🚀 Project Name : Wingrep

Windows utility combining Linux grep functionality with anew-like merge capabilities

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📌 Overview

WinGrep is your essential command-line text search utility designed specifically for Windows environments. While Linux users enjoy powerful tools like grep and anew, Windows users often struggle with limited native text processing capabilities. WinGrep bridges this gap by combining the familiar grep functionality with anew-like merge capabilities, all optimized for Windows workflows.

Whether you're analyzing logs, processing bug bounty data, or filtering large text files, WinGrep provides pattern matching, regex support, and unique line collection in one lightweight executable. Simply search your patterns, collect unique results, and streamline your text processing tasks without juggling multiple tools or complex PowerShell syntax.

🤔 Why This Name?

Win (Windows) + Grep (Global Regular Expression Print) = WinGrep

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📚 Requirements & Dependencies

• Windows 7.0 or later
• No additional dependencies required

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⚡ Installation

If you have Git installed :

1. Git clone this repo

git clone https://github.com/gigachad80/Wingrep
cd Wingrep

2. Now build Go executable :

go build -o wingrep.exe

3. Run Powershell ISE as administrator and Go to the direcctory where you have cloned the repo then run this command :

.\install-wingrep.ps1

If you haven't Git installed .

1. Go to releases section and download the exe file as per your architecture.

2. Now , Run Powershell ISE as administrator and Go to the direcctory where you have cloned the repo then run this command .

.\install-wingrep.ps1

🔧 Features & Command Options

Core Features

• ✅ Linux grep compatibility - Works with pipes just like Linux grep
• ✅ Case-sensitive and case-insensitive search
• ✅ Line numbers support
• ✅ Multiple file support
• ✅ Regex support (extended regex with -E)
• ✅ Invert matching (show non-matching lines)
• ✅ Stdin support - Reads from stdin when no files specified
• ✅ Windows native - Works in Command Prompt and PowerShell
• ✅ Anew-like merge mode - Append unique lines to files

Comparison with Linux grep and anew

Feature	Linux grep	anew	wingrep
Pattern matching	✅	❌	✅
Case insensitive	✅	❌	✅
Line numbers	✅	❌	✅
Regex support	✅	❌	✅
Unique line dedup	❌	✅	✅
Append to file	❌	✅	✅
Windows native	❌	❌	✅
Stdin support	✅	✅	✅

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Command Options

Option	Description
-i	Ignore case
-n	Show line numbers
-v	Invert match (show non-matching lines)
-E	Use extended regex
-m <file>	Merge mode: append unique matching lines to file (anew-like)
-q	Quiet mode: don't print to stdout when using merge mode
-d	Dry run: show what would be added without writing to file
-h	Show help

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📖 Usage Examples

Basic Grep Operations

# Search for "error" in a file
wingrep "error" logfile.txt

# Search ignoring case
wingrep -i "ERROR" logfile.txt

# Show line numbers
wingrep -n "function" code.js

# Use with pipe (like Linux)
type file.txt | wingrep "pattern"
cat file.txt | wingrep "pattern"

# Multiple files
wingrep "TODO" *.js *.go *.py

# Invert match (show lines that DON'T contain pattern)
wingrep -v "comment" code.js

# Use regex patterns
wingrep -E "^[0-9]+" numbers.txt

Windows Command Equivalents

# Instead of Linux: cat file.txt | grep "pattern"
# Use: type file.txt | wingrep "pattern" ( CMD.exe )
# Or: cat file.txt | wingrep "pattern" (if you have cat via Git Bash)

# Find errors in log files
wingrep -i "error" *.log

# Find function definitions in code
wingrep -n "function\|def\|func" *.js *.py *.go

# Find IP addresses (regex)
wingrep -E "[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}" access.log

# Search in piped output
dir | wingrep ".txt"
netstat -an | wingrep ":80"

New! Anew-like Merge Mode

The -m flag enables anew-like functionality, allowing you to append unique matching lines to a file while avoiding duplicates.

