# tomnomnom/gf

A wrapper around grep, to help you grep for things

Repository: https://github.com/tomnomnom/gf
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/tomnomnom-gf
Language: Go
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2024-06-08T11:35:23+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2908, "days_push": 816, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2139, forks 342 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:18.247926+00:00)

## What it is
gf is a Go-based command-line wrapper around grep that lets you save and reuse named regex patterns and flags as JSON files. It simplifies running complex grep commands, especially for code auditing and security research, and supports alternative search engines like the silver searcher.

## Use cases
- grep for common patterns without typing complex regex
- audit codebases for potential vulnerabilities
- search large amounts of data with saved patterns
- find php input sources in source code
- use the silver searcher instead of grep with named patterns
- keep a version-controlled library of grep patterns

## When to choose
- you frequently run complex grep patterns and want to name and reuse them
- you audit code for security issues and need consistent pattern matching
- you want tab-completion for your saved search patterns
- you want to swap grep for faster engines like ag while keeping the same interface

## When to avoid
- you only need grep occasionally with simple patterns
- you need a full code search engine with indexing rather than a grep wrapper
- you need a GUI-based search tool

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: search-engine, developer-tools, cli
- domain: security, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cli
- tags: grep-wrapper, pattern-matching, bug-bounty, code-auditing, shell-completion, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- tomnomnom/gf (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:18.247926+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:51:35.163691+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/tomnomnom/gf (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:18.247926+00:00, sha 3a33d76a3ab7)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.