https://github.com/kelp/vibeutils
Modern Unix coreutils in Zig — git-aware ls, colored output, Nerd Font icons, memory-safe
https://github.com/kelp/vibeutils
cli command-line coreutils gnu-coreutils linux macos terminal unix-utilities zig
Last synced: 12 days ago
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Modern Unix coreutils in Zig — git-aware ls, colored output, Nerd Font icons, memory-safe
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/kelp/vibeutils
- Owner: kelp
- License: mit
- Created: 2025-07-26T04:54:24.000Z (9 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-03-29T00:56:37.000Z (20 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-03-29T01:49:47.501Z (19 days ago)
- Topics: cli, command-line, coreutils, gnu-coreutils, linux, macos, terminal, unix-utilities, zig
- Language: Zig
- Size: 9.9 MB
- Stars: 1
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
- Agents: AGENTS.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# vibeutils
Memory-safe Unix utilities written in Zig, inspired by GNU coreutils and OpenBSD.
**MIT Licensed** • **Linux** • **macOS** • **BSD**
## What's Different
vibeutils covers the 80% of GNU coreutils you actually use,
with modern terminal enhancements that activate
automatically.
**ls** gains the most:
- `--icons` — Nerd Font file type icons
- `--git` — inline git status per file
- `--time-style=relative` — "2 hours ago" instead of
timestamps (default in long format)
**Across all utilities:**
- Colored `--help` with syntax-highlighted flags
- Smart terminal detection (NO_COLOR, 256-color, truecolor)
- Graceful degradation to plain text in pipes and dumb
terminals
## Project Status
**Pre-1.0 (v0.8.0)**: 47 utilities with 100% POSIX flag
coverage (288 MUST + 220 SHOULD). Expect breaking changes
as we refine the design.
### Implemented Utilities
**File Operations**
`cat` `cp` `dd` `ln` `mkdir` `mktemp` `mv` `rm` `rmdir`
`touch`
**File Information**
`df` `du` `find` `ls` `readlink` `realpath` `stat`
**Text Processing**
`cut` `grep` `head` `nl` `sort` `tac` `tail` `tee` `tr`
`uniq` `wc`
**Path & Names**
`basename` `dirname` `pwd`
**User & Permissions**
`chmod` `chown` `id` `whoami`
**System & Process**
`date` `env` `free` `seq` `sleep` `timeout`
**Output & Control**
`echo` `false` `printf` `test` `true` `yes`
## Installation
### Homebrew (macOS/Linux)
```bash
brew install kelp/tap/vibeutils
```
Commands install with a `v` prefix (vls, vcp, vmv) to avoid
conflicts with system utilities. To use without prefix:
```bash
export PATH="$(brew --prefix)/opt/vibeutils/libexec/vibebin:$PATH"
```
### Nix
```bash
# Try it out
nix shell github:kelp/vibeutils
# Build locally
nix build github:kelp/vibeutils
```
Prebuilt binaries are available via Cachix. Without
this, Nix builds from source (requires Zig):
```bash
cachix use vibeutils
```
#### Persistent install (nix-darwin / home-manager)
Add vibeutils as a flake input. Do **not** use
`inputs.nixpkgs.follows` — that changes the derivation
hash and forces a build from source instead of pulling
prebuilt binaries from Cachix.
```nix
# flake.nix
inputs.vibeutils.url = "github:kelp/vibeutils";
```
```nix
# home.nix
home.packages = [ inputs.vibeutils.packages.${pkgs.system}.default ];
```
The vibeutils flake lock is updated weekly via CI, so
its nixpkgs stays current.
Nix installs use original names (no prefix) since Nix
environments are isolated.
### Build from source
Requirements: Zig 0.15.2 or later
```bash
git clone https://github.com/kelp/vibeutils.git
cd vibeutils
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe
```
Find binaries in `zig-out/bin/`.
## Development
```bash
just build # Build all utilities
just test # Run unit tests
just it # Run integration tests
just coverage # Coverage report
just fmt # Format code
just # List all recipes
# Single utility
just build-util grep
just test-util grep
just run grep -- -r TODO src/
```
### Testing
- Unit tests embedded in each source file
- Integration tests in `tests/utilities/`
- Privileged tests via fakeroot
- Target: 90%+ coverage
## License
MIT License - see [LICENSE](LICENSE) file.