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https://github.com/gnebbia/kb

A minimalist command line knowledge base manager
https://github.com/gnebbia/kb

cheatsheets cli knowledge knowledge-base methodology notebook notes notes-management-system pentest-tool procedures rtfm

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A minimalist command line knowledge base manager

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# kb. A minimalist knowledge base manager



[![Build Status](https://travis-ci.com/gnebbia/kb.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.com/gnebbia/kb)



Author: gnc 



Copyright: © 2020, gnc



Date: 2022-09-21



Version: 0.1.7



## Table of Contents



   * [Purpose](#purpose)

   * [Installation](#installation)

      * [Installation from AUR](#installation-from-aur)

      * [Installation from pkgsrc](#installation-from-pkgsrc)

      * [Installation with homebrew](#installation-with-homebrew)

      * [Notes for Windows users](#notes-for-windows-users)

   * [Docker](#docker)

   * [Usage](#usage)

      * [List artifacts](#list-artifacts)

         * [List all artifacts contained in the kb knowledge base](#list-all-artifacts-contained-in-the-kb-knowledge-base)

         * [List all artifacts containing the string "zip"](#list-all-artifacts-containing-the-string-zip)

         * [List all artifacts belonging to the category "cheatsheet"](#list-all-artifacts-belonging-to-the-category-cheatsheet)

         * [List all the artifacts having the tags "web" or "pentest"](#list-all-the-artifacts-having-the-tags-web-or-pentest)

         * [List using "verbose mode"](#list-using-verbose-mode)

      * [Add artifacts](#add-artifacts)

         * [Add a file to the collection of artifacts](#add-a-file-to-the-collection-of-artifacts)

         * [Add a file to the artifacts](#add-a-file-to-the-artifacts)

         * [Add all files contained in a directory to kb](#add-all-files-contained-in-a-directory-to-kb)

         * [Create a new artifact from scratch](#create-a-new-artifact-from-scratch)

         * [Create a new artifact from the output of another program](#create-a-new-artifact-from-the-output-of-another-program)

      * [Delete artifacts](#delete-artifacts)

         * [Delete an artifact by ID](#delete-an-artifact-by-id)

         * [Delete multiple artifacts by ID](#delete-multiple-artifacts-by-id)

         * [Delete an artifact by name](#delete-an-artifact-by-name)

      * [View artifacts](#view-artifacts)

         * [View an artifact by id](#view-an-artifact-by-id)

         * [View an artifact by name](#view-an-artifact-by-name)

         * [View an artifact without colors](#view-an-artifact-without-colors)

         * [View an artifact within a text-editor](#view-an-artifact-within-a-text-editor)

      * [Edit artifacts](#edit-artifacts)

         * [Edit an artifact by id](#edit-an-artifact-by-id)

         * [Edit an artifact by name](#edit-an-artifact-by-name)

      * [Grep through artifacts](#grep-through-artifacts)

         * [Grep through the knowledge base](#grep-through-the-knowledge-base)

         * [Grep (case-insensitive) through the knowledge base](#grep-case-insensitive-through-the-knowledge-base)

         * [Grep in "verbose mode" through the knowledge base](#grep-in-verbose-mode-through-the-knowledge-base)

         * [Grep through the knowledge base and show matching lines](#grep-through-the-knowledge-base-and-show-matching-lines)

      * [Import/Export/Erase a knowledge base](#importexporterase-a-knowledge-base)

         * [Export the current knowledge base](#export-the-current-knowledge-base)

         * [Import a knowledge base](#import-a-knowledge-base)

         * [Erase the entire knowledge base](#erase-the-entire-knowledge-base)

      * [Manage Templates](#manage-templates)

         * [List available templates](#list-available-templates)

         * [Create a new template](#create-a-new-template)

         * [Delete a template](#delete-a-template)

         * [Edit a template](#edit-a-template)

         * [Add a template](#add-a-template)

