diff --git a/share/completions/apm.fish b/share/completions/apm.fish
index 6b80a1b81..f9bf2f97a 100644
--- a/share/completions/apm.fish
+++ b/share/completions/apm.fish
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ end
 
 # Lists all apm config items
 function __fish_apm_config_items
-    apm config list | grep -v '^;\|^$' | tr "\ =\ " "\t"
+    apm config list | string match -r -v "^\s*;|^\s*\$" | string replace "\w*=\w*" \t
 end
 
 # Lists all installed atom packages
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ function __fish_apm_list_packages
     apm list -b
 end
 
-if apm -h ^| grep -q "Atom Package Manager"
+if apm -h ^| string match -q "Atom Package Manager*"
     # Completions for Atom Package Manager
 
     ##################
diff --git a/share/completions/git.fish b/share/completions/git.fish
index 8ffdb071c..82ea0e8bf 100644
--- a/share/completions/git.fish
+++ b/share/completions/git.fish
@@ -11,13 +11,13 @@ function __fish_git_commits
 end
 
 function __fish_git_branches
-	command git branch --no-color -a ^/dev/null | __fish_sgrep -v ' -> ' | string trim -c "* " | string replace -r "^remotes/" ""
+	command git branch --no-color -a ^/dev/null | string match -r -v ' -> ' | string trim -c "* " | string replace -r "^remotes/" ""
 end
 
 function __fish_git_unique_remote_branches
 	# Allow all remote branches with one remote without the remote part
 	# This is useful for `git checkout` to automatically create a remote-tracking branch
-	command git branch --no-color -a ^/dev/null | __fish_sgrep -v ' -> ' | string trim -c "* " | string replace -r "^remotes/[^/]*/" "" | sort | uniq -u
+	command git branch --no-color -a ^/dev/null | string match -r -v ' -> ' | string trim -c "* " | string replace -r "^remotes/[^/]*/" "" | sort | uniq -u
 end
 
 function __fish_git_tags
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ complete -f -c git -n '__fish_git_using_command status' -l ignore-submodules -x
 
 ### tag
 complete -f -c git -n '__fish_git_needs_command' -a tag -d 'Create, list, delete or verify a tag object signed with GPG'
-complete -f -c git -n '__fish_git_using_command tag; and __fish_not_contain_opt -s d; and __fish_not_contain_opt -s v; and test (count (commandline -opc | __fish_sgrep -v -e \'^-\')) -eq 3' -a '(__fish_git_branches)' -d 'Branch'
+complete -f -c git -n '__fish_git_using_command tag; and __fish_not_contain_opt -s d; and __fish_not_contain_opt -s v; and test (count (commandline -opc | string match -r -v \'^-\')) -eq 3' -a '(__fish_git_branches)' -d 'Branch'
 complete -f -c git -n '__fish_git_using_command tag' -s a -l annotate -d 'Make an unsigned, annotated tag object'
 complete -f -c git -n '__fish_git_using_command tag' -s s -l sign -d 'Make a GPG-signed tag'
 complete -f -c git -n '__fish_git_using_command tag' -s d -l delete -d 'Remove a tag'
diff --git a/share/completions/gpg.fish b/share/completions/gpg.fish
index 4e9d19104..9c236e654 100644
--- a/share/completions/gpg.fish
+++ b/share/completions/gpg.fish
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ function __fish_print_gpg_algo -d "Complete using all algorithms of the type spe
 	# expire when the function goes out of scope, and the original locale
 	# will take effect again.
 	set -lx LC_ALL C
+
+	# XXX this misses certain ciphers in gpg --version - redo this entirely and use fish's annoying  group printing as a feature finally!
 	gpg --version | __fish_sgrep "$argv:"| __fish_sgrep -v "Home:"|cut -d : -f 2 |tr , \n|tr -d " "
 end
 
diff --git a/share/completions/npm.fish b/share/completions/npm.fish
index 05393b858..534967ad0 100644
--- a/share/completions/npm.fish
+++ b/share/completions/npm.fish
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ complete -f -c npm -n 'not __fish_npm_needs_option' -a "(__fish_complete_npm)"
 
