GitHub - keizo/ggrab: a manual context builder to for pasting into llms

3 min read Original article ↗

ggrab - Grug Grab Tool

A CLI tool for manually building context to paste into llm chats. ggrab gathers functions, classes, or entire files wraps them with xml and copies it to the clipboard.

Key Features

  • Smart Extraction: Grab entire files or specific functions/classes
  • Intelligent Autocompletion: File paths and function/class names
  • Token Counting: Built-in token counting for AI context limits
  • Language Support:
    • Python (AST-based extraction)
    • JavaScript (Esprima-based extraction)
    • Other files (full file extraction)

Quick Start

  1. Install:
pip install ggrab    # Basic install
# or
pipx install ggrab   # Recommended

Why pipx? The pipx install is recommended because it:

  • Won't interfere with other Python projects (creates its own venv)
  • Makes ggrab available globally in your terminal
  1. Setup:

Add the following to your shell config file (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or equivalent):

# Enable ggrab autocompletion
eval "$(register-python-argcomplete ggrab)"

Then reload your shell configuration:

# For bash
source ~/.bashrc

# For zsh
source ~/.zshrc

Usage

# Grab entire files
ggrab file.py

# Extract specific functions
ggrab file.py function1 function2

# Mix multiple files and functions
ggrab file1.py func1 func2 file2.js func3

# Now supports full directories (entire files only)
ggrab directory

# Skip files matching a pattern
ggrab directory/ --ignore *.test.*       # Skip test files
ggrab src/ -i node_modules         # Skip node_modules directory
ggrab . -i *.spec.*                # Skip spec files
ggrab . -i dist                    # Skip dist directory
ggrab . -i *.min.*                 # Skip minified files
ggrab . -i vendor                  # Skip vendor directory
ggrab . -i '*.generated.*'         # Skip generated files (quotes needed for *)
ggrab . -i "**/__pycache__/**"     # Skip Python cache dirs (quotes needed for **)
ggrab . -i '(dist|build)/*'        # Skip multiple dirs (quotes needed for special chars)

# Multiple patterns are also supported
ggrab . -i 'dist/*' -i 'build/*'                     # Can use multiple -i flags too

Press TAB at any time for smart autocompletion:

  • After ggrab: Shows file suggestions
  • After selecting a file: Shows available functions/classes

Examples

# Extract multiple functions from a Python file
$ ggrab utils.py parse_data validate_input
Gathered code from:
  - utils.py, functions: parse_data, validate_input (203 tokens)

===== Combined Snippets (copied to clipboard) =====

# Extract from multiple files
$ ggrab api.py handle_request db.js queryDatabase
Gathered code from:
  - api.py, functions: handle_request (156 tokens)
  - db.js, functions: queryDatabase (178 tokens)

Total tokens across all files: 334

Performance Features

  • Lazy Loading: Heavy dependencies load only when needed
  • Smart Caching: Function/class listings cached for quick access
  • Hybrid Parsing: Fast regex for completion, accurate AST/Esprima for extraction

Requirements

  • Python 3.7+
  • Required: argcomplete
  • Optional but recommended:
    • pyperclip (clipboard support)
    • tiktoken (token counting)
    • esprima (JavaScript parsing)

Advanced Setup

Disable completion sorting (optional):

complete -o nosort -F _python_argcomplete ggrab

For zsh users:

autoload -U compinit && compinit
autoload -U bashcompinit && bashcompinit
eval "$(register-python-argcomplete ggrab)"

Acknowledgments

  • Developed -- ok, prompted into existance by Claude 3.5, o1 pro. Fixed up to working order by Keizo Gates making GrugNotes :)

License

MIT License

For bug reports and feature requests, please open an issue on GitHub.