Package Exports
- nano-string-utils
Readme
nano-string-utils
Ultra-lightweight string utilities with zero dependencies. Tree-shakeable, fully typed, and optimized for modern JavaScript.
Documentation
๐ View Full API Documentation
๐ Migration Guide - Step-by-step guide for migrating from lodash/underscore
Features
- ๐ Zero dependencies - No bloat, just pure functions
- ๐ฆ < 1KB per function - Minimal bundle impact
- ๐ณ Tree-shakeable - Only import what you need
- ๐ช Fully typed - Complete TypeScript support with function overloads and template literal types
- โก Fast performance - 2-25x faster than lodash for many operations
- โก ESM & CJS - Works everywhere
- ๐งช 100% tested - Reliable and production-ready
- ๐ Type-safe - Written in strict TypeScript with enhanced type inference and compile-time transformations
- ๐ก๏ธ Null-safe - All functions handle null/undefined gracefully without throwing errors
- ๐ Well documented - JSDoc comments for all functions
Runtime Compatibility
nano-string-utils works seamlessly across all modern JavaScript runtimes:
Runtime | Support | Installation | CLI |
---|---|---|---|
Node.js โฅ18 | โ Full | npm install nano-string-utils |
โ |
Deno | โ Full | deno add @zheruel/nano-string-utils |
โ |
Bun | โ Full | bun add nano-string-utils |
โ |
Browser | โ Full | Via bundler or CDN | โ |
All core functions use standard JavaScript APIs and work identically across runtimes. The CLI tool supports Node.js, Deno, and Bun.
Installation
Node.js
npm install nano-string-utils
# or
yarn add nano-string-utils
# or
pnpm add nano-string-utils
Deno
// From JSR (recommended)
import { slugify } from "jsr:@zheruel/nano-string-utils";
// Or add to your project
deno add @zheruel/nano-string-utils
Bun
bun add nano-string-utils
Browser (CDN)
<!-- Latest version -->
<script src="https://unpkg.com/nano-string-utils/dist/index.iife.js"></script>
<!-- Or specific version -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/nano-string-utils@0.16.0/dist/index.iife.js"></script>
<script>
// All functions available on global nanoStringUtils object
const slug = nanoStringUtils.slugify("Hello World!");
console.log(slug); // 'hello-world'
</script>
For modern browsers with ES modules:
<script type="module">
import {
slugify,
camelCase,
} from "https://unpkg.com/nano-string-utils/dist/index.js";
console.log(slugify("Hello World")); // 'hello-world'
console.log(camelCase("hello-world")); // 'helloWorld'
</script>
Quick Start
import {
slugify,
camelCase,
truncate,
isEmail,
fuzzyMatch,
} from "nano-string-utils";
// Transform strings with ease
slugify("Hello World!"); // 'hello-world'
camelCase("hello-world"); // 'helloWorld'
truncate("Long text here", 10); // 'Long te...'
// Validate inputs
isEmail("user@example.com"); // true
isEmail("invalid.email"); // false
// Advanced string matching
fuzzyMatch("gto", "goToLine"); // { matched: true, score: 0.546 }
fuzzyMatch("abc", "xyz"); // null (no match)
Most Popular Functions
slugify(str: string): string
Convert any string to a URL-safe slug.
slugify("Hello World!"); // 'hello-world'
slugify(" Multiple Spaces "); // 'multiple-spaces'
slugify("Special@#Characters!"); // 'special-characters'
camelCase(str: string): string
Convert strings to camelCase for JavaScript variables.
camelCase("hello-world"); // 'helloWorld'
camelCase("HELLO_WORLD"); // 'helloWorld'
camelCase("Hello World"); // 'helloWorld'
truncate(str: string, length: number, suffix?: string): string
Intelligently truncate text with customizable suffix.
truncate("Long text here", 10); // 'Long te...'
truncate("Long text here", 10, "โ"); // 'Long texโ'
isEmail(str: string): boolean
Validate email addresses with a robust regex.
isEmail("user@example.com"); // true
isEmail("test@sub.domain.com"); // true
isEmail("invalid.email"); // false
fuzzyMatch(query: string, target: string): FuzzyMatchResult | null
Perform fuzzy string matching for search features.
fuzzyMatch("usrctrl", "userController.js"); // { matched: true, score: 0.444 }
fuzzyMatch("of", "openFile"); // { matched: true, score: 0.75 }
๐ See all 45 functions in the API Reference below
CLI
Nano String Utils includes a command-line interface for quick string transformations directly in your terminal. The CLI works with Node.js, Deno, and Bun!
Installation & Usage
Node.js
# Global installation
npm install -g nano-string-utils
nano-string slugify "Hello World"
# Using npx (no installation required)
npx nano-string-utils slugify "Hello World"
Deno
# Direct execution (no installation required)
deno run --allow-read https://unpkg.com/nano-string-utils/bin/nano-string.js slugify "Hello World"
# Or if installed locally
deno run --allow-read node_modules/nano-string-utils/bin/nano-string.js slugify "Hello World"
Bun
# Using bunx (no installation required)
bunx nano-string-utils slugify "Hello World"
# Or if installed
bun run nano-string-utils slugify "Hello World"
Basic Usage
nano-string <function> <input> [options]
Examples
Simple transformations
nano-string slugify "Hello World!" # hello-world
nano-string camelCase "hello-world" # helloWorld
nano-string kebabCase "hello_world" # hello-world
nano-string capitalize "hello" # Hello
nano-string reverse "hello" # olleh
Using pipes
echo "Hello World" | nano-string slugify # hello-world
cat file.txt | nano-string truncate --length 50
Functions with options
# Truncate with custom length
nano-string truncate "Long text here" --length 10 # Long te...