 # list available npm scripts and their parial content
 function __fish_npm_run
-  command npm run | command grep -v '^[^ ]' | command grep -v '^$' | command sed "s/^ *//" | while read -l name
+  command npm run | string match -r -v '^[^ ]|^$' | string trim | while read -l name
     set -l trim 20
     read -l value
     echo "$value" | cut -c1-$trim | read -l value
diff --git a/share/completions/rustc.fish b/share/completions/rustc.fish
index d5caa03ca..8dadcaf67 100644
--- a/share/completions/rustc.fish
+++ b/share/completions/rustc.fish
@@ -49,13 +49,13 @@ for line in $rust_docs
 end
 
 set -l rust_docs (rustc -W help  \
-    | egrep \
-        '(\s+)(.+)(\s+)(allow|warn|deny|forbid)(\s+){2}([^\n]+)' \
+    | string match -r \
+        '(?:\s+)(?:.+)(?:\s+)(?:allow|warn|deny|forbid)(?:\s+){2}(?:[^\n]+)' \
     | string replace -r -i \
         '(\s+)(.+)(\s+)(allow|warn|deny|forbid)(\s+){2}([^\n]+)' '$2 $6' \
     | string match -r '^.*[^:]$' \
-    | egrep -v '^(allow|warn|deny|forbid)$' \
-    | egrep -v '^([a-z\-]+)(\s+)(allow|warn|deny|forbid)')
+    | string match -r -v '^(allow|warn|deny|forbid)$' \
+    | string match -r -v '^([a-z\-]+)(\s+)(allow|warn|deny|forbid)')
 
 for line in $rust_docs
     set docs (string split -m 1 ' ' $line)
diff --git a/share/completions/ssh.fish b/share/completions/ssh.fish
index 896b542ed..6131c2545 100644
--- a/share/completions/ssh.fish
+++ b/share/completions/ssh.fish
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ complete -x -c ssh -d Hostname -a "
 "
 
 complete -x -c ssh -d User -a "
-(__fish_print_users | __fish_sgrep -v '^_')@
+(__fish_print_users | string match -r -v '^_')@
 "
 complete -c ssh --description "Command to run" -x -a '(__fish_complete_subcommand --fcs-skip=2)'
 
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ complete -c ssh -s a --description "Disables forwarding of the authentication ag
 complete -c ssh -s A --description "Enables forwarding of the authentication agent"
 complete -x -c ssh -s b --description "Interface to transmit from" -a "
 (
-	cat /proc/net/arp ^/dev/null| __fish_sgrep -v '^IP'|cut -d ' ' -f 1 ^/dev/null
+	cat /proc/net/arp ^/dev/null| string match -r -v '^IP'|cut -d ' ' -f 1 ^/dev/null
 )
 "
 
diff --git a/share/functions/__fish_complete_pids.fish b/share/functions/__fish_complete_pids.fish
index 65ba47946..e974ed61f 100644
--- a/share/functions/__fish_complete_pids.fish
+++ b/share/functions/__fish_complete_pids.fish
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 function __fish_complete_pids -d "Print a list of process identifiers along with brief descriptions"
 	# This may be a bit slower, but it's nice - having the tty displayed is really handy
 	# 'tail -n +2' deletes the first line, which contains the headers
-	# 'grep -v...' removes self from the output
+	#  %self is removed from output by string match -r -v
 	set -l SELF %self
 	
 	# Display the tty if available
 	# But not if it's just question marks, meaning no tty
-	ps axc -o pid,ucomm,tty | grep -v '^\s*'$SELF'\s' | tail -n +2 | string replace -r ' *([0-9]+) +([^ ].*[^ ]|[^ ]) +([^ ]+) *$' '$1\t$2 [$3]' | string replace -r ' *\[\?*\] *$' ''
+	ps axc -o pid,ucomm,tty | string match -r -v '^\s*'$SELF'\s' | tail -n +2 | string replace -r ' *([0-9]+) +([^ ].*[^ ]|[^ ]) +([^ ]+) *$' '$1\t$2 [$3]' | string replace -r ' *\[\?*\] *$' ''
 end
 
