# just, xh, hyperfine and other helpers

> just, xh, hyperfine, tlrc, uv, wget, Bash 5 and ShellCheck: small command-line tools for everyday work.

Small tools that each replace a longer command or a lookup: run a project’s recipes, call an HTTP API, time two commands against each other, see how a command is used, run a Python script with its packages, download a file, and check a shell script.

## On the workstation

-   Installed by the `just`, `xh`, `hyperfine`, `tlrc`, `uv`, `wget`, `bash` and `shellcheck` formulae.
    
-   tlrc installs the command `tldr`.
    
-   `bash` is Bash 5. macOS ships Bash 3.2, so a script that needs associative arrays or `mapfile` starts with `#!/usr/bin/env bash` and finds Homebrew’s.
    
-   uv runs Python scripts and tools without a virtualenv made by hand; mise keeps the Python versions.
    

## Keys and commands

 
| Key or command | Does |
| --- | --- |
| 
`just` / `just -l`

 | 

Run the default recipe of the `justfile` / list the recipes

 |
| 

`just --choose`

 | 

Pick a recipe with fzf

 |
| 

`xh :8080/healthz`

 | 

GET from localhost, with the response coloured

 |
| 

`xh POST :8080/items name=demo count:=3`

 | 

POST JSON: `=` for a string, `:=` for a raw value

 |
| 

`xh -b example.com/api`

 | 

Print only the response body

 |
| 

`hyperfine --warmup 3 'cmd a' 'cmd b'`

 | 

Time two commands and say which is faster

 |
| 

`hyperfine --export-markdown bench.md 'cmd'`

 | 

Save the result as a Markdown table

 |
| 

`tldr tar` / `tldr -u`

 | 

Short examples for a command / update the pages

 |
| 

`uv run --with requests script.py`

 | 

Run a script with a package, no virtualenv to set up

 |
| 

`uvx ruff check .`

 | 

Run a Python tool once without installing it

 |
| 

`uv tool install ruff`

 | 

Install a Python tool on `PATH`

 |
| 

`wget -c URL`

 | 

Resume a download that stopped

 |
| 

`shellcheck -x script.sh`

 | 

Lint a script, following the files it sources

 |

## With zc-workstation

Before committing a change to a shell script, such as `bootstrap.sh` or the files in `scripts/`, lint it:

```console
$ shellcheck -x bootstrap.sh scripts/*.sh
```

To check that a change made `plan` faster, time both builds:

```console
$ hyperfine --warmup 2 'old/zc-workstation plan' 'bin/zc-workstation plan'
```

## See also

-   [fzf](fzf.html), which `just --choose` uses
    
-   [mise](mise.html), for Python versions
    
-   [just manual](https://just.systems/man/en/)
    
-   [xh](https://github.com/ducaale/xh)
    
-   [hyperfine](https://github.com/sharkdp/hyperfine)
    
-   [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/)
    
-   [ShellCheck](https://www.shellcheck.net)