DEV Community: Mohamed Yaseen

Stop Typing the Same Commands Over and Over: Bash Aliases for Lazy Developers

Mohamed Yaseen — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 15:40:40 +0000

A quick guide to automating repetitive terminal commands with bash aliases

We've all been there—typing the same git commands, npm scripts, or directory navigations 50 times a day. Your fingers hurt, your productivity suffers, and you're wasting mental energy on muscle memory instead of actual coding.

Here's the fix: bash aliases. Two minutes to set up, infinite time saved.

What's an Alias?

An alias is basically a shortcut command. Instead of typing the full command, you create a shorter version that does the same thing.

How to Set It Up

Open your shell config file:

nano ~/.bashrc
# or if you use zsh:
nano ~/.zshrc

Add your aliases at the end:

# Git shortcuts
alias gs='git status'
alias ga='git add .'
alias gc='git commit -m'
alias gp='git push'
alias gl='git log --oneline'

# Navigation
alias ..='cd ..'
alias ...='cd ../..'
alias myproject='cd ~/projects/my-awesome-project'

# Common npm commands
alias ni='npm install'
alias nr='npm run'
alias ns='npm start'

# Quick docker
alias dps='docker ps -a'
alias dstop='docker stop $(docker ps -q)'

Save and exit (Ctrl+X, Y, Enter if using nano).

Then reload your shell:

source ~/.bashrc
# or
source ~/.zshrc

Real-Life Example

Before:

cd ~/projects/my-webapp && npm run dev

After:

mydev  # That's it!

You just saved keystrokes and your carpal tunnel says thank you.

Pro Tips

Keep it memorable - Use abbreviations you'll actually remember
Don't override existing commands - Check before naming your alias
Document complex ones - Add comments in your config file
Share with your team - Add aliases to a dotfiles repo everyone can use

Bonus: Functions for Complex Tasks

If you need more than a simple shortcut, use a function:

# Create and navigate into a directory
mkcd() {
    mkdir -p "$1" && cd "$1"
}

# Kill process by name
killport() {
    lsof -ti:$1 | xargs kill -9
}

The Real Win

Every second counts when you're grinding. These tiny automation wins add up to hours of reclaimed time over a year. More time coding, less time typing the same stuff.

Start with 5 aliases today. You'll thank yourself tomorrow.

What's your favorite time-saving alias? Drop it in the comments! 👇

#happycoding

SnippKit — Not Just a Snippet Manager

Mohamed Yaseen — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 14:42:32 +0000

Most developers store code snippets somewhere.

Some use:

Notion
GitHub gists
Text files
Random folders
ChatGPT history
Sticky notes
Terminal history

But snippets today are not just code anymore.

We save:

CLI commands
SQL queries
API requests
AI prompts
Config files
JSON templates
Regex
Notes
Links
Debug commands

That’s why I built SnippKit — a place to save, share, organize, and run snippets from anywhere.

This is not just a snippet manager.

It’s more like a developer toolkit + snippet cloud + automation tools.

What You Can Store in SnippKit

You can save and organize:

Code snippets
CLI commands
AI prompts
Notes
JSON data
SQL queries
Regex
Links
Config files

Everything can be organized into:

folders
collections
starred snippets

So your important snippets are always easy to find.

Secure Sharing — Ghost Send

SnippKit has a feature called Ghost Send.

This allows you to:

share a snippet securely
send a private link
control who can access it
share sensitive configs safely

Useful for:

API examples
server configs
deployment commands
debugging snippets
team sharing

Communities and Organization Sharing

SnippKit supports organization and community sharing.

Think of it like:

WhatsApp groups for developers
Teams sharing snippet collections
Policy-based sharing like AWS IAM

You can:

create groups
share collections to specific groups
control who can view or edit snippets
manage snippet access policies

This is useful for:

teams
open source communities
developer groups
classrooms
companies

Run Commands from Cloud Using SNIX CLI

SnippKit includes a CLI tool called Snix.

You can run commands stored in the cloud directly from your terminal.

Example workflow:

Save a deployment command in SnippKit
Open terminal
Run using Snix CLI
Command executes instantly

Useful for:

deployment commands
docker commands
git workflows
ssh commands
database commands
build scripts

Chrome Extension — Save From Anywhere

SnippKit also has a Chrome Extension.

You can:

save code from GitHub
save commands from documentation
save AI prompts
save StackOverflow solutions
save configs from blogs
save anything from the web

Just save directly from the browser.

VS Code Integration

You can save snippets directly from VS Code.

This makes it very easy to:

save useful functions
save configs
save reusable components
save queries
save scripts

Without leaving your editor.