diff --git a/share/functions/__fish_complete_users.fish b/share/functions/__fish_complete_users.fish
index 91c254daa..199231be1 100644
--- a/share/functions/__fish_complete_users.fish
+++ b/share/functions/__fish_complete_users.fish
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 
 function __fish_complete_users --description "Print a list of local users, with the real user name as a description"
 	if test -x /usr/bin/getent
-		getent passwd | cut -d : -f 1,5 | sed 's/:/\t/'
+		getent passwd | cut -d : -f 1,5 | string replace -r ':' \t
+	else if test -x /usr/bin/dscl
+		dscl . -list /Users RealName | string match -r -v '^_' | string replace -r ' {2,}' \t
 	else
-		__fish_sgrep -ve '^#' /etc/passwd | cut -d : -f 1,5 | sed 's/:/\t/'
+		string match -v -r '^\s*#' < /etc/passwd | cut -d : -f 1,5 | string replace ':' \t
 	end
 end
diff --git a/share/functions/__fish_complete_wvdial_peers.fish b/share/functions/__fish_complete_wvdial_peers.fish
index 11155b1e2..5eab088bc 100644
--- a/share/functions/__fish_complete_wvdial_peers.fish
+++ b/share/functions/__fish_complete_wvdial_peers.fish
@@ -15,15 +15,15 @@ function __fish_complete_wvdial_peers --description 'Complete wvdial peers' --ar
 		case -C --config
 			set store_next true
 		case '--config=*'
-			set cfgfiles (echo $opt | sed 's/--config=//')
+			set cfgfiles (echo $opt | string replace '--config=' '')
 		end
 	end
 
 	for file in $cfgfiles
         if test -f $file
-            cat $file | grep '\[Dialer' | sed 's/\[Dialer \(.\+\)\]/\1/'
+            string match -r '\[Dialer' < $file | string replace -r '\[Dialer (.+)\]' '$1'
         end
-	end | sort -u | grep -v Defaults
+	end | sort -u | string match -v Defaults
 
 
 end
diff --git a/share/functions/__fish_git_prompt.fish b/share/functions/__fish_git_prompt.fish
index 4fb2f16c8..128a3f975 100644
--- a/share/functions/__fish_git_prompt.fish
+++ b/share/functions/__fish_git_prompt.fish
@@ -286,8 +286,8 @@ function __fish_git_prompt_show_upstream --description "Helper function for __fi
 		set -l os
 		set -l commits (command git rev-list --left-right $upstream...HEAD ^/dev/null; set os $status)
 		if test $os -eq 0
-			set -l behind (count (for arg in $commits; echo $arg; end | grep '^<'))
-			set -l ahead (count (for arg in $commits; echo $arg; end | grep -v '^<'))
+			set -l behind (count (for arg in $commits; echo $arg; end | string match -r '^<'))
+			set -l ahead (count (for arg in $commits; echo $arg; end | string match -r -v '^<'))
 			set count "$behind	$ahead"
 		else
 			set count
diff --git a/share/functions/__fish_paginate.fish b/share/functions/__fish_paginate.fish
index 7887cf6b2..31cdd61fa 100644
--- a/share/functions/__fish_paginate.fish
+++ b/share/functions/__fish_paginate.fish
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ function __fish_paginate -d "Paginate the current command using the users defaul
 		set cmd $PAGER
 	end
 
-	if commandline -j|grep -v "$cmd *\$" >/dev/null
+	if commandline -j| string match -q -r -v "$cmd *\$"
 
 		commandline -aj " ^&1 |$cmd;"
 	end
diff --git a/share/functions/__fish_print_abook_emails.fish b/share/functions/__fish_print_abook_emails.fish
index c1a8d294e..f32b2aed6 100644
--- a/share/functions/__fish_print_abook_emails.fish
+++ b/share/functions/__fish_print_abook_emails.fish
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 function __fish_print_abook_emails --description 'Print email addresses (abook)'
-	abook --mutt-query "" | egrep -v '^\s*$'
+	abook --mutt-query "" | string match -r -v '^\s*$'
 
