Strings-LE

Extract string values from config files, data files and plain text.
Open source Open in the app JSON README (API)
About

Extract string values from config files, data files and plain text.
Details

Kind: MCP servers
Topic: No topic detected
Publisher: nolindnaidoo
Origin: official
Category: ferramentas
Transport: local
Version: 2.3.0
Stars: 1
Open pull requests: 1
Last push: 2026-09-01T23:25:06Z
Repository state: ativo
Language: TypeScript
License: MIT
Added: 2026-08-29 04:00:55
Updated: 2026-08-29 04:00:55
Origin id: io.github.nolindnaidoo/string-le
README

<p align="center">
  <img src="src/assets/images/icon.png" alt="Strings-LE Logo" width="96" height="96"/>
</p>
<h1 align="center">Strings-LE: Zero Hassle String Extraction</h1>
<p align="center">
  <b>Pull every string value out of the current file in one keystroke</b><br/>
  <i>JSON/JSONC, YAML, CSV/TSV, TOML, INI, Environment files, and ten source languages</i>
</p>

<p align="center">
  <a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=nolindnaidoo.string-le">
    <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Install%20from-VS%20Code-blue?style=for-the-badge&logo=visualstudiocode" alt="Install from VS Code Marketplace" />
  </a>
  <a href="https://open-vsx.org/extension/OffensiveEdge/string-le">
    <img src="https://img.shields.io/open-vsx/dt/OffensiveEdge/string-le?style=for-the-badge&label=Open%20VSX&color=blue" alt="Open VSX downloads" />
  </a>
  <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/string-le-mcp">
    <img src="https://img.shields.io/npm/v/string-le-mcp?style=for-the-badge&label=MCP%20server&color=blue&logo=npm" alt="string-le-mcp on npm" />
  </a>
  <a href="https://crates.io/crates/string-le">
    <img src="https://img.shields.io/crates/v/string-le?style=for-the-badge&label=Rust%20CLI&color=blue&logo=rust" alt="string-le on crates.io" />
  </a>
  <a href="https://letools.dev/tools/string-le">
    <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/LE%20Tools-letools.dev-blue?style=for-the-badge" alt="LE Tools" />
  </a>
</p>

---

<p align="center">
  <img src="src/assets/images/demo.gif" alt="String-LE Demo" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;" />
</p>

> **Useful?** A star or rating is how other developers find it —
> [★ GitHub](https://github.com/nolindnaidoo/string-le) ·
> [★ Open VSX](https://open-vsx.org/extension/OffensiveEdge/string-le/reviews) ·
> [★ Marketplace](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=nolindnaidoo.string-le&ssr=false#review-details)

## What it does

Open a file, press `Ctrl+Alt+E` (`Cmd+Alt+E` on Mac), and every string value in the document lands in a new editor — deduplicate and sort it from there. Works in VS Code and in VS Code–based editors like Cursor and VSCodium (installable from Open VSX).

- **i18n prep** — flatten locale files (JSON/YAML) into a clean list of translatable values
- **Config review** — see every string value in a TOML/INI/.env file at a glance
- **CSV mining** — pull one column, several, or all of them; stream very large files

## Install

| Where | What you get | Install |
|---|---|---|
| **VS Code** | The same extraction, in your editor, on a keystroke | [Marketplace](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=nolindnaidoo.string-le) |
| **Cursor, VSCodium, Windsurf** | The same extension | [Open VSX](https://open-vsx.org/extension/OffensiveEdge/string-le) |
| **A terminal or a CI step** | The same run over a whole tree, with exit codes | `cargo install string-le` · [crates.io](https://crates.io/crates/string-le) |
| **Any MCP agent, via Node** | `extract_strings` over stdio | `npx string-le-mcp` · [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/string-le-mcp) |
| **Zed** | The MCP server as a context server | [add it by hand](https://zed.dev/docs/ai/mcp) *(no listing yet)* |

## Use it from an AI agent

The same engine runs as an [MCP](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) server, so an agent can call it directly instead of you running a command.

| Editor | How |
|---|---|
| **VS Code** 1.101+ | Nothing to install — the extension registers `extract_strings` with agent mode |
| **Zed** | No listing yet — [add the MCP server by hand](https://zed.dev/docs/ai/mcp) |
| **Claude Code** | `claude mcp add string-le -- npx -y string-le-mcp` |
| **Cursor, Windsurf, anything else** | point it at `npx string-le-mcp` |

```
extract_strings(content, format?, filename?, dedupe?, maxResults?)
```

Returns the values in document order, capped at 500 by default with `meta.truncated`. A format is optional — any unrecognised format falls back to quoted strings.

