Format

Developer toolkit for checking, validating, formatting, linting, converting, and managing code and text entries. All operations are logged with timestamps and stored locally for full traceability.

Commands

Command	Usage	Description
`check`	`format check <input>`	Record a check entry or view recent checks
`validate`	`format validate <input>`	Record a validation entry or view recent validations
`generate`	`format generate <input>`	Record a generate entry or view recent generations
`format`	`format format <input>`	Record a format entry or view recent formatting operations
`lint`	`format lint <input>`	Record a lint entry or view recent lint results
`explain`	`format explain <input>`	Record an explain entry or view recent explanations
`convert`	`format convert <input>`	Record a convert entry or view recent conversions
`template`	`format template <input>`	Record a template entry or view recent templates
`diff`	`format diff <input>`	Record a diff entry or view recent diffs
`preview`	`format preview <input>`	Record a preview entry or view recent previews
`fix`	`format fix <input>`	Record a fix entry or view recent fixes
`report`	`format report <input>`	Record a report entry or view recent reports
`stats`	`format stats`	Show summary statistics across all entry types
`export <fmt>`	`format export json\|csv\|txt`	Export all entries to JSON, CSV, or plain text
`search <term>`	`format search <term>`	Search across all log files for a keyword
`recent`	`format recent`	Show the 20 most recent history entries
`status`	`format status`	Health check — version, entry count, disk usage, last activity
`help`	`format help`	Show help with all available commands
`version`	`format version`	Print version string

Each command (check, validate, generate, format, lint, explain, convert, template, diff, preview, fix, report) works the same way:

With arguments: Saves the input with a timestamp to <command>.log and logs to history.log.
Without arguments: Displays the 20 most recent entries from <command>.log.

Data Storage

All data is stored locally at ~/.local/share/format/:

<command>.log — Timestamped entries for each command (e.g., check.log, lint.log)
history.log — Unified activity log across all commands
export.json, export.csv, export.txt — Generated export files

No cloud, no network calls, no API keys required. Fully offline.

Requirements

Bash 4+ (uses set -euo pipefail)
Standard Unix utilities (date, wc, du, grep, head, tail)
No external dependencies

When to Use

Logging code review notes — Use format check or format lint to record issues found during code reviews, keeping a timestamped trail of findings.
Tracking format and conversion tasks — Use format convert and format format to log what was converted or reformatted, building an audit trail.
Generating reports from logged data — Use format report to record report items, then format export json to extract structured data for dashboards or further processing.
Searching past operations — Use format search <term> to find specific entries across all log files when you need to recall what was done previously.
Monitoring toolkit health — Use format status to verify the tool is operational, check disk usage, and see when the last activity occurred.

Examples

# Record a check entry
format check "validate JSON schema for config.yaml"

# Record a lint finding
format lint "unused import in main.go line 42"

# View recent format operations (no args = list mode)
format format

# Convert and log the action
format convert "CSV to JSON for user_data.csv"

# Generate a diff note
format diff "comparison between v1.2 and v1.3 API responses"

# Search all logs for a keyword
format search "config"

# Export everything to JSON
format export json

# View summary statistics
format stats

# Health check
format status

# View recent activity
format recent

How It Works

Format stores all data locally in ~/.local/share/format/. Each command logs activity with timestamps in the format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM|<input>, enabling full traceability. The unified history.log records every operation with MM-DD HH:MM <command>: <input> format for cross-command auditing.