         * [Change template for an artifact](#change-template-for-an-artifact)

         * [Apply a template to all artifacts of a category](#apply-a-template-to-all-artifacts-of-a-category)

         * [Apply a template to all artifacts having zip in their title](#apply-a-template-to-all-artifacts-having-zip-in-their-title)

         * [Apply a template to all artifacts having specific properties](#apply-a-template-to-all-artifacts-having-specific-properties)

      * [Integrating kb with other tools](#integrating-kb-with-other-tools)

         * [kb and rofi](#kb-and-rofi)

      * [Experimental](#experimental)

         * [Synchronize kb with a remote git repository](#synchronize-kb-with-a-remote-git-repository)

   * [UPGRADE](#upgrade)

   * [FAQ](#faq)

   * [DONATIONS](#donations)

   * [COPYRIGHT](#copyright)



## Purpose



kb is a text-oriented minimalist command line knowledge base manager. kb

can be considered a quick note collection and access tool oriented toward

software developers, penetration testers, hackers, students or whoever

has to collect and organize notes in a clean way.  Although kb is mainly

targeted on text-based note collection, it supports non-text files as well

(e.g., images, pdf, videos and others).



The project was born from the frustration of trying to find a good way

to quickly access my notes, procedures, cheatsheets and lists (e.g.,

payloads) but at the same time, keeping them organized.  This is

particularly useful for any kind of student. I use it in the context

of penetration testing to organize pentesting procedures, cheatsheets,

payloads, guides and notes.



I found myself too frequently spending time trying to search for that

particular payload list quickly, or spending too much time trying to find

a specific guide/cheatsheet for a needed tool. kb tries to solve this

problem by providing you a quick and intuitive way to access knowledge.



In few words kb allows a user to quickly and efficiently:



- collect items containing notes,guides,procedures,cheatsheets into

  an organized knowledge base;

- filter the knowledge base on different metadata: title, category,

  tags and others;

- visualize items within the knowledge base with (or without) syntax

  highlighting;

- grep through the knowledge base using regexes;

- import/export an entire knowledge base;



Basically, kb provides a clean text-based way to organize your knowledge.



## Installation



**You should have Python 3.6 or above installed.**



To install the most recent stable version of kb just type:

```sh

pip install -U kb-manager

```



If you want to install the bleeding-edge version of kb (that may have

some bugs) you should do:

```sh

git clone https://github.com/gnebbia/kb

cd kb

pip install -r requirements.txt

python setup.py install



# or with pip

pip install -U git+https://github.com/gnebbia/kb

```



**Tip** for GNU/Linux and MacOS users: For a better user experience,

also set the following kb bash aliases:

```sh

cat < ~/.kb_alias

alias kbl="kb list"

alias kbe="kb edit"

alias kba="kb add"

alias kbv="kb view"

alias kbd="kb delete --id"

alias kbg="kb grep"

alias kbt="kb list --tags"

EOF

echo "source ~/.kb_alias" >> ~/.bashrc

source ~/.kb_alias

```



Please remember to upgrade kb frequently by doing:

```sh

pip install -U kb-manager

```



### Installation from AUR



Arch Linux users can install [kb](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/kb) or [kb-git](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/kb-git) with their favorite [AUR Helper](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/AUR_helpers).



Stable:

```sh

yay -S kb

```



Dev:

```sh

yay -S kb-git

```



### Installation from pkgsrc



Of course it runs on NetBSD (and on pkgsrc). We can install it from pkgsrc source tree

(databases/py-kb) or as a binary package using pkgin:



```sh

pkgin in py38-kb

```



Note that at the moment the package is only available from -current repositories.



