Test Generator — Multi-Purpose Utility Tool

A general-purpose CLI utility tool for data entry, management, and retrieval. Provides commands to run tasks, configure settings, check status, initialize the workspace, list/add/remove/search entries, export data, and view system info — all from the terminal.

Command Reference

The script (test-generator) supports the following commands via its case dispatch:

Data Storage

• Data directory: $TEST_GENERATOR_DIR or ~/.local/share/test-generator/
• Data log: $DATA_DIR/data.log — stores all entries added via the add command, each prefixed with a date stamp
• History log: $DATA_DIR/history.log — every command invocation is timestamped and logged for auditing
• All directories are auto-created on first run via mkdir -p

Requirements

• Bash 4+ (uses set -euo pipefail)
• No external dependencies — pure bash, no API keys, no network calls
• Works on Linux and macOS
• grep (for the search command)

When to Use

1. Quick data logging — Need to record notes, test results, or observations from the command line? Use test-generator add "your note here" for instant timestamped logging.
2. Simple searchable notebook — Accumulated entries can be searched with test-generator search \x3Cterm>, making it a lightweight grep-able journal for tracking test runs or results.
3. Data export for pipelines — Use test-generator export to pipe all logged data into downstream tools or redirect to a file for reporting.
4. System status checks in scripts — test-generator status provides a quick health-check output suitable for CI/CD monitoring scripts or cron jobs.
5. Workspace initialization — Run test-generator init when setting up a new machine or environment to bootstrap the data directory structure.

Examples

Initialize the workspace

test-generator init
# Output: Initialized in /home/user/.local/share/test-generator

Add entries

test-generator add "Unit test suite passed - 47 tests, 0 failures"
# Output: Added: Unit test suite passed - 47 tests, 0 failures

test-generator add "Integration test: API endpoint /users returned 200"
# Output: Added: Integration test: API endpoint /users returned 200

List all entries

test-generator list
# Output:
# 2026-03-18 Unit test suite passed - 47 tests, 0 failures
# 2026-03-18 Integration test: API endpoint /users returned 200

Search entries

test-generator search "API"
# Output: 2026-03-18 Integration test: API endpoint /users returned 200

Check status and info

test-generator status
# Output: Status: ready

test-generator info
# Output: Version: 2.0.0 | Data: /home/user/.local/share/test-generator

Configuration

Set the TEST_GENERATOR_DIR environment variable to change the data directory:

export TEST_GENERATOR_DIR="/path/to/custom/dir"

Default: ~/.local/share/test-generator/

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