# Basic merge - append unique matching lines to output.txt
cat input.txt | wingrep -m output.txt "pattern" ( Powershell ) 

# Collect unique error messages from multiple log files
wingrep -i -m unique-errors.txt "error" *.log

# Quiet mode - don't print to stdout, just append to file
wingrep -m domains.txt -q "\.com" urls.txt

# Dry run - see what would be added without writing
wingrep -m results.txt -d "TODO" *.go

# Combine with other flags
wingrep -i -n -m matches.txt "function" *.js

Merge Mode Behavior

• Deduplication: Only lines that don't already exist in the target file are appended
• Stdout output: New unique lines are printed to stdout (unless -q is used)
• File creation: Target file is created if it doesn't exist
• Preserves order: Lines are appended in the order they're found

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🔥 Real-World Use Cases

Security Analysis

# Collect unique failed login attempts
wingrep -i -m failed-logins.txt "failed.*login" *.log

# Find unique suspicious IPs
wingrep -E "blocked.*[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+" -m suspicious-ips.txt security.log

Development Workflow

# Collect all TODO items across project
wingrep -i -m todos.txt "todo\|fixme\|hack" *.js *.py *.go

# Find unique API endpoints
wingrep -E "GET|POST|PUT|DELETE.*/" -m endpoints.txt *.log

# Gather unique error patterns
wingrep -E "Exception|Error.*:" -m errors.txt *.log

Log Analysis

# Collect unique error codes from web server logs
wingrep -E "HTTP [4-5][0-9][0-9]" -m http-errors.txt access.log

# Find unique database errors
wingrep -i -m db-errors.txt "database.*error\|connection.*failed" *.log

# Gather unique user agents
wingrep -E "User-Agent: .*" -m user-agents.txt access.log

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🏆 WinGrep vs PowerShell Comparison

🤡 PowerShell vs 🗿 WinGrep: The Battle of Text Processing

Task	PowerShell 🤡	WinGrep 🗿	Winner
Basic Pattern Search	Select-String "pattern" file.txt	wingrep "pattern" file.txt	🗿 Shorter syntax
Case Insensitive Search	Select-String -Pattern "pattern" -CaseSensitive:$false file.txt	wingrep -i "pattern" file.txt	🗿 Much simpler
Show Line Numbers	Select-String "pattern" file.txt | Select-Object LineNumber,Line	wingrep -n "pattern" file.txt	🗿 One flag vs pipeline
Invert Match	Get-Content file.txt | Where-Object {$_ -notmatch "pattern"}	wingrep -v "pattern" file.txt	🗿 Direct flag
Regex Search	Select-String -Pattern "^[0-9]+" file.txt	wingrep -E "^[0-9]+" file.txt	🗿 Simpler flag
Multiple Files	Select-String "pattern" *.txt | Format-Table	wingrep "pattern" *.txt	🗿 Native support

📊 Advanced Operations Comparison

Operation	PowerShell 🤡	WinGrep 🗿	Complexity
Search + Get Unique Lines	Select-String "ERROR" *.log | Select-Object -Property Line -Unique | Out-File unique.txt	wingrep -m unique.txt "ERROR" *.log	PS: 3 cmdlets vs WG: 1 flag
Case Insensitive + Line Numbers + Multiple Files	Select-String -Pattern "error" -CaseSensitive:$false *.log | Select-Object Filename,LineNumber,Line	wingrep -i -n "error" *.log	PS: Complex pipeline vs WG: 2 flags
Regex + Invert + Unique Collection	Get-Content *.txt | Where-Object {$_ -notmatch "^#"} | Sort-Object -Unique | Out-File result.txt	wingrep -E -v -m result.txt "^#" *.txt	PS: 4 cmdlets vs WG: 3 flags
Dry Run Preview	$results = Get-Content file.txt | Where-Object {...}; Write-Host "Would add $($results.Count) lines"	wingrep -d -m output.txt "pattern" file.txt	PS: Custom scripting vs WG: Built-in flag

🔥 Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Log Analysis

Task: Find all ERROR lines from multiple log files, get unique ones, save to file