The server takes content and returns data — it reads no files and makes no network requests of its own. Published as [`string-le-mcp`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/string-le-mcp) on npm and as `io.github.nolindnaidoo/string-le` in the [MCP registry](https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io).

<details>
<summary><b>Configuring it by hand</b> — any host with an MCP config file</summary>

Most hosts read a JSON config. Add one entry:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "string-le": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "string-le-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
```

`-y` skips the install prompt on first run. Pin a version if you would rather not track releases — `string-le-mcp@2.3.1`.

Prefer not to go through `npx` on every launch? Install it once and point at the binary instead:

```bash
npm install -g string-le-mcp
```

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "string-le": { "command": "string-le-mcp" }
  }
}
```

It speaks MCP over stdio and needs no environment variables, no API key and no configuration of its own. To check it before wiring it into anything:

```bash
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}' | npx -y string-le-mcp
```

That prints the tool list and exits — if you see `extract_strings`, the server works.

</details>

## Supported formats

| Format | Language IDs | What gets extracted |
|---|---|---|
| JSON | `json` | String values (parsed; keys, numbers, and booleans excluded) |
| YAML | `yaml` | String values including unquoted plain scalars, block/folded scalars, and multi-document files |
| CSV | `csv` | Cells, with optional header handling, column selection, and a streaming mode for large files |
| TOML | `toml` | String values including multiline strings; dates and numbers are excluded as typed values |
| INI | `ini` | Values (INI is untyped, so numeric-looking values are extracted as strings) |
| Environment | `dotenv`, `env` | Values (`export` prefixes, quotes, and inline comments handled) |
| Python | `python` | Triple-quoted docstrings as one string, f-strings, `r`/`b`/`u` prefixes |
| Rust | `rust` | Raw strings `r"…"`, `r#"…"#`, `r##"…"##` as one string with their inner quotes; byte strings |
| Go | `go` | Backtick raw strings as one string, across lines |
| Shell | `shellscript` | Heredocs (`<<EOF`, `<<'EOF'`, `<<-EOF`) as one string |
| PHP, Ruby, Perl | `php`, `ruby`, `perl` | Heredocs and nowdocs (`<<<EOT`, `<<<'NOW'`, `<<~EOS`) as one string |
| C# | `csharp` | Verbatim `@"…"` where `""` is one quote; interpolated `$"…"` |
| JavaScript, TypeScript | `javascript`, `typescript` (+ the react ids) | Template literals as **one** string, interpolation and nesting included |
| Markdown, anything else | `markdown` | Fallback scan for `"double"`, `'single'`, or `` `backtick` `` quoted strings on a single line |

Values are trimmed; empty values are dropped; keys are never extracted — one rule, shared by every extractor above. The fallback scan cannot see unquoted or multi-line strings, which is why the parsed formats and the source languages get real readers. Parse errors are silent unless `string-le.showParseErrors` is on.

## The CLI

The same extraction runs from a terminal or a shell pipeline: a Rust CLI
in [`crate/`](crate/README.md), sharing one corpus with the extension —
[`crate/fixtures/`](crate/fixtures/) — so the two can never read a
document differently.

```bash
string-le .                      # every string in the tree, as JSON
string-le --values src/          # just the values, one per line
string-le --dedupe --values .    # each distinct string once
string-le mcp                    # the same extraction over MCP on stdio

# the point of the whole thing:
string-le --values --dedupe src/ | sort > after.txt
diff before.txt after.txt        # what changed in the copy this release
```

**The reader is not the author.** The extension answers for the buffer
you have open. Someone still has to read every user-visible string before
a release — a QA lead, a compliance reviewer, a localisation owner — and
they do not have the editor open, and several of them cannot be handed a
checkout at all. The CLI puts the whole repository into one file they can
read.

**Source files are the main event there.** A `.ts` or `.py` file is where
the user-facing copy lives, so each language is read by its own literal
syntax and anything still unrecognised falls through to quoted-string
extraction rather than being refused.

