4 Command-Line Tools You Can Now Use in Your Browser

If you have ever SSH'd into a server just to run chmod 755, piped a file through sed for a quick find-and-replace, or used sort | uniq to clean up a log dump, you already know how powerful the terminal is. But the terminal is not always available. Maybe you are on a locked-down work laptop, pair-programming over a video call, or simply do not want to spin up a shell for a 10-second task.

FindUtils now offers browser-based versions of four command-line staples. Each tool runs entirely in your browser — no installation, no sign-up, and no data ever leaves your machine.

1. Chmod Calculator — Visual Linux File Permissions

Replaces: chmod 644 file.txt, chmod 755 script.sh, stat -c '%a' file

The chmod command controls read, write, and execute permissions on Linux and Unix systems. Memorizing the difference between 644 and 755 is a rite of passage, but it should not be a daily burden.

The Chmod Calculator gives you a visual permission grid where you toggle bits for Owner, Group, and Others. As you click, the tool instantly shows the numeric (octal) value, the symbolic string (rwxr-xr-x), and the full chmod command you can paste into your terminal. It also supports special bits like SUID, SGID, and the sticky bit — the permissions most people have to look up every single time.

Common presets like 644 (standard file), 755 (executable/directory), and 600 (private key) are one click away. For a deeper walkthrough, see the Chmod Calculator guide.

2. Text Find & Replace — sed in Your Browser

Replaces: sed 's/old/new/g' file.txt, sed -E 's/pattern/replacement/' file

The sed stream editor is the go-to tool for text substitution on the command line, but its syntax trips up even experienced developers. Escaped slashes, capture groups, extended regex flags — there is a lot of room for error when you are editing in a terminal with no preview.

The Text Find & Replace tool gives you a live preview of every substitution before you commit. Paste your text, enter a search pattern (plain text or full regex), type the replacement, and watch matches highlight in real time. It supports case-insensitive matching, multiline mode, and regex capture groups ($1, $2) — everything sed can do, but with visual feedback that makes debugging painless.

If you work with regular expressions frequently, pair this tool with the Regex Tester to build and validate your patterns first, then bring them into Find & Replace. The Text Find & Replace guide covers advanced regex workflows in detail.

3. Duplicate Line Remover — sort | uniq Without the Terminal

Replaces: sort file.txt | uniq, sort -u file.txt, awk '!seen[$0]++'

Removing duplicate lines is one of those tasks that sounds trivial until you hit edge cases. Should "Hello" and "hello" count as duplicates? What about lines with trailing whitespace? The classic sort | uniq pipeline requires the input to be sorted first, and awk '!seen[$0]++' preserves order but offers no options for fuzzy matching.

The Duplicate Line Remover handles all of this in a single interface. Paste your text and choose your deduplication mode: exact match, case-insensitive, or whitespace-trimmed. The tool preserves original line order by default (like awk, not sort | uniq), and shows you exactly which lines were removed and how many duplicates it found.

This is especially useful for cleaning CSV data, log files, or DNS zone entries before feeding them into other tools. For large-scale text cleanup, combine it with the Word Counter to verify your output, or use the Diff Checker to compare before-and-after results. The Duplicate Line Remover guide has more real-world examples.

4. Glob Pattern Tester — Shell Globbing Made Visible

Replaces: ls *.js, find . -name '*.tsx', echo src/**/*.ts

Glob patterns (*, **, ?, [abc]) are the shell's built-in file matching language. Every developer uses them daily — in .gitignore files, CI/CD configs, build tools, and find commands. But testing whether a pattern actually matches the files you expect usually means running it against a real filesystem and hoping nothing unexpected shows up.

The Glob Pattern Tester lets you type a pattern and a list of file paths, then instantly see which paths match and which do not. It highlights matched segments so you can see exactly why each path was included. This is invaluable when writing .gitignore rules, configuring bundler includes/excludes, or debugging CI pipeline file filters.

For a complete walkthrough of glob syntax and advanced matching, check the Glob Pattern Tester guide.

CLI vs. Browser: When to Use Each

The browser tools are best when you need visual feedback, are working outside a terminal environment, or want to share results with a teammate who does not have a shell open. The CLI remains the right choice for automation, scripting, and operations on remote servers.

Privacy: Everything Stays in Your Browser

All four tools process your data entirely in the browser using client-side JavaScript. Nothing is uploaded to any server. There are no API calls, no analytics on your input, and no cookies tracking what you paste. You can verify this yourself — open your browser's Network tab and watch. Zero requests leave your machine.

This makes them safe for sensitive data: server configs, private keys (for permission checks, not storage), internal hostnames, or proprietary code. Your data never leaves your device.

Get Started

Whether you are a seasoned Linux administrator looking for a faster workflow or a frontend developer who rarely touches the terminal, these tools bring command-line power to a familiar browser interface. Bookmark the ones you use most:

• Chmod Calculator — Linux file permissions
• Text Find & Replace — sed-style substitution
• Duplicate Line Remover — sort | uniq deduplication
• Glob Pattern Tester — shell pattern matching

For a complete mapping of command-line utilities to their web-based equivalents, see the CLI-to-Web Cheatsheet.