Code Pills

Code Pills is a curated collection of standalone scripts and reusable snippets. The repository is managed with codepills.py, a standard-library Python CLI for checking metadata, searching entries, copying snippets, importing scripts, and running standalone tools.

Layout

• codepills.py: repository helper CLI.
• Category directories such as python/, bash/, powershell/, javascript/, and typescript/ contain standalone scripts and snippets.
• */.codepills.json: category configuration. Only top-level directories with this file are managed by Code Pills commands.
• */snippets.*: normalized snippet notebooks configured per category.

Quick Start

Run commands from the repository root.

git clone git@github.com:octanima-labs/codepills.git codepills
cd codepills
python codepills.py check
python codepills.py ensurepath
python codepills.py search
python codepills.py search --type snippet -t linux
python codepills.py search --type script -t python -D
python codepills.py get py0006
python codepills.py get -c python/pingwave
python codepills.py run python/pingwave --tests

Python Package API

The PyPI package installs only the Python modules as the codepills import package. It does not install the Bash, JavaScript, or PowerShell collections as Python modules, and the repository helper codepills.py remains separate from the package API.

pip install codepills

Use module-first imports:

from codepills.dirinit import create_structure, preview_structure
from codepills.snippets import safe_filename
from codepills.zipperzero import ZipperZero

The package root is intentionally minimal and does not re-export every utility. Documented public names are also declared in each module's __all__. Private helpers, parser builders, test helpers, and CLI internals are importable only as implementation details and are not stable package API.

Supported first-pass imports:

from codepills.dirinit import (
    StructureEntry,
    CreatedEntry,
    parse_structure_file,
    preview_structure,
    create_structure,
)
from codepills.bename import (
    RenamePlan,
    RenameResult,
    preview_renames,
    rename_paths,
    render_name,
)
from codepills.snippets import Cprint, cprint, safe_filename
from codepills.pingwave import (
    PingResult,
    build_ping_command,
    output_shows_all_packets_lost,
    ping_target,
    ping_targets,
    result_line,
    format_file_result,
    format_summary,
    write_output_file,
)
from codepills.massrun import (
    PLACEHOLDERS,
    RunResult,
    has_placeholder,
    substitute_placeholders,
    build_argv_command,
    resolve_cwd,
    find_targets,
    run_for_target,
    run_targets,
    run_matching,
)
from codepills.zipperzero import ZipperZero
from codepills.freezenv import (
    BASE_PACKAGES,
    OUTPUT_FILENAME,
    FreezenvError,
    discover_venv,
    discover_venvs_recursive,
    find_site_packages,
    freeze_requirements,
    write_requirements,
    freeze_venv,
)
from codepills.browpic import (
    DEFAULT_PORT,
    IMAGE_EXTS,
    MIME_TYPES,
    get_mime,
    create_server,
    serve,
)
from codepills.beautify import (
    BeautifyError,
    beautify_file,
    beautify_html,
    beautify_json,
    beautify_paths,
    beautify_xml,
    detect_syntax,
)

To start a fresh Code Pills collection from this toolset:

python codepills.py ensurepath
codepills reset --force
git remote add origin <YOUR_REPO_URL>

CLI

After running python codepills.py ensurepath, examples can use codepills directly instead of python codepills.py in new shell sessions.

Ensure Path

Install the codepills command into the user PATH.

python codepills.py ensurepath

On POSIX systems this makes codepills.py executable, creates a ~/.local/bin/codepills symlink, and adds ~/.local/bin to a shell startup file when needed. On Windows it creates a codepills.cmd shim in %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin and adds that directory to the user PATH.

Reset

Reset the repository into a fresh Code Pills collection.

codepills reset
codepills reset --force

reset empties configured category folders, recreates empty snippet notebooks, removes the current .git directory, and runs git init. It keeps codepills.py, README.md, category folders, and each category's .codepills.json. It does not configure a remote.

After reset, configure your own remote:

git remote add origin <YOUR_REPO_URL>

Without --force, reset asks for confirmation with a default No answer.

Check

Validate standalone script metadata and normalized snippets.

python codepills.py check

Search

Search scripts and snippets by metadata.

python codepills.py search [--type script|snippet] [-D] [-n NAME] [-d TEXT] [-t TAG] [-p PLATFORM]

• -n, --name: case-insensitive substring match on name/title.
• -d, --description: case-insensitive substring match on description.
• -t, --tag: exact case-insensitive tag match. Can be repeated.
• -p, --platform: exact case-insensitive platform match. Can be repeated.
• --type: restrict results to script or snippet. Can be repeated.
• -D, --details: include description and tags columns.

Multiple filters use AND logic.

Get

Retrieve one or more snippets or standalone scripts.

python codepills.py get py0001
python codepills.py get python/pingwave
python codepills.py get javascript/xda
python codepills.py get py0001 python/pingwave
python codepills.py get -c py0001 javascript/xda

Snippet references use stable IDs whose two-letter prefix is the category alias, such as py0001, sh0001, ps0001, js0001, and ts0001 when TypeScript snippets exist.

