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SedX

A safe, modern replacement for GNU sed with automatic backups, preview mode, and one-command rollback.

CI License: MIT Rust

SedX is a modern stream editor written in Rust that maintains ~90% compatibility with GNU sed while adding critical safety features:

  • Automatic backups before every file modification
  • Preview mode to see changes before applying
  • One-command rollback to undo mistakes
  • Human-readable diffs with colored context
  • Streaming mode for large files (100GB+ with <100MB RAM)
  • Modern regex (PCRE) as the default

Table of Contents

Quick Start

# Install
cargo install sedx

# Preview changes before applying
sedx --dry-run 's/old/new/g' file.txt

# Apply safely (automatic backup created)
sedx 's/old/new/g' file.txt

# Rollback if needed
sedx rollback

Why SedX?

GNU sed is powerful but unforgiving—one mistake with -i can permanently corrupt your files. SedX gives you the same power with safety rails:

Feature GNU Sed SedX
Preview changes ❌ No ✅ --dry-run
Automatic backups ❌ No ✅ Yes (default)
Rollback ❌ No ✅ sedx rollback
Colored diffs ❌ No ✅ Yes
Streaming for 100GB+ files ⚠️ Requires tweaks ✅ Auto-detects
Default regex BRE (1970s) ✅ PCRE (modern)

Key difference: SedX uses PCRE (Perl-Compatible Regular Expressions) by default—the same regex flavor used in Perl, Python, JavaScript, and most modern tools. No more escaping parentheses!

Installation

From crates.io (Recommended)

cargo install sedx
export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"

From Source

git clone https://github.com/InkyQuill/sedx.git
cd sedx
cargo build --release
sudo cp target/release/sedx /usr/local/bin/

From GitHub Releases

Download the latest release from Releases and add to your PATH.

Basic Usage

Substitution

# Replace first occurrence on each line
sedx 's/foo/bar/' file.txt

# Replace all occurrences (global)
sedx 's/foo/bar/g' file.txt

# Case-insensitive substitution
sedx 's/foo/bar/gi' file.txt

# Numbered substitution (replace 3rd occurrence)
sedx 's/foo/bar/3' file.txt

Line-Specific Operations

# Operate on specific line
sedx '10s/foo/bar/' file.txt           # Line 10 only
sedx '5,10s/foo/bar/g' file.txt        # Lines 5-10
sedx '10,$s/foo/bar/g' file.txt        # Line 10 to end

# Operate on lines matching pattern
sedx '/error/s/test/fix/' file.txt      # Lines containing "error"
sedx '/start/,/end/s/foo/bar/g' file.txt # From "start" pattern to "end"

Deleting Lines

# Delete specific line
sedx '10d' file.txt

# Delete range
sedx '5,10d' file.txt                  # Lines 5-10

# Delete matching lines
sedx '/DEBUG/d' logfile.txt            # Lines containing DEBUG
sedx '/keep/!d' file.txt               # Delete everything EXCEPT lines with "keep"

# Delete from pattern to end
sedx '/error/,$d' logfile.txt

Multiple Commands

# Using multiple -e flags
sedx -e 's/foo/bar/' -e 's/baz/qux/' file.txt

# Using command grouping with semicolons
sedx '{s/foo/bar/; s/baz/qux/}' file.txt

# Grouping with range
sedx '1,10{s/a/A/g; s/b/B/g}' file.txt

Regex Modes

SedX supports three regex flavors, selectable via command-line flags:

PCRE (Default) - Modern Syntax

sedx 's/(foo|bar)/baz/g' file.txt
  • Unescaped metacharacters: ( ), { }, +, ?, |, .
  • Backreferences in replacement: $1, $2, etc.
  • Most powerful and familiar to modern developers

ERE Mode - sed -E Compatible

sedx -E 's/(foo|bar)/baz/g' file.txt
  • Extended Regular Expressions
  • Compatible with sed -E and BSD sed
  • Same syntax as PCRE for most operations

BRE Mode - GNU sed Compatible

sedx -B 's/\(foo\|bar\)/baz/g' file.txt
  • Basic Regular Expressions (GNU sed default)
  • Escaped metacharacters: \( \), \{ \}, \+, \?, \|
  • Backreferences in replacement: \1, \2 (converted to PCRE internally)