# Template interpolation
nano-string template "Hello {{name}}" --data '{"name":"World"}' # Hello World
# Pad strings
nano-string padStart "hi" --length 5 --char "*" # ***hi
# Generate random strings
nano-string randomString --length 10 # Generates 10-character string
# Text processing
nano-string smartSplit "Dr. Smith went to the store. He bought milk." # ['Dr. Smith went to the store.', 'He bought milk.']
nano-string humanizeList "apple,banana,orange" --conjunction "or" # apple, banana, or orange
Validation functions
nano-string isEmail "test@example.com" # true
nano-string isUrl "https://example.com" # true
nano-string isASCII "hello" # true
Analysis functions
nano-string wordCount "hello world test" # 3
nano-string levenshtein "kitten" "sitting" # 3
nano-string diff "hello" "hallo" # Shows differences
Available Commands
To see all available functions:
nano-string --help
For help on a specific function:
nano-string slugify --help
API Reference
The library provides 48 string utility functions organized by category. Click on any category to explore the available functions.
๐ค Case Conversion Functions (10 functions)
Case Conversion
Transform strings between different naming conventions commonly used in programming.
slugify(str: string): string
Converts a string to a URL-safe slug.
slugify("Hello World!"); // 'hello-world'
slugify(" Multiple Spaces "); // 'multiple-spaces'
camelCase(str: string): string
Converts a string to camelCase.
camelCase("hello world"); // 'helloWorld'
camelCase("hello-world"); // 'helloWorld'
camelCase("hello_world"); // 'helloWorld'
snakeCase(str: string): string
Converts a string to snake_case.
snakeCase("hello world"); // 'hello_world'
snakeCase("helloWorld"); // 'hello_world'
snakeCase("hello-world"); // 'hello_world'
kebabCase(str: string): string
Converts a string to kebab-case.
kebabCase("hello world"); // 'hello-world'
kebabCase("helloWorld"); // 'hello-world'
kebabCase("hello_world"); // 'hello-world'
pascalCase(str: string): string
Converts a string to PascalCase.
pascalCase("hello world"); // 'HelloWorld'
pascalCase("hello-world"); // 'HelloWorld'
pascalCase("hello_world"); // 'HelloWorld'
constantCase(str: string): string
Converts a string to CONSTANT_CASE.
constantCase("hello world"); // 'HELLO_WORLD'
constantCase("helloWorld"); // 'HELLO_WORLD'
constantCase("hello-world"); // 'HELLO_WORLD'
constantCase("XMLHttpRequest"); // 'XML_HTTP_REQUEST'
dotCase(str: string): string
Converts a string to dot.case.
dotCase("hello world"); // 'hello.world'
dotCase("helloWorld"); // 'hello.world'
dotCase("hello-world"); // 'hello.world'
dotCase("XMLHttpRequest"); // 'xml.http.request'
dotCase("com/example/package"); // 'com.example.package'
pathCase(str: string): string
Converts a string to path/case (forward slash separated).
pathCase("hello world"); // 'hello/world'
pathCase("helloWorld"); // 'hello/world'
pathCase("hello-world"); // 'hello/world'
pathCase("hello_world"); // 'hello/world'
pathCase("XMLHttpRequest"); // 'xml/http/request'
pathCase("src.components.Header"); // 'src/components/header'
pathCase("com.example.package"); // 'com/example/package'
titleCase(str: string, options?: { exceptions?: string[] }): string
Converts a string to title case with proper capitalization rules.
titleCase("the quick brown fox"); // 'The Quick Brown Fox'
titleCase("a tale of two cities"); // 'A Tale of Two Cities'
titleCase("mother-in-law"); // 'Mother-in-Law'
titleCase("don't stop believing"); // "Don't Stop Believing"
titleCase("NASA launches rocket"); // 'NASA Launches Rocket'
titleCase("2001: a space odyssey"); // '2001: A Space Odyssey'
// With custom exceptions
titleCase("the lord of the rings", {
exceptions: ["versus"],
}); // 'The Lord of the Rings'
sentenceCase(str: string): string
Converts a string to sentence case (first letter of each sentence capitalized).
sentenceCase("hello world"); // 'Hello world'
sentenceCase("HELLO WORLD"); // 'Hello world'
sentenceCase("hello. world! how are you?"); // 'Hello. World! How are you?'
sentenceCase("this is the first. this is the second."); // 'This is the first. This is the second.'
sentenceCase("the u.s.a. is large"); // 'The u.s.a. is large'
sentenceCase("i love javascript"); // 'I love javascript'
sentenceCase("what? when? where?"); // 'What? When? Where?'
โ๏ธ String Manipulation (11 functions)
String Manipulation
Essential functions for transforming and manipulating text content.
capitalize(str: string): string
Capitalizes the first letter of a string and lowercases the rest.
capitalize("hello world"); // 'Hello world'
capitalize("HELLO"); // 'Hello'
reverse(str: string): string
Reverses a string.
reverse("hello"); // 'olleh'
reverse("world"); // 'dlrow'
truncate(str: string, length: number, suffix?: string): string
Truncates a string to a specified length with an optional suffix.
truncate("Long text here", 10); // 'Long te...'
truncate("Long text here", 10, "โ"); // 'Long texโ'
excerpt(str: string, length: number, suffix?: string): string
Creates a smart excerpt from text with word boundary awareness.
excerpt("The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog", 20); // 'The quick brown fox...'
excerpt("Hello world. This is a test.", 15); // 'Hello world...'
excerpt("Long technical documentation text here", 25, "โฆ"); // 'Long technicalโฆ'
excerpt("Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", 10); // 'Supercalif...'
pad(str: string, length: number, chars?: string): string
Pads a string to a given length by adding characters to both sides (centers the string).
pad("Hi", 6); // ' Hi '
pad("Hi", 6, "-"); // '--Hi--'
pad("Hi", 7, "-"); // '--Hi---'
padStart(str: string, length: number, chars?: string): string
Pads a string to a given length by adding characters to the left.
padStart("5", 3, "0"); // '005'
padStart("Hi", 5, "."); // '...Hi'
padStart("Hi", 6, "=-"); // '=-=-Hi'
padEnd(str: string, length: number, chars?: string): string
Pads a string to a given length by adding characters to the right.
padEnd("Hi", 5, "."); // 'Hi...'
padEnd("Hi", 6, "=-"); // 'Hi=-=-'
padEnd("5", 3, "0"); // '500'
deburr(str: string): string
Removes diacritics/accents from Latin characters.
