mdspec

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Pattern Matching ​

mdspec provides rich pattern matching for asserting against dynamic output.

Ellipsis Wildcards ​

Both [...] and ... work as universal wildcards.

Multi-line (matches zero or more lines) ​

When alone on a line, an ellipsis matches any number of lines:

markdown
```console
$ ls -1
[...]
README.md
[...]
```

```console
$ echo -e "Start\nMiddle\nEnd"
Start
...
End
```

Inline (matches text within a line) ​

When mixed with other text, an ellipsis matches any characters on that line:

markdown
```console
$ echo "User: $USER, Time: $(date +%s)"
User: ..., Time: ...
```

```console
$ echo "Prefix: some-random-id-12345 Suffix"
Prefix: [...] Suffix
```

Multiple wildcards on a single line work:

markdown
```console
$ echo "A: value1 B: value2 C: value3"
A: [...] B: ... C: [...]
```

Inside brackets ​

Use [[...]] for JSON arrays or bracketed content:

markdown
```console
$ echo '["item1", "item2", "item3"]'
[[...]]
```

Indented ​

Ellipsis respects surrounding indentation:

markdown
```console
$ cat structure.json
{
  [...]
  "key": "value"
}
```

Regular Expressions ​

Wrap a pattern in / delimiters for regex matching against a whole line:

markdown
```console
$ date +"%Y-%m-%d"
/\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}/
```

Named Captures ​

Capture dynamic values and reuse them later.

Wildcard capture ​

{{name:*}}

Captures any substring and stores it as name:

markdown
```console
$ echo "id: abc-123"
id: {{myId:*}}
```

Regex capture ​

{{name:/pattern/}}

Captures using a regex pattern:

markdown
```console
$ echo "UUID: $(uuidgen)"
UUID: {{uuid:/[0-9A-F-]{36}/}}
```

Reusing captures ​

Reference a previously captured value with {{name}} for an exact match:

markdown
```console
$ echo "UUID: $(uuidgen)"
UUID: {{uuid:/[0-9A-F-]{36}/}}
```

```console
$ echo "Saved as: {{uuid}}"
Saved as: {{uuid}}
```

This is useful for testing commands that produce IDs, timestamps, or other values that later commands reference.

Pattern Summary ​

PatternMeaning
[...] or ... (alone on line)Match zero or more lines
[...] or ... (inline)Match any characters
/regex/Whole-line regex match
{{name:*}}Named wildcard capture
{{name:/regex/}}Named regex capture
{{name}}Reuse captured value