PowerShell 🤡	WinGrep 🗿
$errors = Select-String "ERROR" *.log<br>$unique = $errors | Select-Object -Property Line -Unique<br>$unique | Out-File -FilePath errors.txt	bash<br>wingrep -m errors.txt "ERROR" *.log<br>
3 lines, 3 variables	1 line, done

Scenario 2: URL Collection (Bug Bounty)

Task: Extract unique URLs containing "api" from multiple files, case insensitive

PowerShell 🤡	WinGrep 🗿
$urls = Select-String -Pattern "api" -CaseSensitive:$false *.txt<br>$unique_urls = $urls | Select-Object -Property Line -Unique<br>$unique_urls | Out-File -FilePath api_urls.txt -Append<br>	bash<br>wingrep -i -m api_urls.txt "api" *.txt<br>
3 commands, pipeline hell	1 command, clean

Scenario 3: Configuration File Processing

Task: Find lines NOT starting with #, show line numbers, case insensitive

PowerShell 🤡	WinGrep 🗿
Get-Content config.txt | <br> ForEach-Object -Begin {$i=0} -Process {<br> $i++; if($_ -notmatch "^#") {<br> Write-Output "$i`:$_"<br> }<br> }<br>	bash<br>wingrep -v -n "^#" config.txt<br>
Complex loop + logic	2 flags, simple

🚀 Performance & Memory Comparison

Aspect	PowerShell 🤡	WinGrep 🗿
Startup Time	~2-3 seconds (PowerShell initialization)	~50ms (native binary)
Memory Usage	~50-100MB (PowerShell runtime)	~3MB (Go binary)
Large Files	Can crash with Out-of-Memory	Streams data efficiently
Pipeline Overhead	Each | creates new process	Single process handles all

💀 PowerShell Pain Points vs WinGrep Solutions

PowerShell Problems 🤡	WinGrep Solutions 🗿
Verbose syntax: Select-String -Pattern "x" -CaseSensitive:$false	Concise: wingrep -i "x"
Pipeline complexity: cmd1 | cmd2 | cmd3	Single command with flags
No built-in unique merge	Native -m flag (anew-like)
Memory hungry for large files	Efficient streaming
Slow startup due to .NET initialization	Instant startup (native binary)
Complex object manipulation required	Direct text processing
No dry-run capabilities	Built-in -d flag
Escaping hell with special characters	Simple pattern matching

🏆 Why WinGrep Wins

✅ Simplicity

• PowerShell: Select-String -Pattern "ERROR" -CaseSensitive:$false *.log | Select-Object -Property Line -Unique | Out-File errors.txt
• WinGrep: wingrep -i -m errors.txt "ERROR" *.log

✅ Performance

• Native Go binary vs PowerShell's .NET overhead
• Single process vs multiple pipeline processes
• Memory efficient streaming vs object-heavy processing

✅ Features

• Built-in unique line collection (like anew)
• Dry-run capabilities
• Simple flag-based interface
• Cross-architecture support (amd64, arm64, 386)

✅ User Experience

• Familiar grep syntax for Unix users
• No PowerShell knowledge required
• Portable single executable
• Consistent behavior across Windows versions

🎯 Bottom Line

PowerShell 🤡: "Let me write🤓☝️ a complex pipeline with multiple cmdlets, object manipulation, and pray it doesn't run out of memory..."

WinGrep 🗿: "One command, few flags, job done. Next!"

WinGrep makes you feel like a text processing ninja 🥷, while PowerShell makes you feel like you're debugging someone else's spaghetti code 🍝

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📊 Feature Comparison Table

🛠️ Advanced Usage

Flag Combinations Summary

Command	Description
wingrep "pattern"	Basic search
wingrep -i "pattern"	Case-insensitive
wingrep -n "pattern"	Show line numbers
wingrep -v "pattern"	Invert match
wingrep -E "pattern"	Use regex
wingrep -m file "pattern"	Merge unique matches to file
wingrep -i -n "pattern"	Case-insensitive + line numbers
wingrep -v -n "pattern"	Invert + line numbers
wingrep -E -i "pattern"	Regex + case-insensitive
wingrep -m file -q "pattern"	Merge quietly (no stdout)
wingrep -m file -d "pattern"	Dry run merge