deburr("cafรฉ"); // 'cafe'
deburr("naรฏve"); // 'naive'
deburr("Bjรธrn"); // 'Bjorn'
deburr("Sรฃo Paulo"); // 'Sao Paulo'
deburr("Mรผller"); // 'Muller'
wordCount(str: string): number
Counts the number of words in a string.
wordCount("Hello world test"); // 3
wordCount("One-word counts as one"); // 5
randomString(length: number, charset?: string): string
Generates a random string of specified length.
randomString(10); // 'aBc123XyZ9'
randomString(5, "abc"); // 'abcab'
randomString(8, "0123456789"); // '42318765'
hashString(str: string): number
Generates a simple hash from a string (non-cryptographic).
hashString("hello"); // 99162322
hashString("world"); // 113318802
๐ Text Processing (14 functions)
Text Processing
Advanced text processing utilities for handling HTML, whitespace, special characters, and entity extraction.
stripHtml(str: string): string
Removes HTML tags from a string.
stripHtml("<p>Hello <b>world</b>!</p>"); // 'Hello world!'
stripHtml("<div>Text</div>"); // 'Text'
sanitize(str: string, options?: SanitizeOptions): string
Security-focused string sanitization for safe use in web applications by removing or escaping dangerous content.
sanitize("<script>alert('xss')</script>Hello"); // 'Hello'
sanitize("<b>Bold</b> text", { allowedTags: ["b"] }); // '<b>Bold</b> text'
sanitize("javascript:alert(1)"); // ''
sanitize("<div onclick='alert(1)'>Click</div>"); // 'Click'
redact(text: string, options?: RedactOptions): string
Redacts sensitive information from text for UI/logging purposes. Supports SSN, credit cards, emails, and phone numbers with customizable redaction strategies.
โ ๏ธ Security Notice: This is for UI/logging purposes to prevent accidental exposure. Not a substitute for proper data security practices or encryption.
// Default: redact all types with partial strategy (show last 4)
redact("My SSN is 123-45-6789"); // 'My SSN is ***-**-6789'
redact("Card: 4532-1234-5678-9010"); // 'Card: **** **** **** 9010'
redact("Email: user@example.com"); // 'Email: use***@example.com'
redact("Phone: (555) 123-4567"); // 'Phone: (***) ***-4567'
// Selective type redaction
redact("Email: user@example.com, SSN: 123-45-6789", {
types: ["email"], // Only redact emails
}); // 'Email: use***@example.com, SSN: 123-45-6789'
// Full redaction (no partial reveal)
redact("SSN: 123-45-6789", { strategy: "full" }); // 'SSN: ***-**-****'
// Custom patterns
redact("Secret: ABC-123", {
customPatterns: [{ pattern: /[A-Z]{3}-\d{3}/g, replacement: "[REDACTED]" }],
}); // 'Secret: [REDACTED]'
escapeHtml(str: string): string
Escapes HTML special characters.
escapeHtml('<div>Hello & "world"</div>'); // '<div>Hello & "world"</div>'
escapeHtml("It's <b>bold</b>"); // 'It's <b>bold</b>'
normalizeWhitespace(str: string, options?: NormalizeWhitespaceOptions): string
Normalizes various Unicode whitespace characters to regular spaces.
normalizeWhitespace("hello world"); // 'hello world'
normalizeWhitespace("hello\u00A0world"); // 'hello world' (non-breaking space)
normalizeWhitespace(" hello "); // 'hello'
normalizeWhitespace("hello\n\nworld"); // 'hello world'
// With options
normalizeWhitespace(" hello ", { trim: false }); // ' hello '
normalizeWhitespace("a b", { collapse: false }); // 'a b'
normalizeWhitespace("hello\n\nworld", { preserveNewlines: true }); // 'hello\n\nworld'
// Handles various Unicode spaces
normalizeWhitespace("cafรฉ\u2003test"); // 'cafรฉ test' (em space)
normalizeWhitespace("hello\u200Bworld"); // 'hello world' (zero-width space)
normalizeWhitespace("ๆฅๆฌ\u3000่ช"); // 'ๆฅๆฌ ่ช' (ideographic space)
removeNonPrintable(str: string, options?: RemoveNonPrintableOptions): string
Removes non-printable control characters and formatting characters from strings.
removeNonPrintable("hello\x00world"); // 'helloworld' (removes NULL character)
removeNonPrintable("hello\nworld"); // 'helloworld' (removes newline by default)
removeNonPrintable("hello\u200Bworld"); // 'helloworld' (removes zero-width space)
removeNonPrintable("hello\u202Dworld"); // 'helloworld' (removes directional override)
// With options
removeNonPrintable("hello\nworld", { keepNewlines: true }); // 'hello\nworld'
removeNonPrintable("hello\tworld", { keepTabs: true }); // 'hello\tworld'
removeNonPrintable("hello\r\nworld", { keepCarriageReturns: true }); // 'hello\rworld'
// Preserves emoji with zero-width joiners
removeNonPrintable("๐จโ๐ฉโ๐งโ๐ฆ"); // '๐จโ๐ฉโ๐งโ๐ฆ' (family emoji preserved)
removeNonPrintable("text\x1B[32mgreen\x1B[0m"); // 'text[32mgreen[0m' (ANSI escapes removed)
toASCII(str: string, options?: { placeholder?: string }): string
Converts a string to ASCII-safe representation by removing diacritics, converting common Unicode symbols, and optionally replacing non-ASCII characters.
toASCII("cafรฉ"); // 'cafe'
toASCII("Hello "world""); // 'Hello "world"'
toASCII("emโdash"); // 'em-dash'
toASCII("โฌ100"); // 'EUR100'
toASCII("ยฝ + ยผ = ยพ"); // '1/2 + 1/4 = 3/4'
toASCII("โ โ โ โ"); // '-> <- ^ v'
toASCII("ฮฑ ฮฒ ฮณ"); // 'a b g'
toASCII("ะัะธะฒะตั"); // 'Privet'
toASCII("ไฝ ๅฅฝ"); // '' (removes non-convertible characters)
toASCII("ไฝ ๅฅฝ", { placeholder: "?" }); // '??'
toASCII("Hello ไธ็", { placeholder: "?" }); // 'Hello ??'
