RegexCraft

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Library and History

Library and History

RegexCraft ships real, persistent Library and History stores so patterns survive app restarts. Preferences (theme, flavor, GREP paths, window size) live in a separate settings file.

Where data lives

JSON files under the user application data folder:

Platform Typical path
macOS ~/Library/Application Support/RegexCraft/
Windows %AppData%\RegexCraft\
Linux ~/.config/RegexCraft/ (or XDG config)

Files:

  • library.json — saved patterns and built-in defaults
  • history.json — recent patterns
  • settings.json — theme, flavor, options, GREP defaults, window bounds

Library

Open the Library tab on the left sidebar.

Built-in patterns

RegexCraft includes a curated set of built-in regular expressions (email, URL, IPv4/IPv6, phone numbers, ISO/US/EU dates, time, hex color, UUID, credit card, strong password, HTML tags, whitespace runs, log levels, ISO datetime, slug, semver, and more).

  • Shown with a Built-in badge
  • Cannot be deleted (delete control is hidden)
  • Pattern body is refreshed from the app on upgrade
  • You can favorite built-ins; favorites are preserved across restarts
  • Load works the same as for user entries

Save (user entries)

  1. Set the pattern (and optional subject/replacement/options/flavor) in the main UI.
  2. Enter a Name and optional Description.
  3. Optionally set Category, Tags (comma-separated), and Favorite.
  4. Click Save to Library.

Saved entries store:

  • Name, description, category, tags, favorite flag
  • Pattern, subject, replacement
  • Flavor id
  • Regex options (ignore case, multiline, singleline, explicit capture, ignore pattern whitespace)

Load / search / delete / favorite

  • Use the search box to filter by name, description, pattern, subject, category, tags, or “built-in”.
  • Favorites sort to the top of the list.
  • ★ / ☆ toggles favorite without re-entering the form.
  • Load restores the entry into the editor and switches to Test.
  • ✕ deletes user entries only.

History

Open the History tab.

  • After successful tests (and when the pattern stabilizes during live use), RegexCraft records a history entry.
  • Entries are de-duplicated and capped (default ~40).
  • Use Search history… to filter by pattern, subject, replacement, or flavor id.
  • Click an entry to restore pattern (and subject/replacement/flavor when available).
  • Clear empties history.

History does not store full option checkboxes (flavor + pattern + subject + replacement only). Use the Library for full snapshots.

Tips

  • Name library items by intent (Email addresses, ISO dates) rather than the raw pattern.
  • Start from a built-in, tweak, then Save as a new user entry.
  • Use categories/tags for large libraries (e.g. Validation, Logs).
  • Use History for quick undo of exploratory edits; use Library for keepers.
  • Library saves are logged via Serilog.