Backreference Conversion

Mode Pattern Syntax Replacement Syntax
PCRE (foo|bar) $1, $2
ERE (foo|bar) \1, \2 (auto-converted to $1, $2)
BRE \(foo|bar\) \1, \2 (auto-converted to $1, $2)

Common Operations

Print Commands

# Print specific lines
sedx -n '1,10p' file.txt             # Print lines 1-10 only
sedx -n '/error/p' logfile.txt        # Print only lines matching "error"

# Print line numbers
sedx '=' file.txt                     # Add line numbers before each line

Insert, Append, Change

# Insert text before line 5
sedx '5i\Text to insert' file.txt

# Append text after line 5
sedx '5a\Text to append' file.txt

# Replace line 5 with new text
sedx '5c\New line content' file.txt

# Change lines matching pattern
sedx '/error/c\ERROR FOUND' logfile.txt

Hold Space Operations

# Copy pattern space to hold space
sedx '{h; g}' file.txt               # Save and restore

# Exchange pattern and hold space
sedx 'x' file.txt

# Append to hold space
sedx 'H' file.txt

Flow Control

# Labels and branches
sedx ':top; s/foo/bar/; /condition/b top' file.txt

# Conditional branch (if substitution made)
sedx 's/foo/bar/; t success; s/baz/qux/; :success' file.txt

# Branch if NO substitution made
sedx 's/foo/bar/; T retry; b done; :retry; s/baz/qux/; :done' file.txt

Backup & Rollback

Every file modification automatically creates a backup in ~/.sedx/backups/:

# Apply changes (backup created automatically)
sedx 's/foo/bar/g' file.txt
# Output: Backup ID: 20260226-120000-abc123

# View backup history
sedx history

# Rollback last operation
sedx rollback

# Rollback specific backup
sedx rollback 20260226-120000-abc123

# Check backup status
sedx status

Backup Management

# List all backups
sedx backup list

# Clean old backups (keep last 10)
sedx backup prune --keep=10

# Use custom backup directory
sedx --backup-dir /mnt/backups 's/foo/bar/' file.txt

Disable Backups

# Skip backup (requires --force confirmation)
sedx --no-backup --force 's/foo/bar/' file.txt

⚠️ Warning: Use --no-backup only for files under version control where you can revert mistakes.

Pipeline Mode

When no files are specified, SedX reads from stdin and writes to stdout:

# Basic pipeline
echo "hello world" | sedx 's/hello/HELLO/'
# Output: HELLO world

# Chain with other commands
cat file.txt | sedx 's/foo/bar/g' | grep bar

# Filter logs
docker logs app 2>/dev/null | sedx '/DEBUG/d'

# Multiple commands in pipeline
echo "test case" | sedx '{s/test/TEST/; s/case/CASE/}'
# Output: TEST CASE

Pipeline mode characteristics:

  • ✅ No backups created (can't backup a stream)
  • ✅ No diff output (only transformed text)
  • ✅ Works with all regex modes (PCRE, ERE, BRE)
  • ✅ Exit status: 0 on success, non-zero on errors

Large Files

SedX automatically switches to streaming mode for files ≥100MB:

# Automatically uses streaming for large files
sedx 's/foo/bar/g' large.log

# Force streaming mode
sedx --streaming 's/foo/bar/g' file.txt

# Disable streaming (force in-memory)
sedx --no-streaming 's/foo/bar/g' file.txt

Streaming benefits:

  • Constant memory usage (<100MB regardless of file size)
  • Can process 100GB+ files efficiently
  • Sliding window diff for context around changes

Configuration

Create or edit ~/.sedx/config.toml:

[backup]
max_size_gb = 10                    # Maximum backup size
max_disk_usage_percent = 80          # Warn before using this much disk
backup_dir = "/custom/path"          # Custom backup location

[compatibility]
mode = "pcre"                        # Default regex: pcre, ere, or bre
show_warnings = true                  # Show compatibility warnings