toASCII("ยฉ 2024 Mรผllerโข"); // '(c) 2024 Muller(TM)'
pluralize(word: string, count?: number): string
Converts a singular word to its plural form using English pluralization rules. Optionally takes a count to conditionally pluralize.
pluralize("box"); // 'boxes'
pluralize("baby"); // 'babies'
pluralize("person"); // 'people'
pluralize("analysis"); // 'analyses'
pluralize("cactus"); // 'cacti'
// With count parameter
pluralize("item", 1); // 'item' (singular for count of 1)
pluralize("item", 0); // 'items' (plural for count of 0)
pluralize("item", 5); // 'items' (plural for count > 1)
// Preserves casing
pluralize("Box"); // 'Boxes'
pluralize("PERSON"); // 'PEOPLE'
singularize(word: string): string
Converts a plural word to its singular form using English singularization rules.
singularize("boxes"); // 'box'
singularize("babies"); // 'baby'
singularize("people"); // 'person'
singularize("analyses"); // 'analysis'
singularize("cacti"); // 'cactus'
singularize("data"); // 'datum'
// Preserves casing
singularize("Boxes"); // 'Box'
singularize("PEOPLE"); // 'PERSON'
extractEntities(text: string): ExtractedEntities
Extracts various entities from text including emails, URLs, mentions, hashtags, phones, dates, and prices.
// Extract from mixed content
const text =
"Contact @john at john@example.com or call (555) 123-4567. Check #updates at https://example.com. Price: $99.99";
const entities = extractEntities(text);
// Returns:
// {
// emails: ['john@example.com'],
// urls: ['https://example.com'],
// mentions: ['@john'],
// hashtags: ['#updates'],
// phones: ['(555) 123-4567'],
// dates: [],
// prices: ['$99.99']
// }
// Extract from social media content
const tweet =
"Hey @alice and @bob! Check out #javascript #typescript at https://github.com/example";
const social = extractEntities(tweet);
// social.mentions: ['@alice', '@bob']
// social.hashtags: ['#javascript', '#typescript']
// social.urls: ['https://github.com/example']
// Extract contact information
const contact = "Email: support@company.com, Phone: +1-800-555-0100";
const info = extractEntities(contact);
// info.emails: ['support@company.com']
// info.phones: ['+1-800-555-0100']
// Extract dates and prices
const invoice = "Invoice Date: 2024-01-15, Due: 01/30/2024, Amount: $1,234.56";
const billing = extractEntities(invoice);
// billing.dates: ['2024-01-15', '01/30/2024']
// billing.prices: ['$1,234.56']
smartSplit(text: string): string[]
Intelligently splits text into sentences while properly handling abbreviations, ellipses, and decimal numbers.
// Basic sentence splitting
smartSplit("Hello world. How are you? I'm fine!");
// ['Hello world.', 'How are you?', "I'm fine!"]
// Handles abbreviations correctly
smartSplit("Dr. Smith went to the store. He bought milk.");
// ['Dr. Smith went to the store.', 'He bought milk.']
// Preserves decimal numbers
smartSplit("The price is $10.50. That's expensive!");
// ['The price is $10.50.', "That's expensive!"]
// Handles multiple abbreviations
smartSplit(
"Mr. and Mrs. Johnson live on St. Paul Ave. They moved from the U.S.A. last year."
);
// ['Mr. and Mrs. Johnson live on St. Paul Ave.', 'They moved from the U.S.A. last year.']
// Handles ellipses
smartSplit("I was thinking... Maybe we should go. What do you think?");
// ['I was thinking...', 'Maybe we should go.', 'What do you think?']
humanizeList(items: unknown[], options?: HumanizeListOptions): string
Converts an array into a grammatically correct, human-readable list with proper conjunctions and optional Oxford comma.
// Basic usage
humanizeList(["apple", "banana", "orange"]);
// 'apple, banana, and orange'
// Two items
humanizeList(["yes", "no"]);
// 'yes and no'
// With custom conjunction
humanizeList(["red", "green", "blue"], { conjunction: "or" });
// 'red, green, or blue'
// Without Oxford comma
humanizeList(["a", "b", "c"], { oxford: false });
// 'a, b and c'
// With quotes
humanizeList(["run", "jump", "swim"], { quotes: true });
// '"run", "jump", and "swim"'
// Handles mixed types and nulls
humanizeList([1, null, "text", undefined, true]);
// '1, text, and true'
// Empty arrays
humanizeList([]);
// ''
โ Validation Functions (4 functions)
String Validation
Utilities for validating string formats and content.
isEmail(str: string): boolean
Validates if a string is a valid email format.
isEmail("user@example.com"); // true
isEmail("invalid.email"); // false
isEmail("test@sub.domain.com"); // true
isUrl(str: string): boolean
Validates if a string is a valid URL format.
isUrl("https://example.com"); // true
isUrl("http://localhost:3000"); // true
isUrl("not a url"); // false
isUrl("ftp://files.com/file.zip"); // true
isASCII(str: string): boolean
Checks if a string contains only ASCII characters (code points 0-127).
isASCII("Hello World!"); // true
isASCII("cafรฉ"); // false
isASCII("๐"); // false
isASCII("abc123!@#"); // true
isASCII(""); // true
detectScript(str: string): 'latin' | 'cjk' | 'arabic' | 'cyrillic' | 'hebrew' | 'devanagari' | 'greek' | 'thai' | 'unknown'
Detects the dominant writing system (script) in a text string.
detectScript("Hello World"); // 'latin'
detectScript("ไฝ ๅฅฝไธ็"); // 'cjk'
detectScript("ู
ุฑุญุจุง ุจุงูุนุงูู
"); // 'arabic'
detectScript("ะัะธะฒะตั ะผะธั"); // 'cyrillic'
detectScript("ืฉืืื ืขืืื"); // 'hebrew'
detectScript("เคจเคฎเคธเฅเคคเฅ เคฆเฅเคจเคฟเคฏเคพ"); // 'devanagari'
detectScript("ฮฮตฮนฮฌ ฯฮฟฯ
ฮบฯฯฮผฮต"); // 'greek'
detectScript("เธชเธงเธฑเธชเธเธตเธเธฒเธงเนเธฅเธ"); // 'thai'
detectScript(""); // 'unknown'
classifyText(str: string): { type: string, confidence: number }
Classifies text content by type (URL, email, code, JSON, markdown, HTML, question, phone, numeric, or plain text) with confidence scoring.