**Exit codes follow grep** — 0 strings found, 1 none found, 2 the
question was malformed — so finding nothing is an answer rather than an
error.

## Commands

| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| `String-LE: Extract Strings` (`Ctrl+Alt+E` / `Cmd+Alt+E`) | Extract all string values from the active document |
| `String-LE: Deduplicate Strings` | Remove duplicate lines from the active document |
| `String-LE: Sort Strings` | Sort lines alphabetically or by length |
| `String-LE: Toggle CSV Streaming` | Enable/disable streaming for large CSV files |
| `String-LE: Open Settings` | Open String-LE settings |
| `String-LE: Help & Troubleshooting` | Built-in documentation |

## Settings

| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `string-le.openResultsSideBySide` | `true` | Open results beside the current editor |
| `string-le.postProcess.openInNewFile` | `true` | Post-process commands write to a new file instead of editing in place |
| `string-le.copyToClipboardEnabled` | `false` | Also copy results to the clipboard (disabled for CSV output) |
| `string-le.dedupeEnabled` | `false` | Deduplicate results automatically after extraction |
| `string-le.sortEnabled` | `false` | Sort results automatically after extraction |
| `string-le.sortMode` | `off` | `alpha-asc`, `alpha-desc`, `length-asc`, `length-desc` |
| `string-le.csv.streamingEnabled` | `false` | Stream CSV results into the editor incrementally |
| `string-le.showParseErrors` | `false` | Show parse errors as notifications |
| `string-le.notificationsLevel` | `silent` | `all` = every notification, `important` = warnings + errors, `silent` = errors only |
| `string-le.safety.enabled` | `true` | Guardrails for very large files/outputs |
| `string-le.safety.fileSizeWarnBytes` | `1000000` | Warn before extracting above this file size |
| `string-le.safety.largeOutputLinesThreshold` | `50000` | Offer Open/Copy/Cancel above this result count |
| `string-le.safety.manyDocumentsThreshold` | `8` | Confirm before opening this many result documents (CSV multi-column) |
| `string-le.statusBar.enabled` | `true` | Show the status bar item |
| `string-le.telemetryEnabled` | `false` | Local-only event log (see Privacy) |

## Languages

Twelve languages besides English:

German · Spanish · French · Indonesian · Italian · Japanese · Korean ·
Portuguese (Brazil) · Russian · Ukrainian · Vietnamese · Chinese (Simplified)

Both halves are covered — the manifest (command titles, setting names and
descriptions) and everything shown while the extension runs (notifications,
the status bar, quick-picks and prompts). The extension follows VS Code's
display language, so it matches whatever the editor is already set to; no
setting of its own.

## Privacy & security

- **No network access.** The extension never sends data anywhere. The `telemetryEnabled` setting only writes events to a local Output Channel you can inspect (`String-LE`).
- **The MCP server holds the same line.** It takes content as an argument and returns data: no filesystem access, no network calls, no telemetry. Your agent already has file-read tools, so duplicating them inside the server would add a path-traversal surface for no capability. `check:mcp-bundle` fails the build if the server ever imports something that could reach either.
- Error notifications redact home directories and credential-shaped fragments.

## Documentation

| What | Where |
|---|---|
| What the tool is allowed to say — scope, output contract, refusals, non-goals | [`crate/SPEC.md`](crate/SPEC.md) |
| How the extension is built and held together — architecture, invariants, toolchain, release | [AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md) |
| How the CLI is built and held together | [`crate/AGENTS.md`](crate/AGENTS.md) |
| What changed | [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md) · [`crate/CHANGELOG.md`](crate/CHANGELOG.md) |
| The tool's page, and the other fifteen | [letools.dev/tools/string-le](https://letools.dev/tools/string-le) |

## Performance

<!-- performance:start -->
| Input | Size | Found | Time | Rate | Scan speed |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| JSON locale file | 1.77 MB | 40,000 | 9.53 ms | 4,198,116/sec | 185.9 MB/s |
| YAML locale file | 1.01 MB | 30,000 | 13.33 ms | 2,250,169/sec | 75.7 MB/s |
| CSV strings | 1.35 MB | 80,002 | 28.29 ms | 2,827,438/sec | 47.8 MB/s |

Median of 7 runs after warmup, on Apple M5 Pro, 24 GB RAM, Node 24.3.0. Inputs are generated
by `scripts/benchmark.ts` rather than checked in, so the sizes above are
exactly what was measured. Reproduce with `bun run benchmark`.

