@kitschpatrol/snip

A CLI tool for snippet management.

[!CAUTION] This tool is a work in progress, certain commands are not yet implemented and others might behave unpredictably. I don't recommend using it until a 1.0.0 release.

Overview

Snip helps you create, edit, manage, and synchronize code snippets from the command line. Synchronize to (and possibly eventually from) editors like VS Code.

Snip is a fork of Jared Hanstra's snipster. Snip includes both some additions and some regressions vs. the original.

Getting started

Dependencies

The snip CLI tool requires Node 18+.

Installation

Install globally for access across your system:

npm install --global @kitschpatrol/snip

Usage

TK

CLI

Command: snip

A CLI tool for snippet management.

This section lists top-level commands for snip.

Usage:

snip [options] [command]

| Command | Argument | Description | | ------------------- | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | add | [filename] | add a snippet | | cd | | launch a shell in the snippets directory | | list | | list all snippets | | setup | | set up snip | | sync-to-editors | [editors...] | sync snippets to editors | | sync-from-editors | [editors...] | sync snippets from editors (not yet implemented) |

| Option | Argument | Description | Default | | ------------------- | -------- | --------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- | | --version-v | | output the version number | | | --config-c | <path> | path to configuration file | ~/.config/snip/config.json | | --library-l | <path> | path to library directory where snippets are stored | ~/.snip | | --debug-d | | extra logging for troubleshooting | false | | --help-h | | display help for command | |

See the sections below for more information on each subcommand.

Subcommand: snip add

add a snippet

Usage:

snip add [options] [filename]

| Positional Argument | Description | | ------------------- | --------------- | | filename | name of snippet |

| Option | Description | | ---------------- | ------------------------ | | --help-h | display help for command |

Subcommand: snip cd

launch a shell in the snippets directory

Usage:

snip cd [options]

| Option | Description | | ---------------- | ------------------------ | | --help-h | display help for command |

Subcommand: snip list

list all snippets

Usage:

snip list [options]

| Option | Description | | ---------------- | ------------------------ | | --help-h | display help for command |

Subcommand: snip setup

set up snip

Usage:

snip setup [options]

| Option | Description | | ---------------- | ------------------------ | | --help-h | display help for command |

Subcommand: snip sync-to-editors

sync snippets to editors

Usage:

snip sync-to-editors [options] [editors...]

| Positional Argument | Description | Default | | ------------------- | ------------------ | ------------ | | editors | editors to sync to | ["vscode"] |

| Option | Description | | ---------------- | ------------------------ | | --help-h | display help for command |

Subcommand: snip sync-from-editors

sync snippets from editors (not yet implemented)

Usage:

snip sync-from-editors [options] [editors...]

| Positional Argument | Description | Default | | ------------------- | ------------------ | ------------ | | editors | editors to sync to | ["vscode"] |

| Option | Description | | ---------------- | ------------------------ | | --help-h | display help for command |

Examples

Set up snip for the first time:

snip setup
# Enter a pathname for your snippets library (~/.snip):

Add a new snippet interactively — snip prompts for a prefix, description, and language, then opens your $EDITOR:

snip add
# Prefix (the trigger keyword for your snippet): cl
# A quick description of your snippet (optional): Print value to console
# Language (...): js+ts+jsx+tsx
# Opens your editor to write the snippet body...

Or pass a filename directly:

snip add "cl--Print value to console.js+ts+jsx+tsx"

List all snippets in your library:

snip list
# cl--Print value to console.js+ts+jsx+tsx
# html--HTML 5 boilerplate.html
# li--Lorem Ipsum.all

Sync your snippet library to VS Code:

snip sync-to-editors vscode

Jump into your snippets directory to edit files directly:

snip cd

Background

Snip is a fork of Jared Hanstra's snipster.

Modifications include:

• A monosyllabic name 😅.
• Migration from JavaScript → TypeScript + Zod.
• Migration from CommonJS → ES Modules.
• Migration from Yarn → PNPM.
• Added .ignore file support.
• Added $EDITOR support for creating new snippets.
• Added support for ~ in paths.
• Implemented a new automated language ID aggregation approach based on scraping plugin manifests from the VS Code marketplace.
• Added support for snippet descriptions — stored in the snippet file name itself.

The future

• [ ] Explore Amazon Q (née Fig) auto-complete generation and integration
• [ ] Additional editor adapters
• [ ] Sync-from-editor migration fixes
• [ ] Cosmiconfig

Maintainers

@kitschpatrol

Acknowledgments

Jared Hanstra is the author of the original snipster project on which Snip is based.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome.

License

MIT © Eric Mika