### Installation with homebrew



To install using homebrew, use:

```sh

brew tap gnebbia/kb https://github.com/gnebbia/kb.git

brew install gnebbia/kb/kb

```



To upgrade with homebrew:

```sh

brew update

brew upgrade gnebbia/kb/kb

```



### Notes for Windows users



Windows users should keep in mind these things:

- DO NOT USE notepad as %EDITOR%, kb is not compatible with notepad,

  a reasonable alternative is notepad++;

- %EDITOR% variable should ALWAYS be enclosed within double quotes;

```sh

EDITOR=C:\Program Files\Editor\my cool editor.exe      -> WRONG!

EDITOR="C:\Program Files\Editor\my cool editor.exe"    -> OK!

```



To set the "EDITOR" Environment variable by using cmd.exe, just issue

the following commands, after having inserted the path to your desired

text editor:

```sh

set EDITOR="C:\path\to\editor\here.exe"

setx EDITOR "\"C:\path\to\editor\here.exe\""

```



To set the "EDITOR" Environment variable by using Powershell, just issue

the following commands, after having inserted the path to your desired

text editor:

```sh

$env:EDITOR='"C:\path\to\editor\here.exe"'

[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('EDITOR','"C:\path\to\editor\here.exe"', [System.EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)

```



#### Setting Aliases for cmd



Open a cmd.exe terminal with administrative rights and paste

the following commands:

```sh

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor" /v "AutoRun" /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d "%USERPROFILE%\autorun.cmd"

(

echo @echo off

echo doskey kbl=kb list $*

echo doskey kbe=kb edit $*

echo doskey kba=kb add $*

echo doskey kbv=kb view $*

echo doskey kbd=kb delete --id $*

echo doskey kbg=kb grep $*

echo doskey kbt=kb list --tags $*

)> %USERPROFILE%\autorun.cmd

```



#### Setting Aliases for Powershell



Open a Powershell terminal and paste the following commands:

```sh

@'

function kbl { kb list $args }

function kbe { kb edit $args }

function kba { kb add  $args }

function kbv { kb view $args }

function kbd { kb delete --id $args }

function kbg { kb grep $args }

function kbt { kb list --tags $args }

'@ >  $env:USERPROFILE\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\profile.ps1

```



## Docker



A docker setup has been included to help with development.



To install and start the project with docker:

```sh

docker-compose up -d

docker-compose exec kb bash

```



The container has the aliases included in its `.bashrc` so you can use

kb in the running container as you would if you installed it on the

host directly.  The `./docker/data` directory on the host is bound to

`/data` in the container, which is the image's working directly also.

To interact with the container, place (or symlink) the files on your host

into the `./docker/data` directory, which can then be seen and used in

the `/data` directory in the container.



## Usage



A quick demo of a typical scenario using kb:



![](img/kb_general_demo.gif)



A quick demo with kb aliases enabled:



![](img/kb_general_demo_alias.gif)



A quick demo for non-text documents:



![](img/kb_non_text_demo.gif)



### List artifacts



#### List all artifacts contained in the kb knowledge base

```sh

kb list



# or if aliases are used:

kbl

```

![](img/kb_list_all.gif)



#### List all artifacts containing the string "zip"

```sh

kb list zip



# or if aliases are used:

kbl zip

```

![](img/kb_list_title_zip.gif)



#### List all artifacts belonging to the category "cheatsheet"

```sh

kb list --category cheatsheet

# or

kb list -c cheatsheet



# or if aliases are used:

kbl -c cheatsheet

```

![](img/kb_list_category.gif)



#### List all the artifacts having the tags "web" or "pentest"

```sh

kb list --tags "web;pentest"



# or if aliases are used:

kbl --tags "web;pentest"

```

![](img/kb_list_tags.gif)



#### List using "verbose mode"

```sh

kb list -v



# or if aliases are used:

kbl -v

```

![](img/kb_list_verbose.gif)



### Add artifacts



#### Add a file to the collection of artifacts

```sh

kb add ~/Notes/cheatsheets/pytest



# or if aliases are used:

kba ~/Notes/cheatsheets/pytest

```

![](img/kb_add.gif)