Script references can use a configured category, a category alias, or a bare filename with a configured extension:

• python/pingwave or python/pingwave.py
• py/pingwave or py/pingwave.py
• pingwave.py
• javascript/xda, js/xda, or xda.js

Bare extensionless filenames such as pingwave are invalid because they do not identify a category. Nested script references such as bash/aws/testrds.sh are not supported.

For snippets, get prints only the snippet content; the ID/header metadata is omitted. For scripts, get prints the absolute path to the resolved script file. When multiple entries are selected, they are separated by two blank lines.

Use -c or --copy to copy retrieved content to the clipboard. Snippets copy the snippet content, while scripts copy the full script file content rather than the displayed path.

Clipboard support uses platform commands when available:

• Linux: wl-copy, xclip, or xsel
• macOS: pbcopy
• Windows: clip or PowerShell Set-Clipboard

If clipboard copy fails, the retrieved display output is still printed.

Run

Run a standalone script and pass through all remaining arguments.

python codepills.py run python/pingwave --tests
python codepills.py run python/zipperzero --self-test
python codepills.py run powershell/barabara -h

The script reference is a configured category/name, alias/name, or filename with a configured extension. Examples:

• python/pingwave or python/pingwave.py
• py/pingwave or pingwave.py
• bash/swap_file or bash/swap_file.sh
• powershell/barabara or powershell/barabara.ps1
• javascript/xda or javascript/xda.js

run executes standalone scripts only. Snippets are not runnable through this command. A script must include the metadata tag cli to be runnable through codepills run; browser JavaScript snippets/scripts should omit cli and are blocked from CLI execution.

Import

Import an existing script into the repository and add metadata when needed.

python codepills.py import /path/to/tool.py
python codepills.py import /path/to/tool.py --name better-name

The destination category is chosen from the file extension configured in a category's .codepills.json:

• .py -> python/
• .sh -> bash/
• .ps1 -> powershell/
• .js -> javascript/
• .ts -> typescript/

--name is a filename stem only; the original extension is preserved. Files without an extension, or with an extension that no category declares, are rejected. Existing destination files are not overwritten.

The generated repo metadata is inferred from git remote origin. If origin is not configured, import fails with a clear error.

Standalone Script Metadata

Every standalone script must start with a parseable CODEPILLS-META header. If a shebang is present, it must remain the first line and the metadata follows it.

Required fields:

• schema: codepills.tool/v1
• name
• version using X.Y.Z
• author
• description
• repo, pointing to the script's public source URL
• license
• usage
• tags
• requires
• platforms

Run python codepills.py check after editing scripts. check requires repo to be present, but it does not require the URL to match the current local origin; imported scripts may preserve their original upstream URLs.

Category Configuration

Top-level directories are managed by Code Pills only when they contain a .codepills.json file. Directories without this file are treated as repository support content and ignored by Code Pills commands.

Example JavaScript category config:

{
  "extensions": [".js"],
  "alias": "js",
  "interpreter": ["node"],
  "lineComment": "//",
  "snippets": "snippets.js",
  "metadataComment": {
    "type": "block",
    "open": "/*",
    "close": "*/"
  }
}

Category config fields:

• extensions: one or more lowercase file extensions owned by the category.
• alias: lowercase two-character alias, also used as the snippet ID prefix.
• interpreter: command used by codepills run for non-shebang scripts. The token sys.executable resolves to the current Python executable.
• lineComment: line comment prefix used by the category's snippet notebook.
• snippets: snippet notebook filename, including extension.
• metadataComment: metadata header comment style. Use type: "line" with prefix, or type: "block" with open and close.

Aliases and extensions must be unique across all configured categories.

Snippet Format

Snippets live in the snippets file configured by each category. Each snippet has a stable ID, metadata header, and content body.

# ### ID: py0001 ###
# Title: Input multiline values
# Description: Read standard input until an empty line and return all entered lines.
# Tags:
# - input
# - stdin
# Platforms:
# - Linux
# - macOS
# - Windows

def input_multiline():
    ...

ID prefixes are category aliases:

• Python: py0001
• Bash: sh0001
• PowerShell: ps0001
• JavaScript: js0001
• TypeScript: ts0001

IDs are stable once assigned. When adding a snippet, use the lowest available number for that language.

Maintenance

Before committing changes, run:

python codepills.py check

Useful focused checks:

python -m py_compile codepills.py
python codepills.py get python/pingwave
python codepills.py get py/pingwave
python codepills.py get pingwave.py
python codepills.py get py0001
python codepills.py run python/pingwave --help
python python/freezenv.py --tests
python python/zipperzero.py --self-test
python python/pingwave.py --tests
bash -n bash/swap_file.sh

Do not execute bash/swap_file.sh as a smoke test unless you intentionally want to modify system swap configuration.