classifyText("https://example.com"); // { type: 'url', confidence: 1 }
classifyText("user@example.com"); // { type: 'email', confidence: 1 }
classifyText("What is TypeScript?"); // { type: 'question', confidence: 1 }
classifyText('{"key": "value"}'); // { type: 'json', confidence: 1 }
classifyText("function hello() { return 42; }"); // { type: 'code', confidence: 0.85 }
classifyText("<div>Hello</div>"); // { type: 'html', confidence: 0.9 }
classifyText("# Title\n\nText"); // { type: 'markdown', confidence: 0.7 }
classifyText("+1-555-123-4567"); // { type: 'phone', confidence: 0.95 }
classifyText("42 + 17 = 59"); // { type: 'numeric', confidence: 0.8 }
classifyText("Just plain text"); // { type: 'text', confidence: 0.7 }
๐ String Analysis & Comparison (6 functions)
String Analysis & Comparison
Advanced utilities for analyzing and comparing strings.
diff(oldStr: string, newStr: string): string
Computes a simple string diff comparison showing additions and deletions.
diff("hello world", "hello beautiful world"); // 'hello {+beautiful +}world'
diff("goodbye world", "hello world"); // '[-goodbye-]{+hello+} world'
diff("v1.0.0", "v1.1.0"); // 'v1.[-0-]{+1+}.0'
diff("debug: false", "debug: true"); // 'debug: [-fals-]{+tru+}e'
diff("user@example.com", "admin@example.com"); // '[-user-]{+admin+}@example.com'
// Form field changes
diff("John Doe", "Jane Doe"); // 'J[-ohn-]{+ane+} Doe'
// Configuration changes
diff("port: 3000", "port: 8080"); // 'port: [-300-]{+808+}0'
// File extension changes
diff("app.js", "app.ts"); // 'app.[-j-]{+t+}s'
// No changes
diff("test", "test"); // 'test'
// Complete replacement
diff("hello", "world"); // '[-hello-]{+world+}'
Uses a simple prefix/suffix algorithm optimized for readability. The output format uses:
[-text-]
for deleted text{+text+}
for added text
levenshtein(a: string, b: string, maxDistance?: number): number
Calculates the Levenshtein distance (edit distance) between two strings. Optimized with space-efficient algorithm and early termination support.
levenshtein("cat", "bat"); // 1 (substitution)
levenshtein("cat", "cats"); // 1 (insertion)
levenshtein("cats", "cat"); // 1 (deletion)
levenshtein("kitten", "sitting"); // 3
levenshtein("example", "exmaple"); // 2 (transposition)
// With maxDistance for early termination
levenshtein("hello", "helicopter", 3); // Infinity (exceeds max)
levenshtein("hello", "hallo", 3); // 1 (within max)
// Unicode support
levenshtein("cafรฉ", "cafe"); // 1
levenshtein("๐", "๐"); // 1
levenshteinNormalized(a: string, b: string): number
Calculates normalized Levenshtein similarity score between 0 and 1. Perfect for fuzzy matching and similarity scoring.
levenshteinNormalized("hello", "hello"); // 1 (identical)
levenshteinNormalized("cat", "bat"); // 0.667 (fairly similar)
levenshteinNormalized("hello", "world"); // 0.2 (dissimilar)
levenshteinNormalized("", "abc"); // 0 (completely different)
// Real-world typo detection
levenshteinNormalized("necessary", "neccessary"); // 0.9
levenshteinNormalized("example", "exmaple"); // 0.714
// Fuzzy matching (common threshold: 0.8)
const threshold = 0.8;
levenshteinNormalized("test", "tests") >= threshold; // true (0.8)
levenshteinNormalized("hello", "goodbye") >= threshold; // false (0.143)
fuzzyMatch(query: string, target: string, options?: FuzzyMatchOptions): FuzzyMatchResult | null
Performs fuzzy string matching with a similarity score, ideal for command palettes, file finders, and search-as-you-type features.
// Basic usage
fuzzyMatch("gto", "goToLine"); // { matched: true, score: 0.546 }
fuzzyMatch("usrctrl", "userController.js"); // { matched: true, score: 0.444 }
fuzzyMatch("abc", "xyz"); // null (no match)
// Command palette style matching
fuzzyMatch("of", "openFile"); // { matched: true, score: 0.75 }
fuzzyMatch("svf", "saveFile"); // { matched: true, score: 0.619 }
// File finder matching
fuzzyMatch("index", "src/components/index.html"); // { matched: true, score: 0.262 }
fuzzyMatch("app.js", "src/app.js"); // { matched: true, score: 0.85 }
// Case sensitivity
fuzzyMatch("ABC", "abc"); // { matched: true, score: 0.95 }
fuzzyMatch("ABC", "abc", { caseSensitive: true }); // null
// Minimum score threshold
fuzzyMatch("ab", "a" + "x".repeat(50) + "b", { threshold: 0.5 }); // null (score too low)
// Acronym matching (matches at word boundaries score higher)
fuzzyMatch("uc", "UserController"); // { matched: true, score: 0.75 }
fuzzyMatch("gc", "getUserController"); // { matched: true, score: 0.75 }
Options:
caseSensitive
- Enable case-sensitive matching (default: false)threshold
- Minimum score to consider a match (default: 0)
Returns:
{ matched: true, score: number }
- When match found (score between 0-1){ matched: false, score: 0 }
- For empty querynull
- When no match found or score below threshold
Scoring algorithm prioritizes:
- Exact matches (1.0)
- Prefix matches (โฅ0.85)
- Consecutive character matches
- Matches at word boundaries (camelCase, snake_case, kebab-case, etc.)