[processing]
context_lines = 2                    # Default diff context lines
max_memory_mb = 100                  # Streaming threshold (file size)
streaming = true                     # Enable streaming mode
# Edit configuration
sedx config

# View current configuration
sedx config --show

Command Reference

Options

Option Description
-e, --expression <EXPR> Add a sed expression (can be used multiple times)
-f, --file <SCRIPT_FILE> Read script from file
-d, --dry-run Preview changes without modifying files
-i, --interactive Prompt before applying changes
--context <NUM> Number of context lines in diff (default: 2)
--no-context Show only changed lines
-n, --quiet Suppress automatic output (only p command shows output)
-B, --bre Use Basic Regular Expressions (GNU sed compatible)
-E, --ere Use Extended Regular Expressions (sed -E compatible)
--no-backup Skip backup (requires --force)
--force Force dangerous operations
--backup-dir <DIR> Custom backup directory
--streaming Enable streaming mode
--no-streaming Disable streaming mode
-h, --help Print help
-V, --version Print version

Subcommands

Command Description
rollback [ID] Undo last operation or specific backup
history Show operation history
status Show backup status and disk usage
backup list List all backups
backup prune --keep=N Keep only N most recent backups
config Edit configuration file
config --show View current configuration
help Print help message

Limitations

SedX aims for ~90% GNU sed compatibility. The following are NOT yet implemented:

Feature Status Alternative
y command (translate characters) Not supported Use multiple s commands
l command (list lines escaped) Not supported N/A
\L, \U in replacement (case conversion) Not supported Post-process with other tools
Word boundaries \<, \> Not supported Use \b in PCRE mode

Known Issues

See tests/KNOWN_ISSUES.md for detailed limitations.

Examples

Config File Updates

# Preview version update
sedx --dry-run 's/version=[0-9.]+/version=2.0/' config.toml

# Apply
sedx 's/version=[0-9.]+/version=2.0/' config.toml

Log File Cleanup

# Remove all DEBUG lines
sedx '/DEBUG/d' app.log

# Keep only ERROR lines
sedx '/error/!d' app.log

Batch File Processing

# Process multiple files
sedx 's/foo/bar/g' *.txt

# With specific directory
sedx 's/old/new/g' src/**/*.rs

Complex Pattern Matching

# Email address redaction (PCRE default)
sedx 's/\b[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z|a-z]{2,}\b/REDACTED/g' file.txt

# Remove duplicate words
sedx 's/\b(\w+)\s+\1\b/$1/g' file.txt

# Number lines (add prefix)
sedx 's/^/LINE /' file.txt

Migration from GNU sed

Simple Substitutions

No changes needed—syntax is identical:

# GNU sed
sed 's/foo/bar/g' file.txt

# SedX (same syntax)
sedx 's/foo/bar/g' file.txt

Regex Patterns

GNU sed (BRE) → SedX (PCRE default)

# GNU sed
sed 's/\(foo\|bar\)/baz/g' file.txt

# SedX Option 1: Use PCRE (recommended)
sedx 's/(foo|bar)/baz/g' file.txt

# SedX Option 2: Use BRE mode for exact compatibility
sedx -B 's/\(foo\|bar\)/baz/g' file.txt

In-Place Editing

# GNU sed (destructive)
sed -i 's/foo/bar/' file.txt

# SedX (safe with backup)
sedx 's/foo/bar/' file.txt

# SedX (no backup, like GNU sed)
sedx --no-backup --force 's/foo/bar/' file.txt

Extended Regex

# GNU sed with -E
sed -E 's/(foo|bar)/baz/g' file.txt

# SedX with -E (same behavior)
sedx -E 's/(foo|bar)/baz/g' file.txt

# SedX default (PCRE syntax same as ERE)
sedx 's/(foo|bar)/baz/g' file.txt

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

# Run tests
cargo test

# Run integration tests
./tests/run_all_tests.sh

# Format code
cargo fmt

# Lint
cargo clippy -- -D warnings

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Support

Made with ❤️ and Rust by InkyQuill

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SedX is an extended Sed that can rollback changes and show changes with context. Useful for AI and scripts

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Releases 1

v1.0.0 Latest
Feb 26, 2026

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