repl(1) -- sometimes you need a repl

repl is an interactive program which tenderly wraps another, non-interactive program.

For example:

$ repl redis-cli -p 6665
>> set name chris
OK
>> get name
chris
>> info
redis_version:1.000
uptime_in_seconds:182991
uptime_in_days:2
.. etc ..

Or:

$ repl gem
>> --version
1.3.5
>> search yajl

*** LOCAL GEMS ***

yajl-ruby (0.6.7)
>> search yajl -r

*** REMOTE GEMS ***

brianmario-yajl-ruby (0.6.3)
filipegiusti-yajl-ruby (0.6.4)
jdg-yajl-ruby (0.5.12)
oortle-yajl-ruby (0.5.8)
yajl-ruby (0.6.7)

Or even:

$ repl git
>> branch
  gh-pages
* master
>> tag
rm
v0.1.0
v0.1.1
v0.1.2
v0.1.3
>> tag -d rm
Deleted tag 'rm'
>> pwd
git: 'pwd' is not a git-command. See 'git --help'.

Did you mean this?
  add

You can also use %s to tell repl where to stick the input:

$ repl heroku %s --app domainy
>> info
=== domainy
Web URL:        http://domainy.heroku.com/
Git Repo:       git@heroku.com:domainy.git
Dynos:          1
Workers:        0
Repo size:      288k
Slug size:      4k
Data size:      0K in 0 table
Addons:         Piggyback SSL
Owner:          b****@*******.com

If you have rlwrap(1) installed you'll automatically get the full benefits of readline: history, reverse searches, etc.

repl is meant to wrap programs which accept command line arguments and print to the standard output. It keeps no state between executed lines and, as such, cannot be used to replace irb or the Python REPL (for example).

repl is easily installed as a standalone script:

export REPL_BIN=~/bin/repl
curl -s https://raw.github.com/defunkt/repl/latest/bin/repl > $REPL_BIN
chmod 755 $REPL_BIN

Change $REPL_BIN to your desired location and have at! (Just make sure it's in your $PATH.)

repl can also be installed as a RubyGem:

$ gem install repl

Because rlwrap supports completion, repl does too. Any file in ~/.repl matching the name of the command you start repl with will be used for completion.

For instance, a file named ~/.repl/redis-cli containing "get set info" will cause "get", "set", and "info" to be tab completeable at the repl redis-cli prompt.

The directory searched for completion files can be configured using the REPL_COMPLETION_DIR environment variable.

See the repl-completion project for a few common, pre-rolled completion files.

The following environment variables affect repl's behavior:

REPL_PROMPT: the prompt to display before each line of input. defaults to >>

REPL_COMPLETION_DIR: directory in which completion files are kept

Once you've made your great commits:

1. Fork repl
2. Create a topic branch - git checkout -b my_branch
3. Push to your branch - git push origin my_branch
4. Create an Issue with a link to your branch
5. That's it!

• Code: git clone git://github.com/defunkt/repl.git
• Home: https://github.com/defunkt/repl
• Bugs: https://github.com/defunkt/repl/issues
• Gems: http://gemcutter.org/gems/repl

Chris Wanstrath :: chris@ozmm.org :: @defunkt