- Early matches in the string
- Acronym-style matches
highlight(str: string, terms: string | string[], options?: HighlightOptions): string
Highlights search terms in text by wrapping them with markers.
highlight("The quick brown fox", "quick"); // 'The <mark>quick</mark> brown fox'
highlight("Hello WORLD", "world"); // '<mark>Hello</mark> <mark>WORLD</mark>' (case-insensitive by default)
// Multiple terms
highlight("The quick brown fox", ["quick", "fox"]); // 'The <mark>quick</mark> brown <mark>fox</mark>'
// Custom wrapper
highlight("Error: Connection failed", ["error", "failed"], {
wrapper: ["**", "**"],
}); // '**Error**: Connection **failed**'
// Whole word matching
highlight("Java and JavaScript", "Java", { wholeWord: true }); // '<mark>Java</mark> and JavaScript'
// With CSS class
highlight("Hello world", "Hello", { className: "highlight" }); // '<mark class="highlight">Hello</mark> world'
// HTML escaping for security
highlight("<div>Hello</div>", "Hello", { escapeHtml: true }); // '<div><mark>Hello</mark></div>'
// Case-sensitive matching
highlight("Hello hello", "hello", { caseSensitive: true }); // 'Hello <mark>hello</mark>'
Options:
caseSensitive
- Enable case-sensitive matching (default: false)wholeWord
- Match whole words only (default: false)wrapper
- Custom wrapper tags (default: ['', ''])className
- CSS class for mark tagsescapeHtml
- Escape HTML in text before highlighting (default: false)
๐ Unicode & International (5 functions)
Unicode & International
Handle complex Unicode characters, emoji, and international text.
graphemes(str: string): string[]
Splits a string into an array of grapheme clusters, properly handling emojis, combining characters, and complex Unicode.
graphemes("hello"); // ['h', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o']
graphemes("๐จโ๐ฉโ๐งโ๐ฆ๐"); // ['๐จโ๐ฉโ๐งโ๐ฆ', '๐']
graphemes("cafรฉ"); // ['c', 'a', 'f', 'รฉ']
graphemes("๐๐ฝ"); // ['๐๐ฝ'] - emoji with skin tone
graphemes("๐บ๐ธ"); // ['๐บ๐ธ'] - flag emoji
graphemes("hello๐world"); // ['h', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o', '๐', 'w', 'o', 'r', 'l', 'd']
codePoints(str: string): number[]
Converts a string into an array of Unicode code points, properly handling surrogate pairs and complex characters.
codePoints("hello"); // [104, 101, 108, 108, 111]
codePoints("๐"); // [128077]
codePoints("โฌ"); // [8364]
codePoints("Hello ๐"); // [72, 101, 108, 108, 111, 32, 128075]
codePoints("a๐b"); // [97, 128077, 98]
codePoints("๐จโ๐ฉโ๐งโ๐ฆ"); // [128104, 8205, 128105, 8205, 128103, 8205, 128102]
๐ฏ Templates & Interpolation (2 functions)
Templates & Interpolation
Safe and flexible string template interpolation.
template(str: string, data: Record<string, any>, options?: TemplateOptions): string
Interpolates variables in a template string.
template("Hello {{name}}!", { name: "World" }); // 'Hello World!'
template("{{user.name}} is {{user.age}}", {
user: { name: "Alice", age: 30 },
}); // 'Alice is 30'
template(
"Hello ${name}!",
{ name: "World" },
{
delimiters: ["${", "}"],
}
); // 'Hello World!'
templateSafe(str: string, data: Record<string, any>, options?: TemplateOptions): string
Interpolates variables with HTML escaping for safe output.
templateSafe("Hello {{name}}!", {
name: '<script>alert("XSS")</script>',
}); // 'Hello <script>alert("XSS")</script>!'
โก Performance Utilities (1 function)
Performance Utilities
Optimize expensive string operations with caching.
memoize<T>(fn: T, options?: MemoizeOptions): T
Creates a memoized version of a function with LRU (Least Recently Used) cache eviction. Ideal for optimizing expensive string operations like levenshtein
, fuzzyMatch
, or diff
when processing repetitive data.
import { levenshtein, memoize } from "nano-string-utils";
// Basic usage - memoize expensive string operations
const memoizedLevenshtein = memoize(levenshtein);
// First call computes the result
memoizedLevenshtein("kitten", "sitting"); // 3 (computed)
// Subsequent calls with same arguments return cached result
memoizedLevenshtein("kitten", "sitting"); // 3 (cached - instant)
// Custom cache size (default is 100)
const limited = memoize(levenshtein, { maxSize: 50 });
// Custom key generation for complex arguments
const processUser = (user) => expensive(user);
const memoizedProcess = memoize(processUser, {
getKey: (user) => user.id, // Cache by user ID only
});
// Real-world example: Fuzzy search with caching
import { fuzzyMatch, memoize } from "nano-string-utils";
const cachedFuzzyMatch = memoize(fuzzyMatch);
const searchResults = items.map((item) => cachedFuzzyMatch(query, item.name));
// Batch processing with deduplication benefits
const words = ["hello", "world", "hello", "test", "world"];
const distances = words.map((word) => memoizedLevenshtein("example", word)); // Only computes 3 times instead of 5
Features:
- LRU cache eviction - Keeps most recently used results
- Configurable cache size - Control memory usage (default: 100 entries)
- Custom key generation - Support for complex argument types
- Type-safe - Preserves function signatures and types
- Zero dependencies - Pure JavaScript implementation
Best used with:
levenshtein()
- Expensive O(nรm) algorithmfuzzyMatch()
- Complex scoring with boundary detectiondiff()
- Character-by-character comparison- Any custom expensive string operations
Options:
maxSize
- Maximum cached results (default: 100)getKey
- Custom cache key generator function
๐ง TypeScript Utilities
Branded Types (TypeScript)
Nano-string-utils provides branded types for compile-time type safety with validated strings. These types add zero runtime overhead and are fully tree-shakeable.
