := strings.Split(dir, "/")
+	if len(parts) <= 3 {
+		return dir
+	}
+	return "../" + parts[len(parts)-2] + "/" + parts[len(parts)-1]
+}