File Utilities

A toolkit for common file operations using Python standard library only.

When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when the user needs to:

• Find files matching certain criteria (pattern, size, date)
• Count lines in files (with optional pattern matching)
• Get detailed file information (size, type, encoding)
• Compare two files (text or binary)

Available Scripts

Always run scripts with --help first to see all available options.

Decision Tree

Task → What do you need?
    │
    ├─ Find files matching criteria?
    │   └─ Use: find_files.py <path> --pattern "*.py"
    │
    ├─ Count lines (or matches)?
    │   └─ Use: count_lines.py <file>
    │
    ├─ Get file information?
    │   └─ Use: file_stats.py <file>
    │
    └─ Compare two files?
        └─ Use: compare_files.py <file1> <file2>

Quick Examples

Find files:

python scripts/find_files.py . --pattern "*.py"
python scripts/find_files.py /var/log --pattern "*.log" --size +1M
python scripts/find_files.py . --modified-within 7d

Count lines:

python scripts/count_lines.py myfile.txt
python scripts/count_lines.py src/ --pattern "*.py" --total
python scripts/count_lines.py code.py --match "TODO"

File statistics:

python scripts/file_stats.py document.txt
python scripts/file_stats.py image.png --checksum

Compare files:

python scripts/compare_files.py old.txt new.txt
python scripts/compare_files.py file1.bin file2.bin --binary
python scripts/compare_files.py config1.yaml config2.yaml --unified

Size Suffixes

For find_files.py --size:

• B or no suffix: bytes
• K: kilobytes (1024 bytes)
• M: megabytes
• G: gigabytes

Prefixes:

• +1M: larger than 1 MB
• -100K: smaller than 100 KB
• 1M: exactly 1 MB (rarely used)

Time Formats

For find_files.py time filters:

• 7d: 7 days
• 24h: 24 hours
• 30m: 30 minutes
• 2w: 2 weeks

Common Use Cases

1. Find large log files: find_files.py /var/log --pattern "*.log" --size +100M
2. Count code lines: count_lines.py src/ --pattern "*.py" --total
3. Find recently modified: find_files.py . --modified-within 1d
4. Check file encoding: file_stats.py data.csv
5. Compare configs: compare_files.py old.conf new.conf

Notes

• All scripts use Python standard library only (no external dependencies)
• Handles both text and binary files appropriately
• Encoding detection is best-effort for text files
• Symbolic links are followed by default