import { branded } from "nano-string-utils";
Type Guards
Type guards narrow string types to branded types:
const input: string = getUserInput();
if (branded.isValidEmail(input)) {
// input is now typed as Email
sendEmail(input);
}
if (branded.isValidUrl(input)) {
// input is now typed as URL
fetch(input);
}
if (branded.isSlug(input)) {
// input is now typed as Slug
useAsRoute(input);
}
Builder Functions
Safely create branded types with validation:
// Returns Email | null
const email = branded.toEmail("user@example.com");
if (email) {
sendEmail(email); // email is typed as Email
}
// Returns URL | null
const url = branded.toUrl("https://example.com");
if (url) {
fetch(url); // url is typed as URL
}
// Always returns Slug (transforms input)
const slug = branded.toSlug("Hello World!"); // 'hello-world' as Slug
createRoute(slug);
// Smart slug handling
const slug2 = branded.ensureSlug("already-a-slug"); // returns as-is if valid
const slug3 = branded.ensureSlug("Not A Slug!"); // transforms to 'not-a-slug'
Assertion Functions
Assert types with runtime validation:
const input: string = getUserInput();
// Throws BrandedTypeError if invalid
branded.assertEmail(input);
// input is now typed as Email
sendEmail(input);
// Custom error messages
branded.assertUrl(input, "Invalid webhook URL");
// All assertion functions available
branded.assertEmail(str);
branded.assertUrl(str);
branded.assertSlug(str);
Unsafe Variants
For trusted inputs where validation isn't needed:
// Use only when you're certain the input is valid
const trustedEmail = branded.unsafeEmail("admin@system.local");
const trustedUrl = branded.unsafeUrl("https://internal.api");
const trustedSlug = branded.unsafeSlug("already-valid-slug");
Available Types
Email
- Validated email addressesURL
- Validated URLs (http/https/ftp/ftps)Slug
- URL-safe slugs (lowercase, hyphenated)Brand<T, K>
- Generic branding utility for custom types
Benefits
- Zero runtime overhead - Types are erased at compilation
- Type safety - Prevent passing unvalidated strings to functions
- IntelliSense support - Full autocomplete and type hints
- Tree-shakeable - Only imported if used
- Composable - Works with existing string functions
// Example: Type-safe API
function sendNewsletter(email: branded.Email) {
// Can only be called with validated emails
api.send(email);
}
// Won't compile without validation
const userInput = "maybe@email.com";
// sendNewsletter(userInput); // โ Type error!
// Must validate first
const validated = branded.toEmail(userInput);
if (validated) {
sendNewsletter(validated); // โ
Type safe!
}
Extending with Custom Branded Types
The Brand<T, K>
utility allows you to create your own custom branded types beyond the built-in ones. This is perfect for domain-specific validation without bloating the library.
import type { Brand } from "nano-string-utils";
import { sanitize } from "nano-string-utils";
// Create custom branded types for your domain
type PhoneNumber = Brand<string, "PhoneNumber">;
type PostalCode = Brand<string, "PostalCode">;
type CreditCard = Brand<string, "CreditCard">;
// Build type-safe constructors
function toPhoneNumber(str: string): PhoneNumber | null {
const cleaned = str.replace(/\D/g, "");
if (cleaned.length === 10 || cleaned.length === 11) {
return cleaned as PhoneNumber;
}
return null;
}
function toPostalCode(str: string): PostalCode | null {
// US ZIP code validation
if (/^\d{5}(-\d{4})?$/.test(str)) {
return str as PostalCode;
}
return null;
}
// Type guards for runtime checking
function isPhoneNumber(str: string): str is PhoneNumber {
return toPhoneNumber(str) !== null;
}
// Use in your application
function sendSMS(phone: PhoneNumber, message: string) {
// Can only be called with validated phone numbers
console.log(`Sending to ${phone}: ${message}`);
}
const userInput = "(555) 123-4567";
const phone = toPhoneNumber(userInput);
if (phone) {
sendSMS(phone); // โ
Type safe!
}
// sendSMS(userInput); // โ Type error - string is not PhoneNumber
This pattern gives you:
- Compile-time safety - Prevent using unvalidated data
- Zero bundle cost - Only import what you use from the library
- Domain modeling - Express business rules in the type system
- Composability - Mix custom types with built-in branded types
Template Literal Types (TypeScript)
Case conversion functions now provide precise type inference for literal strings at compile time. This feature enhances IDE support with exact type transformations while maintaining full backward compatibility.
import { camelCase, kebabCase, snakeCase } from "nano-string-utils";
// Literal strings get exact transformed types
const endpoint = kebabCase("getUserProfile");
// Type: "get-user-profile" (not just string!)
const column = snakeCase("firstName");
// Type: "first_name"
const methodName = camelCase("fetch-user-data");
// Type: "fetchUserData"
// Runtime strings still return regular string type
const userInput: string = getUserInput();
const result = camelCase(userInput);
// Type: string (backward compatible)
All Case Conversions Support Template Literals
camelCase("hello-world"); // Type: "helloWorld"
kebabCase("helloWorld"); // Type: "hello-world"
snakeCase("HelloWorld"); // Type: "hello_world"
pascalCase("hello-world"); // Type: "HelloWorld"
constantCase("helloWorld"); // Type: "HELLO_WORLD"
dotCase("HelloWorld"); // Type: "hello.world"
pathCase("helloWorld"); // Type: "hello/world"
sentenceCase("hello-world"); // Type: "Hello world"
titleCase("hello-world"); // Type: "Hello World"
Type-Safe Configuration Objects
Transform configuration keys between naming conventions:
const config = {
"api-base-url": "https://api.example.com",
"max-retries": 3,
} as const;
// Convert keys to camelCase at type level
type ConfigCamelCase = {
[K in keyof typeof config as CamelCase<K>]: (typeof config)[K];
};
// Type: { apiBaseUrl: string; maxRetries: number; }
API Route Mapping
Create type-safe method names from API routes:
type ApiRoutes = "user-profile" | "user-settings" | "admin-panel";
type MethodNames = {
[K in ApiRoutes as `fetch${PascalCase<K>}`]: () => Promise<void>;
};
// Creates: fetchUserProfile(), fetchUserSettings(), fetchAdminPanel()
Benefits:
- โ Zero runtime cost - All transformations happen at compile time
- โ Better IDE support - Autocomplete shows exact transformed strings
- โ Type safety - Catch typos and incorrect transformations during development
- โ Backward compatible - Runtime strings work exactly as before
Null/Undefined Safety
All functions in nano-string-utils handle null and undefined inputs gracefully:
// No more runtime errors!
slugify(null); // Returns: null
slugify(undefined); // Returns: undefined
slugify(""); // Returns: ""
// Consistent behavior across all functions
isEmail(null); // Returns: false (validation functions)
words(null); // Returns: [] (array functions)
wordCount(null); // Returns: 0 (counting functions)
// Safe to use without defensive checks
const userInput = getUserInput(); // might be null/undefined
const slug = slugify(userInput); // Won't throw!