#### Add a file to the artifacts

```sh

kb add ~/ssh_tunnels --title pentest_ssh --category "procedure" \

    --tags "pentest;network" --author "gnc" --status "draft"

```

![](img/kb_add_title.gif)



#### Add all files contained in a directory to kb

```sh

kb add ~/Notes/cheatsheets/general/* --category "cheatsheet"

```

![](img/kb_add_directory.gif)



#### Create a new artifact from scratch

```sh

kb add --title "ftp" --category "notes" --tags "protocol;network"

# a text editor ($EDITOR) will be launched for editing

```

![](img/kb_add_from_scratch.gif)



#### Create a new artifact from the output of another program

```sh

kb add --title "my_network_scan" --category "scans" --body "$(nmap -T5 -p80 192.168.1.0/24)"

```



### Delete artifacts



#### Delete an artifact by ID

```sh

kb delete --id 2



# or if aliases are used:

kbd 2

```



#### Delete multiple artifacts by ID

```sh

kb delete --id 2 3 4



# or if aliases are used:

kbd 2 3 4

```

![](img/kb_delete_multiple.gif)



#### Delete an artifact by name

```sh

kb delete --title zap --category cheatsheet

```

![](img/kb_delete_name.gif)



### View artifacts



#### View an artifact by id

```sh

kb view --id 3

# or

kb view -i 3

# or 

kb view 3



# or if aliases are used:

kbv 3

```

![](img/kb_view.gif)



#### View an artifact by name

```sh

kb view --title "gobuster"

# or

kb view -t "gobuster"

# or

kb view gobuster

```

![](img/kb_view_title.gif)



#### View an artifact without colors

```sh

kb view -t dirb -n

```

![](img/kb_view_title_nocolor.gif)



#### View an artifact within a text-editor

```sh

kb view -i 2 -e



# or if aliases are used:

kbv 2 -e

```

![](img/kb_view_in_editor.gif)



### Edit artifacts



Editing artifacts involves opening a text editor.

Hence, binary files cannot be edited by kb.



The editor can be set by the "EDITOR" environment

variable.



#### Edit an artifact by id

```sh

kb edit --id 13

# or

kbe 13

# or if aliases are used:

kbe 13 

```

![](img/kb_edit.gif)



#### Edit an artifact by name

```sh

kb edit --title "git" --category "cheatsheet"

# or

kb edit -t "git" -c "cheatsheet"

# or if git is unique as artifact

kb edit git

```



### Grep through artifacts



#### Grep through the knowledge base

```sh

kb grep "[bg]zip"



# or if aliases are used:

kbg "[bg]zip"

```

![](img/kb_grep.gif)



#### Grep (case-insensitive) through the knowledge base

```sh

kb grep -i "[BG]ZIP"

```

![](img/kb_grep_case_insensitive.gif)



#### Grep in "verbose mode" through the knowledge base

```sh

kb grep -v "[bg]zip"

```



#### Grep through the knowledge base and show matching lines

```sh

kb grep -m "[bg]zip"

```



### Import/Export/Erase a knowledge base



#### Export the current knowledge base



To export the entire knowledge base, do:

```sh

kb export

```

This will generate a .kb.tar.gz archive that can

be later be imported by kb.

![](img/kb_export.gif)



If you want to export only data (so that it can be used in other software):



```sh

 kb export --only-data

```



This will export a directory containing a subdirectory for each category

and within these subdirectories we will have all the artifacts belonging

to that specific category.



#### Import a knowledge base

```sh

kb import archive.kb.tar.gz

```

**NOTE**: Importing a knowledge base erases all the previous

data. Basically it erases everything and imports the new knowledge base.

![](img/kb_import.gif)



#### Erase the entire knowledge base

```sh

kb erase

```

![](img/kb_erase.gif)



### Manage Templates



kb supports custom templates for the artifacts.

