Official website: OpenRegex.com

OpenRegex is a unified, open-source platform for testing, debugging, and analyzing regular expressions within isolated runtimes (Runtime-as-a-Service). It provides developers with a tool that guarantees 100% result consistency with the target production environment, eliminating the discrepancies between native regex dialects.

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🌟 Key Features

• Polyglot Micro-Workers: Native engine execution via completely isolated Docker containers.
• Pattern Inspector: Advanced React + Vite frontend for dynamic visual match inspection and group highlighting.
• AI-Powered Assistant (worker-ai): An optional, independent worker using separate queues designed specifically for regex. It automatically generates complex patterns from natural language prompts, explains obscure syntax, and optimizes inefficient queries. 🛡️ Security Note: For production deployments, it is highly recommended to route requests through an LLM proxy server (like LiteLLM) to safely manage and isolate your API keys rather than exposing them directly to the worker environment.
• Zero-Trust Guardrails: 1000ms SLA (engine-dependent overrides possible), strict memory limits (e.g., 8MB heap limits for binary engines), and multiprocessing isolation to prevent ReDoS attacks.
• Living Docs System: Dynamic knowledge base featuring context-aware cheat sheets and engine-specific trivia ( Factograph).
• Smart Discovery: Automatic heartbeat registration of worker node capabilities via Redis.

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🖼️ Feature Showcase

Multi Regex Engine Selection

Run patterns across multiple engines and compare results instantly.

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Cross-Engine Compatibility Report

Detect inconsistencies and portability issues between engines.

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Personal Storage

Store and manage regex patterns locally in your browser.

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Advanced Hint System

Hover tokens to get instant explanations.

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AI Optimization

Generate, explain, and optimize regex patterns.

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⚙️ Core Infrastructure

Component	Role	Tech Stack	Version	Downloads
Frontend	openregex-frontend	React + Vite UI. Handles visualization, and worker health monitoring.
Backend	openregex-backend	API Orchestrator. Manages Redis job queues, worker discovery, and security guardrails.
AI Worker (Optional)	worker-ai	LLM-powered Regex assistant. Generates, explains, and optimizes complex patterns.

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🚀 Engine Matrix

Worker Image	Engine ID	Algorithm	Features & Use Case	Version	Downloads
worker-python	python*_re	NFA	Standard re module. Susceptible to ReDoS.
worker-python	python*_regex	NFA (Advanced)	PyPI regex module. Variable lookbehinds, fuzzy matching.
worker-c-cpp	cpp_re2	DFA	Google RE2. Guaranteed $O(n)$ time, ReDoS-safe.
worker-c-cpp	cpp_std	NFA	Standard C++11 std::regex. ECMAScript default.
worker-c-cpp	cpp_boost	NFA (Advanced)	Boost.Regex. PCRE syntax, recursive patterns.
worker-c-cpp	cpp_hyperscan	DFA/Automata	Intel Hyperscan. High-performance stream scanning.
worker-c-cpp	c_pcre2	NFA/JIT	PCRE2 library. Industry standard for Perl-compatibility.
worker-c-cpp	c_onig	NFA	Oniguruma. Used in VS Code, supports multi-encoding.
worker-c-cpp	c_posix	NFA	POSIX regex.h. Standard libc implementation (ERE).
worker-dotnet	dotnet_standard	NFA (Advanced)	System.Text.RegularExpressions. Balancing groups.
worker-go	go_standard	DFA	Standard regexp package. ReDoS-safe, linear time.
worker-jvm	jvm_standard	NFA	Standard java.util.regex. Backtracking engine.
worker-jvm	jvm_re2j	DFA	Google's RE2J. Guaranteed $O(n)$ execution, ReDoS-safe.
worker-rust	rust_standard	DFA	Rust regex crate. Linear time $O(n)$, ReDoS-safe.
worker-v8	v8_standard	NFA	Native Node.js RegExp. Supports modern v flag.
worker-php	php_pcre	NFA	PHP preg_* functions. PCRE2 based.

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📡 System Topology

OpenRegex utilizes a microservices architecture managed via UV Workspaces:

1. OpenRegex Backend (FastAPI): Central API hub routing traffic using "Smart Discovery".
2. OpenRegex Frontend (React + Vite): The visual inspector UI.
3. Redis Backbone: Message broker handling task queues (queue:{family}) and result pub/sub channels ( result:{task_id}).
4. Worker Isolators: Isolated worker nodes (Python, C++, Java, etc.) executing sub-processes for exact native regex behaviors.