Combining with Other Windows Commands

# Find files containing pattern
dir /b *.txt | wingrep "sample"

# Find running processes
tasklist | wingrep -i "chrome"

# Find network connections
netstat -an | wingrep ":80"

# Merge unique results from multiple commands
tasklist | wingrep -m processes.txt "chrome"
netstat -an | wingrep -m connections.txt ":80"

Practical Merge Examples

# Collect unique URLs from multiple files
wingrep -E "https?://[^\s]+" -m all-urls.txt *.html *.txt

# Gather unique error codes
wingrep -E "HTTP [4-5][0-9][0-9]" -m error-codes.txt access.log

# Collect unique IP addresses
wingrep -E "[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}" -m ips.txt *.log

# Find unique function names across codebase
wingrep -E "function\s+\w+" -m functions.txt *.js

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🧪 Sample Data & Examples

Sample Files Setup

sample.txt

Error: Database connection failed
INFO: Application started successfully
Warning: Low disk space detected
ERROR: Authentication failed for user john
Debug: Processing request #12345
Info: User login successful
error: File not found

code.js

function calculateTotal() {
    console.log("Starting calculation");
    return total;
}

// TODO: Add error handling
var result = calculateTotal();
function processData() {
    // Handle data processing
}

Example Commands and Outputs

# Case-insensitive search with line numbers
C:\> type sample.txt | wingrep -i -n "error" ( CMD.exe )
1:Error: Database connection failed
4:ERROR: Authentication failed for user john
7:error: File not found

# Find functions in code files
C:\> wingrep -n "function" code.js
1:function calculateTotal() {
7:function processData() {

# Invert match - show non-error lines
C:\> type sample.txt | wingrep -v -i "error" ( CMD.exe )
INFO: Application started successfully
Warning: Low disk space detected
Debug: Processing request #12345
Info: User login successful

# Regex: find lines starting with numbers
C:\> type log.txt | wingrep -E "^[0-9]" ( CMD.exe )
2024-01-15 10:30:25 [INFO] Server started
2024-01-15 10:31:12 [ERROR] Database timeout

# Merge mode: collect unique errors
C:\> wingrep -i -m errors.txt "error" *.log
ERROR: Database timeout
ERROR: Failed to save data
(these lines are also appended to errors.txt)

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📋 Tips and Best Practices

1. Use merge mode for collecting unique data across multiple files
2. Combine flags for powerful filtering: -i -n -m results.txt
3. Use dry run mode (-d) to preview what would be added
4. Quiet mode (-q) is perfect for silent data collection
5. Regex mode (-E) enables powerful pattern matching
6. Remember: You can wingrep with cat if you're running using Powershell and use type if you're using CMD.

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🙃 Why I Created This

I created WinGrep to have a single, convenient tool for text processing without PowerShell's verbose cmdlets or complex terminal setups. Instead of remembering Select-String -Pattern "error" -CaseSensitive:$false *.log | Select-Object -Property Line -Unique | Out-File results.txt for simple pattern matching, I wanted familiar grep-style commands like wingrep -i -m results.txt "error" *.log that just work.

I don't want to write bloated PS commands, and as an avid Linux user, I prefer simple grep-like syntax. I know WSL exists, and terminal emulators like Tabby (which I personally use) work great, but why change shells when you can simply open PS or CMD and run the command?

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⌚ Development Stats

**Total Time taken to develop, test and writing README : Approx 3 hr - 3 hr 30 min

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💓 Credits

• @tomnomnom for creating anew for inspiration

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📞 Contact

📧 Email: pookielinuxuser@tutamail.com

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📄 License

Licensed under GNU Affero General Public License 3.0

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Need help? Run wingrep -h for quick reference or check the examples above! or contact at mail or raise issuse

🕒 Last Updated: June 17, 2025