A template is basically a file using the "toml" format,

structured in this way:

```sh

TITLES   = [ "^#.*", "blue",  ]

WARNINGS = [ "!.*" , "yellow",]

COMMENTS = [ ";;.*", "green", ]

```



Where the first element of each list is a regex and the second element

is a color.



Note that by default an artifact is assigned with the 'default'

template, and this template can be changed too (look at "Edit a template"

subsection).



#### List available templates



To list all available templates:

```sh

kb template list

```



To list all the templates containing the string "theory":

```sh

kb template list "theory"

```



#### Create a new template



Create a new template called "lisp-cheatsheets", note that

an example template will be put as example in the editor.

```sh

kb template new lisp-cheatsheets

```



#### Delete a template



To delete the template called "lisp-cheatsheets" just do:

```sh

kb template delete lisp-cheatsheets

```



#### Edit a template



To edit the template called "listp-cheatsheets" just do:

```sh

kb template edit lisp-cheatsheets

```



#### Add a template



We can also add a template from an already existing toml configuration file

by just doing:

```sh

kb template add ~/path/to/myconfig.toml --title myconfig

```



#### Change template for an artifact



We can change the template for an existing artifact by ID by using the

update command:

```sh

kb update --id 2 --template "lisp-cheatsheets"

```



#### Apply a template to all artifacts of a category



We can apply the template "lisp-cheatsheets" to all artifacts

belonging to the category "lispcode" by doing:

```sh

kb template apply "lisp-cheatsheets" --category "lispcode"

```



#### Apply a template to all artifacts having zip in their title



We can apply the template "dark" to all artifacts having in their title

the string "zip" (e.g., bzip, 7zip, zipper) by doing:

```sh

kb template apply "dark" --title "zip" --extended-match

# or 

kb template apply "dark" --title "zip" -m

```

We can always have our queries to "contain" the string by using

the `--extended-match` option when using `kb template apply`.



#### Apply a template to all artifacts having specific properties



We can apply the template "light" to all artifacts of the category

"cheatsheet" who have as author "gnc" and as status "OK" by doing:

```sh

kb template apply "light" --category "cheatsheet" --author "gnc" --status "OK"

```



### Integrating kb with other tools



kb can be integrated with other tools.



#### kb and rofi



We can integrate kb with rofi, a custom mode has been developed

accessible in the "misc" directory within this repository.



We can launch rofi with this mode by doing:



```sh

rofi -show kb -modi kb:/path/to/rofi-kb-mode.sh

```



### Experimental



#### Synchronize kb with a remote git repository



Synchronization with a remote git repository is experimental at the moment.

Anyway we can initialize our knowledge base to a created empty

github/gitlab (other git service) repository by doing:

```sh

kb sync init

```



We can then push our knowledge base to the remote git repository with:

```sh

kb sync push

```



We can pull (e.g., from another machine) our knowledge base from the

remote git repository with:

```sh

kb sync pull

```



We can at any time view to what remote endpoint our knowledge is synchronizing

to with:

```sh

kb sync info

```



## UPGRADE



If you want to upgrade kb to the most recent stable release do:

```sh

pip install -U kb-manager

```



If instead you want to update kb to the most recent release 

(that may be bugged), do:

```sh

git clone https://github.com/gnebbia/kb 

cd kb

pip install --upgrade .

```



## FAQ



Q) How do I solve the `AttributeError: module 'attr' has no attribute 's'` error?



A) Uninstall attr and use attrs:

```sh

pip uninstall attr

pip uninstall attrs

pip install attrs

pip install -U kb-manager

```



## DONATIONS



I am an independent developer working on kb in my free time,

if you like kb and would like to say thank you, buy me a beer!



[![paypal](https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif)](https://paypal.me/nebbione)



## COPYRIGHT



Copyright 2020 Giuseppe Nebbione.



This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify

it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by

the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or

(at your option) any later version.



This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,

but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of

MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the

GNU General Public License for more details.



You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License

along with this program.  If not, see .



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