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🛠️ Installation & Deployment

OpenRegex 2.0 is fully containerized. You no longer need to manually install compilers or runtimes on your host machine.

Prerequisites

• Docker & Docker Compose
• Git

Quick Start

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone [https://github.com/sunnev/openregex.git](https://github.com/sunnev/openregex.git)
   cd openregex

2. Set up the Environment File:

   cp .env.example .env

3. Start the Development Environment:

   On Windows:

   .\deploy\run_deploy.bat

   On Linux/macOS:

   docker-compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml --env-file .env down -v
   docker-compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml --env-file .env up --build -d

4. Access the Application: Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:5000. The FastAPI backend will be available at http://localhost:8000.

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📝 Environment Configuration (.env)

To customize your OpenRegex deployment, you can configure various parameters in your .env file. Below is a breakdown of the available settings to manage SEO, rate limits, AI worker parameters, and strict execution boundaries:

Component	Environment Variable	Default Value	Explanation
Frontend	ROBOTS_META	"noindex, nofollow"	Controls search engine indexing for production environments. Set to "index, follow" to make the site public.
Frontend	VITE_APP_TERMS	""	Toggles the Terms of Service and Cookie Policy popup. Use accept to disable it.
Backend	RATE_LIMIT_REQUESTS	60	The maximum number of requests allowed per engine per minute to prevent abuse.
Backend	RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW	60	The time window (in seconds) for the rate-limiting threshold.
Backend	API_AI_ENDPOINT_ENABLE	"false"	Toggles the availability of the AI assistant endpoint (worker-ai).
Backend	API_REGEX_ENDPOINT_ENABLE	"true"	Toggles the core regex evaluation endpoint.
Backend	MAX_AI_QUEUE	10	Max users allowed in the human-agent waitlist before new requests are rejected.
AI Worker	AI_MAX_WORKERS	2	The maximum number of concurrent AI worker processes.
AI Worker	LLM_ENDPOINT	""	The base URL for the LLM service. Can be pointed to a proxy like LiteLLM.
AI Worker	LLM_MODEL	""	The specific LLM model used for generating, explaining, and optimizing patterns.
AI Worker	LLM_API_KEY	""	Your secret API key for the chosen LLM provider.
AI Worker	LLM_SSL_VERIFY	"true"	Determines whether SSL certificates should be verified when communicating with the LLM endpoint.
Regex Worker	WORKER_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT_MS	1000	The strict execution SLA (in milliseconds) applied across all regex workers to prevent ReDoS attacks.
Regex Worker	WORKER_MAX_INPUT_SIZE	10485760	The maximum allowed length (10MB) for the subject text being tested.
Regex Worker	WORKER_MAX_MATCHES	10000	The upper limit on the number of individual matches returned by the engine.
Regex Worker	WORKER_MAX_GROUPS	1000	The maximum number of capture groups processed per request.
Regex Worker	WORKER_MAX_JSON_SIZE	10485760	The maximum allowed size (10MB) for JSON payloads communicated over the Redis backbone.

🐳 Self-Hosting with Docker Compose

OpenRegex is designed to be easily self-hosted. Using Docker Compose, you can spin up the entire ecosystem—including the orchestration backend, the visual frontend, and the polyglot worker nodes—with a single command.

👉 Example Docker Compose File

Run docker-compose up -d to deploy.

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🏗️ Documentation

OpenRegex is built on strict architectural guidelines to ensure high performance and maintainability.

👉 Read the full Documentation Library & Technical Specifications

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OpenRegex Platform Changelog

This is the central orchestration log for the OpenRegex ecosystem. Detailed technical logs for individual components are maintained within their respective directories:

👉 Changelog table

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📜 Licensing

OpenRegex is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.

Worker components are executed as isolated services and may include third-party libraries under their own licenses ( e.g., BSD, MIT, LGPL). These licenses apply only to the respective worker environments and do not affect the licensing of the core platform.

For a full list of third-party dependencies and their licenses, see: Third-Party Licenses & Notices

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Compliance Guide

If you use OpenRegex:

• No obligations (Apache 2.0 allows commercial use)

If you redistribute:

You MUST:

• include LICENSE
• include NOTICE
• preserve attribution

If you modify:

• mark changes
• keep license notices

Third-party software:

Each worker includes separate licenses. See THIRD-PARTY-LICENSES.md

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