This means:
- โ No TypeErrors - Functions never throw on null/undefined
- โ Predictable behavior - Consistent handling across all utilities
- โ Cleaner code - No need for defensive checks before calling functions
- โ Zero performance cost - Minimal overhead from null checks
Bundle Size
Each utility is optimized to be as small as possible:
Function | Size (gzipped) |
---|---|
slugify | 138 bytes |
camelCase | 232 bytes |
snakeCase | 197 bytes |
kebabCase | 197 bytes |
pascalCase | 219 bytes |
constantCase | 228 bytes |
dotCase | 207 bytes |
pathCase | 207 bytes |
sentenceCase | 414 bytes |
titleCase | 562 bytes |
capitalize | 99 bytes |
truncate | 180 bytes |
stripHtml | 85 bytes |
sanitize | 812 bytes |
redact | 727 bytes |
escapeHtml | 136 bytes |
excerpt | 261 bytes |
randomString | 219 bytes |
hashString | 155 bytes |
reverse | 82 bytes |
deburr | 273 bytes |
isEmail | 148 bytes |
isUrl | 155 bytes |
isASCII | 128 bytes |
toASCII | 1.3 KB |
wordCount | 123 bytes |
normalizeWhitespace | 268 bytes |
removeNonPrintable | 304 bytes |
template | 302 bytes |
templateSafe | 502 bytes |
pad | 209 bytes |
padStart | 179 bytes |
padEnd | 183 bytes |
graphemes | 171 bytes |
codePoints | 131 bytes |
highlight | 461 bytes |
diff | 265 bytes |
levenshtein | 413 bytes |
levenshteinNormalized | 471 bytes |
fuzzyMatch | 613 bytes |
pluralize | 459 bytes |
singularize | 562 bytes |
smartSplit | 566 bytes |
humanizeList | 251 bytes |
memoize | 334 bytes |
extractEntities | 573 bytes |
detectScript | 540 bytes |
classifyText | 898 bytes |
Total package size: < 12KB minified + gzipped
Requirements
- Node.js >= 18
- TypeScript >= 5.0 (for TypeScript users)
Development
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Zheruel/nano-string-utils.git
cd nano-string-utils
# Install dependencies
npm install
# Run tests
npm test
# Run tests with coverage
npm run test:coverage
# Build the library
npm run build
# Type check
npm run typecheck
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.
- Fork the repository
- Create your feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
) - Commit your changes (
git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature'
) - Push to the branch (
git push origin feature/amazing-feature
) - Open a Pull Request
License
MIT ยฉ [Zheruel]
Why nano-string-utils?
In a world of bloated dependencies, nano-string-utils
stands out by providing exactly what you need and nothing more:
- Security First: Zero dependencies means zero supply chain vulnerabilities
- Performance: Optimized for both speed and size
- Ultra-fast case conversions (3.4M-4.3M ops/s)
- Efficient truncate operations (23.4M ops/s)
- Fast template interpolation (998K ops/s)
- Developer Experience: Full TypeScript support with comprehensive JSDoc comments
- Production Ready: 100% test coverage with extensive edge case handling
- Modern: Built for ES2022+ with full ESM support and CommonJS compatibility
Benchmarks
We continuously benchmark nano-string-utils against popular alternatives (lodash and es-toolkit) to ensure optimal performance and bundle size.
Running Benchmarks
# Run vitest benchmark tests
npm run bench
# Generate benchmark data for docs website
npm run bench:data
Latest Results
Bundle Size Comparison (gzipped)
Function | nano-string-utils | lodash | es-toolkit | Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|
camelCase | 232B | 3.4KB | 273B | nano โ |
capitalize | 99B | 1.7KB | 107B | nano โ |
kebabCase | 197B | 2.8KB | 197B | tied |
truncate | 180B | 2.9KB | - | nano โ |
Performance Comparison
Function | nano-string-utils | lodash | es-toolkit | Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|
capitalize | 21.3M ops/s | - | 21.3M ops/s | tied โ |
truncate | 23.4M ops/s | - | - | nano โ |
deburr | 2.25M ops/s | - | 2.34M ops/s | es-toolkit |
escapeHtml | 2.28M ops/s | - | 2.26M ops/s | nano โ |
camelCase | 3.40M ops/s | - | 3.35M ops/s | nano โ |
kebabCase | 4.32M ops/s | - | 4.34M ops/s | es-toolkit |
snakeCase | 4.34M ops/s | - | 4.33M ops/s | nano โ |
pascalCase | 3.97M ops/s | - | 3.95M ops/s | nano โ |
pad | 11.7M ops/s | - | 18.6M ops/s | es-toolkit |
padStart | 7.97M ops/s | - | - | nano โ |
padEnd | 7.97M ops/s | - | - | nano โ |
template | 998K ops/s | - | - | nano โ |
๐ View full interactive performance benchmarks
Key Findings
- ๐ Smallest bundle sizes: nano-string-utils wins 47 out of 48 tested functions (98% win rate)
- โก Competitive performance: Wins 10 out of 14 benchmarked functions against es-toolkit
- ๐ View full interactive benchmarks with detailed comparison
- โก Optimized performance:
- Case conversions: 3.4M-4.3M ops/s, competitive with es-toolkit
- Truncate: 23.4M ops/s for fast string truncation
- Template: 998K ops/s for string interpolation
- ๐ณ Superior tree-shaking: Each function is independently importable with minimal overhead
Comparison with Alternatives
Library | Bundle Size | Dependencies | Tree-shakeable | TypeScript |
---|---|---|---|---|
nano-string-utils | < 12KB | 0 | โ | โ |
lodash | ~70KB | 0 | โ ๏ธ Requires lodash-es | โ |
underscore.string | ~20KB | 0 | โ | โ |
voca | ~30KB | 0 | โ | โ |
Support
- ๐ Report bugs
- ๐ก Request features
- ๐ Read the docs
- โญ Star on GitHub