Shell Aliases and Shortcuts

This guide shows how to create convenient shell shortcuts for frequently used CLI Utils commands.

Quick Setup

Automatic Installation

# Add aliases to your shell configuration
make install-aliases

This will add a source line to your ~/.zshrc that loads the aliases.

Manual Installation

Add this line to your ~/.zshrc:

# CLI Utils shortcuts
source /path/to/cli_utils/scripts/shell-aliases.sh

Then reload your shell:

source ~/.zshrc

Available Shortcuts

Text Utilities

Shortcut	Command	Example	Output
`textup`	uppercase	`textup "hello"`	`HELLO`
`textlow`	lowercase	`textlow "HELLO"`	`hello`
`texttitle`	titlecase	`texttitle "hello world"`	`Hello World`
`textupc`	uppercase + copy	`textupc "hello"`	`HELLO` (+ clipboard)
`textlowc`	lowercase + copy	`textlowc "HELLO"`	`hello` (+ clipboard)

General Shortcuts

Shortcut	Expands To	Example
`cu`	`cli-utils`	`cu --help`
`cul`	`cli-utils local`	`cul text_utils uppercase test`
`cur`	`cli-utils remote`	`cur api fetch`
`cuv`	`cli-utils version`	`cuv`
`cuc`	`cli-utils config`	`cuc`

Pipe-Friendly Functions

Function	Description	Example
`textup_pipe`	Uppercase from stdin or args	`echo "hello" \\| textup_pipe`
`textlow_pipe`	Lowercase from stdin or args	`cat file.txt \\| textlow_pipe`

Usage Examples

Basic Text Conversion

# Uppercase
textup "hello world"
# Output: HELLO WORLD

# Lowercase
textlow "HELLO WORLD"
# Output: hello world

# Title case
texttitle "hello world"
# Output: Hello World

With Clipboard

# Convert and copy to clipboard (requires pyperclip)
textupc "important text"
# Output: IMPORTANT TEXT
# (Also copied to clipboard)

Using Shortcuts

# Instead of: cli-utils --help
cu --help

# Instead of: cli-utils version
cuv

# Instead of: cli-utils local text_utils uppercase "test"
cul text_utils uppercase "test"

Pipe Usage

# Convert stdin to uppercase
echo "hello" | textup_pipe
# Output: HELLO

# Convert file contents
cat myfile.txt | textlow_pipe

# Chain commands
cat file.txt | textlow_pipe | grep "search term"

Real-World Examples

# Convert filename to lowercase
NEW_NAME=$(textlow "MY_FILE.TXT")
mv "MY_FILE.TXT" "$NEW_NAME"

# Uppercase git branch name
BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current | textup_pipe)
echo "Current branch (uppercase): $BRANCH"

# Title case for headers
echo "processing results" | texttitle
# Output: Processing Results

# Multiple arguments
textup one two three
# Output: ONE (only first arg, use quotes for multiple words)

textup "one two three"
# Output: ONE TWO THREE (correct)

Custom Aliases

You can add your own aliases to ~/.zshrc:

Simple Alias

# Simple command alias
alias mycommand='cli-utils local text_utils uppercase'

# Usage
mycommand "hello"

Function with Logic

# Function with default value
textup_default() {
    if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
        echo "Usage: textup_default <text>"
        return 1
    fi
    cli-utils local text_utils uppercase "$@"
}

# Function with multiple operations
text_process() {
    local text="$1"
    echo "Original: $text"
    echo "Uppercase: $(textup "$text")"
    echo "Lowercase: $(textlow "$text")"
    echo "Titlecase: $(texttitle "$text")"
}

# Usage
text_process "Hello World"

Advanced: Combine with Other Tools

# Uppercase clipboard content (Linux with xclip)
clip_upper() {
    xclip -o -selection clipboard | textup_pipe | xclip -selection clipboard
}

# Uppercase clipboard content (macOS)
clip_upper() {
    pbpaste | textup_pipe | pbcopy
}

# Convert and save to file
text_upper_save() {
    textup "$1" > output.txt
    echo "Saved to output.txt"
}

Zsh-Specific Features

Global Aliases (Zsh Only)

# Add to ~/.zshrc
alias -g TUP='| textup_pipe'
alias -g TLOW='| textlow_pipe'
alias -g TTITLE='| texttitle_pipe'

# Usage - can be used anywhere in the command line
echo "hello" TUP
# Same as: echo "hello" | textup_pipe

cat file.txt TLOW
# Same as: cat file.txt | textlow_pipe

Suffix Aliases (Zsh Only)

# Automatically process .upper files
alias -s upper=textup

# Usage
# Create file: echo "hello" > test.upper
# Run: ./test.upper
# (Will automatically run through textup)

Tips & Tricks

1. Tab Completion

With aliases, you can still use tab completion:

cu <TAB>          # Shows cli-utils commands
cul <TAB>         # Shows local commands
textup <TAB>      # Tab completes arguments if configured

2. Command History

Aliases appear in your shell history:

history | grep textup
# Shows all textup commands you've run

3. Combining with Find

# Uppercase all .txt filenames
find . -name "*.txt" -exec bash -c 'textup "$(basename {})"' \;

# Convert text in multiple files
for file in *.txt; do
    cat "$file" | textup_pipe > "${file}.upper"
done

4. Environment Variables

# Store transformed text in variables
UPPER=$(textup "hello world")
echo $UPPER
# Output: HELLO WORLD

Troubleshooting

Aliases Not Found

Problem: textup: command not found

Solution:

# Check if aliases are loaded
type textup

# Reload shell configuration
source ~/.zshrc

# Verify the source line is in ~/.zshrc
grep "shell-aliases.sh" ~/.zshrc

Function Not Working with Pipes

Problem: Pipe doesn't work with regular functions

Solution: Use the _pipe variants:

# Wrong
echo "hello" | textup
# Output: (might not work correctly)

# Correct
echo "hello" | textup_pipe
# Output: HELLO

Path Issues

Problem: Aliases work, but commands don't execute