Core

Multi-purpose utility tool for managing data entries, searching, exporting, and running general-purpose tasks from the command line.

Commands

Command	Description
`run`	Execute the main function with given arguments
`config`	View or edit configuration (stored in `config.json`)
`status`	Show current status (ready / not ready)
`init`	Initialize the data directory and setup
`list`	List all entries from the data log
`add`	Add a new timestamped entry to the data log
`remove`	Remove an entry by identifier
`search`	Search entries by keyword (case-insensitive)
`export`	Export all data log contents to stdout
`info`	Show version and data directory info
`help`	Show help and list all commands
`version`	Print current version

Usage

core <command> [args]

All actions are logged to $DATA_DIR/history.log for auditing.

Data Storage

Default directory: ~/.local/share/core/
Override: Set the CORE_DIR environment variable to change the data directory.
Files:
history.log — timestamped log of every command executed
data.log — persistent data store for add, list, search, and export commands
config.json — configuration file (created by config)

Requirements

Bash 4+ (uses set -euo pipefail)
grep (for the search command)
No external dependencies or API keys required
Works on Linux, macOS, and WSL

When to Use

Tracking items or tasks — Use core add "buy groceries" to log timestamped entries, then core list to review them all.
Quick data lookups — Run core search "keyword" to find entries matching a keyword across your data log.
Exporting data for other tools — Use core export > data.csv to pipe all stored data into a file for processing with other scripts.
Running ad-hoc tasks — Execute core run "task-name" for general-purpose task execution with automatic logging.
Checking system readiness — Run core status to verify the tool is initialized and ready, or core info to see version and directory details.

Examples

# Initialize core in the default data directory
core init

# Add a new entry
core add "Deploy v2.1 to production"

# List all entries
core list

# Search for entries containing "deploy"
core search deploy

# Export all data
core export > backup.txt

# Run a task
core run "nightly-backup"

# Check status
core status

# View configuration
core config

# Show version and data directory info
core info

# Remove an entry
core remove "old-entry"

Output

All command output goes to stdout. Redirect to a file if needed:

core list > entries.txt
core export > full-export.txt

Configuration

Set CORE_DIR to customize where data is stored:

export CORE_DIR=/path/to/custom/dir