These are machine-specific and are not asserted in CI — a benchmark that gates
a build only tells you how busy the runner was.
<!-- performance:end -->

## Testing

<!-- coverage:start -->
| Metric | Coverage |
| --- | --- |
| Statements | 90.84% |
| Branches | 83.48% |
| Functions | 97.24% |
| Lines | 92.26% |

306 test cases across 24 files, plus an integration suite that runs
in a real VS Code extension host and an end-to-end test that installs the
built `.vsix` into a clean profile.

Generated from a real run — `coverage/coverage-summary.json` and
`coverage/test-results.json` — by `scripts/coverage-readme.js`; CI fails if
this section drifts. Reproduce with `bun run test:coverage`, and the case
count is the one vitest prints.
<!-- coverage:end -->

## More from the LE family

Sixteen single-purpose tools for the work in front of every model. Each ships
a Rust CLI and an MCP server. One page: **[letools.dev](https://letools.dev)**

**Get it out**

- **[String-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/string-le)** — Extract every string in a codebase, with its position, so a person can read them
- **[Numbers-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/numbers-le)** — Extract every hardcoded number in a codebase, so a person can check them
- **[Units-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/units-le)** — Extract every quantity with its unit, normalized, and refuse the ambiguous ones by name
- **[Dates-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/dates-le)** — Extract every date and timestamp, and the exact instant each one resolves to
- **[IDs-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/ids-le)** — Extract every UUID, ULID, NanoID, ObjectId and Snowflake, and decode the time inside
- **[IPs-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/ips-le)** — Extract every IP address, CIDR block and MAC, normalized and classified by scope
- **[URLs-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/urls-le)** — Extract every URL in a codebase, with its protocol and exact position
- **[Paths-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/paths-le)** — Extract every file path in a codebase, and say whether it still points at anything
- **[Colors-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/colors-le)** — Extract every color in a codebase, and say which ones are not in your palette

**Check it**

- **[Regex-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/regex-le)** — Find every regex in a codebase, and report which can be driven into catastrophic backtracking
- **[Versions-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/versions-le)** — Find where one dependency is constrained differently across a repository's manifests
- **[i18n-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/i18n-le)** — Identify the i18n library a project uses, then audit its catalogs by that library's rules
- **[Scrape-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/scrape-le)** — Check whether a page is scrapeable before the scraper is written, and say when it cannot tell

**Guard it**

- **[Secrets-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/secrets-le)** — Find hardcoded credentials in a codebase, and never print one into the report
- **[EnvSync-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/envsync-le)** — Compare the dotenv files in a tree, and say which keys are missing from which
- **[Unicode-LE](https://letools.dev/tools/unicode-le)** — Find the Unicode that hides meaning — bidi controls, invisibles, homoglyphs, mixed scripts

Each stands on its own: no shared crate, no published core. Where two of them
agree, it is because the same answer was right twice.

**Contact** — [nolindnaidoo.com](https://nolindnaidoo.com) · [GitHub](https://github.com/nolindnaidoo) · [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolindnaidoo/)

## Also by nolindnaidoo

**Rust** — pixelcoords and pixelactions are one loop: pixelcoords answers
*where*, pixelactions *acts* there. Their own tools, their own voice — not
part of the LE family.

- **[pixelcoords](https://github.com/nolindnaidoo/pixelcoords)** — Freeze your screen, mark regions, get pixel-exact coordinates and crops
  [pixelcoords.dev](https://pixelcoords.dev) · [crates.io](https://crates.io/crates/pixelcoords) · [docs.rs](https://docs.rs/pixelcoords)
- **[pixelactions](https://github.com/nolindnaidoo/pixelactions)** — Consume human-verified coordinates, perform the interaction, confirm it landed
  [pixelactions.dev](https://pixelactions.dev) · [crates.io](https://crates.io/crates/pixelactions) · [docs.rs](https://docs.rs/pixelactions)

## License

MIT © [nolindnaidoo](https://github.com/nolindnaidoo)