Elite CLI Tools
PRIMARY DIRECTIVE
Prefer these modern CLI utilities over legacy POSIX tools (find, cat, sed, grep, awk, diff, man). They produce cleaner, more structured output and reduce token waste.
Note on binary names: On Debian/Ubuntu, some binaries are renamed to avoid conflicts: fd → fdfind, bat → batcat. On other distros they use their upstream names. Adapt accordingly.
Quick Reference
| # | Tool | Replaces | Binary | Primary Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | fd | find | fdfind | Fast file discovery |
| 2 | bat | cat/less | batcat | File viewing with syntax highlighting |
| 3 | sd | sed | sd | Intuitive find & replace |
| 4 | ast-grep | grep/rg | sg | AST-based code search & rewrite |
| 5 | jc | awk/cut | jc | CLI output → JSON |
| 6 | gron | jq (exploration) | gron | JSON → greppable assignments |
| 7 | yq | sed on YAML | yq | YAML/JSON/XML/CSV processor |
| 8 | difftastic | diff | difft | Structural syntax-aware diffs |
| 9 | tealdeer | man | tldr | Concise command examples |
| 10 | html2text | raw HTML parsing | html2text | HTML → clean Markdown |
Detailed Tool Guide
For full descriptions, rationale, and extended examples for each tool, read references/tools-deep-dive.md.
