in CLI tool

in is a lightweight Bash-based CLI tool that allows you to execute commands in directories simultaneously or sequentially. It supports glob patterns, brace expansion, comma-separated lists, and parallel execution.

• Flexible Targets: Specify directories using standard wildcards (project*), brace expansion (by shell), comma-separated lists (front,back), or exact paths.
• Parallel Execution: Run commands concurrently across directories using -P.
• Zero Dependencies: Pure Bash script (requires Bash 3.2+).
• Subshell Isolation: Commands run in subshells, keeping your current working directory intact.

Usage

in [OPTIONS] [DIRECTORIES...] [--] COMMAND...

Recommendation: It is optional but highly recommended to quote your command string (e.g., in * "git status").

Quoting is mandatory if your command contains:

• Shell operators: &&, ||, ;, |, >
• Wildcards belonging to the command: *, ? (e.g., rm *.log)

Options

Flag	Description
-d, --dry	Dry run (print commands without executing).
-h, --help	Show help message.
-P, --parallel N	Run in parallel with N jobs (default: 1).
-v, --verbose	Enable verbose output (debug logs).

Examples

See EXAMPLES.md for 50+ real-world examples.

# Git operations
in project* git status
in repos/* git pull

# Package management
in packages/* npm install
in frontend,backend yarn build

# Parallel execution (faster builds)
in -P 4 packages/* pnpm build

# Command Chaining (runs in shell automatically when quoted)
in packages/* "pnpm update && git commit -am 'update' && git push"
in services/* "docker build . || echo 'Build failed'"

# Dry Run (Preview what will happen)
in -d packages/* "rm -rf node_modules"

# Shell features (pipes, redirects, wildcards inside dir)
in src/* "ls -l | grep .ts"
in logs/* "rm *.old"
in ./* "wc -l *.json > stats.txt"

Important Note on Wildcards

When using wildcards (glob patterns) like *.txt in your command, your shell (bash/zsh) will try to expand them before running in ⚠️

• ❌ Incorrect: in projects/* ls *.txt Issue: The shell expands *.txt in your current directory, not inside projects/*. If no txt files exist locally, it might fail or pass the literal string.

• ✅ Correct: in projects/* ls my-file.txt Works because no wildcards are used.

• ✅ Correct: in projects/* "ls *.txt" Why: By quoting "ls *.txt", in automatically enables shell mode, protecting the wildcard from your current shell so it expands inside each target directory.

Installation

Automatic (Recommended)

Run the installer script:

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/inevolin/in-cli/main/install.sh | bash

To install with a custom name (e.g., indo or in-cli) to avoid conflicts with the shell keyword in, pass the name as an argument:

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/inevolin/in-cli/main/install.sh | bash -s -- indo

Non-root Installation: If you do not have sudo privileges or prefer to install to a specific directory (e.g., ~/.local/bin), you can override the destination using the DEST_DIR environment variable:

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/inevolin/in-cli/main/install.sh | DEST_DIR=~/.local/bin bash -s -- indo

Manual

1. Clone the repo or download in.sh.
2. Make it executable: chmod +x in.sh
3. Move to your path: sudo mv in.sh /usr/local/bin/in

Motivation

While tools like find and xargs are powerful, constructing correct commands for simple tasks is often cumbersome and error-prone.

Compare:

Running git status in all subdirectories:

With find:

find . -maxdepth 1 -type d -not -name '.' -execdir git status \;

With xargs:

ls -d */ | xargs -I {} sh -c 'cd {} && git status'

With in:

in * git status

Why in is simpler:

• No boilerplate: Forget about -maxdepth, -execdir, -print0, or complex xargs flags.
• Intuitive: It works just like running a command, but applied to multiple places.
• Safety defaults: Handles directory paths with spaces correctly without arcane flags.
• Easy Parallelism: Just add -P 4 to run 4 jobs at once. Doing this with xargs often leads to complex quoting or syntax.

Uninstallation

To remove in, delete the executable from your path:

sudo rm "$(which in)"

Testing

This project includes a comprehensive test suite covering all features and regressions.

# Run all tests
./tests.sh

Requirements

• Shell: Bash 3.2 or higher
• Operating Systems:
  • Linux (all distributions)
  • macOS 10.5+
  • BSD systems (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD)
  • Windows (via WSL, Git Bash, or Cygwin)
• Dependencies: None (pure Bash)

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to open a pull request with improvements, bug fixes, or new features.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.