 end
diff --git a/share/functions/__fish_print_hostnames.fish b/share/functions/__fish_print_hostnames.fish
index 385157768..40499d1e7 100644
--- a/share/functions/__fish_print_hostnames.fish
+++ b/share/functions/__fish_print_hostnames.fish
@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@ function __fish_print_hostnames -d "Print a list of known hostnames"
 	# Print all hosts from /etc/hosts
 	if type -q getent
 		# Ignore zero ips
-		getent hosts | grep -v '^0.0.0.0' \
+		getent hosts | string match -r -v '^0.0.0.0' \
 		| string replace -r '[0-9.]*\s*' '' | string split " "
 	else if test -r /etc/hosts
 		# Ignore commented lines and functionally empty lines
-		grep -v '^\s*0.0.0.0\|^\s*#\|^\s*$' /etc/hosts \
+		string match -r -v '^\s*0.0.0.0|^\s*#|^\s*$' < /etc/hosts \
 		# Strip comments
 		| string replace -ra '#.*$' '' \
 		| string replace -r '[0-9.]*\s*' '' | string trim | string replace -ra '\s+' '\n'
diff --git a/share/functions/__fish_print_pacman_repos.fish b/share/functions/__fish_print_pacman_repos.fish
index 81fe3de5d..1998f7216 100644
--- a/share/functions/__fish_print_pacman_repos.fish
+++ b/share/functions/__fish_print_pacman_repos.fish
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 function __fish_print_pacman_repos --description "Print the repositories configured for arch's pacman package manager"
-	sed -n -e 's/\[\(.\+\)\]/\1/p' /etc/pacman.conf | grep -v "#\|options"
+	string replace -r -a "\[(.+)\]" "\1" < /etc/pacman.conf | string match -r -v "^#|options"
 end
diff --git a/share/functions/__fish_print_users.fish b/share/functions/__fish_print_users.fish
index f6d41fa93..d2915760f 100644
--- a/share/functions/__fish_print_users.fish
+++ b/share/functions/__fish_print_users.fish
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@ function __fish_print_users --description "Print a list of local users"
 	if test -x /usr/bin/getent
 		getent passwd | cut -d : -f 1
 	else if test -x /usr/bin/dscl # OS X support
-		dscl . -list /Users | __fish_sgrep -v '^_'
+		dscl . -list /Users | string match -r -v '^_'
 	else
-		__fish_sgrep -ve '^#' /etc/passwd | cut -d : -f 1
+		string match -v -r '^\w*#' < /etc/passwd | cut -d : -f 1
 	end
 end
 
diff --git a/share/tools/web_config/sample_prompts/acidhub.fish b/share/tools/web_config/sample_prompts/acidhub.fish
index 45a7223e4..afb702463 100644
--- a/share/tools/web_config/sample_prompts/acidhub.fish
+++ b/share/tools/web_config/sample_prompts/acidhub.fish
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ function fish_prompt -d "Write out the prompt"
     if [ (_git_branch_name) ]
         set -l git_branch (set_color -o blue)(_git_branch_name)
         if [ (_is_git_dirty) ]
-            for i in (git branch -qv --no-color|grep \*|cut -d' ' -f4-|cut -d] -f1|tr , \n)\
+            for i in (git branch -qv --no-color| string match -r \*|cut -d' ' -f4-|cut -d] -f1|tr , \n)\
                 (git status --porcelain | cut -c 1-2 | uniq)
                 switch $i
                     case "*[ahead *"
diff --git a/share/tools/web_config/sample_prompts/nim.fish b/share/tools/web_config/sample_prompts/nim.fish
index 347af1d4d..5d2dac394 100644
--- a/share/tools/web_config/sample_prompts/nim.fish
+++ b/share/tools/web_config/sample_prompts/nim.fish
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 function fish_prompt
     and set retc green; or set retc red
-    tty|grep -q tty; and set tty tty; or set tty pts
+    tty|string match -q -r tty; and set tty tty; or set tty pts
 
     set_color $retc
     if [ $tty = tty ]
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ function fish_prompt
     echo -n ]
     
     if type -q acpi
-		if [ (acpi -a 2> /dev/null | grep off) ]
+		if [ (acpi -a 2> /dev/null | string match -r off) ]
 			echo -n '─['
 			set_color -o red
 			echo -n (acpi -b|cut -d' ' -f 4-)