Code to Image (Carbon-like Feature)

SnippKit has a feature similar to Carbon.

You can:

convert code into beautiful images
customize themes
export code images
share on social media
share in documentation

Very useful for:

blog posts
documentation
social media posts
tutorials

JSON as a Service

SnippKit also provides JSON as a Service.

You can:

store JSON
get an endpoint
use it as mock API
test frontend apps
test fetch requests
prototype apps quickly

Very useful for frontend development and testing.

40+ Built-in Developer Tools

SnippKit includes 40+ developer tools, such as:

Base64 encoder / decoder
Color palette generator
QR code studio
Character counter
File size calculator
JSON formatter
URL encoder
Timestamp converter
Hash generator
Text utilities
And many more

So it’s not just snippets — it’s also a developer toolbox.

AI Features — SIDR AI

SnippKit includes SIDR AI.

It can:

generate code
explain saved code
help understand snippets later
generate scripts
generate regex
generate SQL queries
generate CLI commands

There is also AI code explanation, so when you open an old snippet, you can instantly see what the code does.

Very useful when revisiting old snippets.

SnippKit Blog

SnippKit also has a blog where:

updates are posted
new features announced
developer tips shared
tools explained
tutorials posted

Easy Profile Sharing via QR Code

You can share your SnippKit profile using a QR code.

Useful for:

conferences
meetups
sharing snippet collections
sharing developer profile

Keyboard First Workflow

SnippKit is designed to be keyboard-first.

You can:

open search
create snippets
navigate
open tools
switch sections

Also includes ctrl + ; which shows numbers so that navigations become in a click

Using keyboard shortcuts without touching the mouse.

Easter Eggs

There are also some fun easter eggs inside SnippKit.

For example:

typing sakura → falling hearts animation
typing rain → rain animation

Just small fun things inside the app.

Final Thoughts

SnippKit started as a simple snippet saver.

But it slowly became:

snippet manager
developer toolbox
CLI command runner
snippet sharing platform
JSON service
AI code assistant
developer utilities collection
community snippet sharing platform

Basically a developer productivity platform.

If you're a developer who constantly saves:

code
commands
prompts
configs
queries
scripts

You might find SnippKit useful.

SnippKit : https://snippkit.com

I Built a CLI That Can Create, Fix, and Improve Projects Using Natural Language — Wrath CLI

Mohamed Yaseen — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 04:21:37 +0000

Most developers spend a lot of time doing repetitive tasks:

Creating project structure
Fixing common errors
Adding new features
Refactoring code
Improving UI
Running dev servers
Understanding project structure

So I built a tool called Wrath CLI to handle these tasks directly from the terminal using natural language.

What Wrath CLI Can Do

Wrath works by indexing your project and understanding its structure. Once indexed, you can run commands like:

wrath create "nodejs api with auth"
wrath fix "cannot read property of undefined"
wrath add "profile page with avatar upload"
wrath ui "make dashboard modern"
wrath update "optimize performance"
wrath run npm run dev

Available Commands

wrath create [description]
Scaffold a new project using natural language.

wrath fix [error]
Diagnose and fix errors using the project index.

wrath run "command" (eg. command=npm start)
Start dev server with auto-healing.

wrath init
Index the current project into .wrath/index.json.

wrath add [feature]
Add new features, files, or components.

wrath ui [description]
Improve UI professionally.

wrath status
Show current project index state.

wrath reindex
Rebuild the project index.

wrath update [req]
Refactor code or improve performance.

Website

https://wrath-cli.vercel.app/

The goal of Wrath is simple:
Make development faster by controlling projects using natural language from the terminal.

I would love feedback and ideas from the community.

git worktree: Work on Multiple Branches at the Same Time

Mohamed Yaseen — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 05:06:07 +0000

Most developers handle parallel work one of two ways — stash everything and switch branches, or clone the repo a second time. Both work, but both have friction. git worktree is the cleaner solution that ships with Git itself.

What it does

git worktree lets you check out multiple branches simultaneously, each in its own directory on disk. They share the same Git history and object database, so there's no duplication, no sync issues, and no separate remote to manage.

Basic usage

git worktree add ../project-hotfix hotfix-branch

You now have two working directories:

/project — your original branch, untouched
/project-hotfix — hotfix-branch, fully checked out and ready

Open a second terminal, cd into the new folder, and work normally. Both are live at the same time.

Practical scenarios

Production bug comes in mid-feature
Don't stash. Don't switch. Just open the hotfix worktree in a new terminal, fix it, push, close the terminal. Your feature branch is exactly as you left it.

Running tests on two branches simultaneously
Start the test suite in both worktree directories at the same time and compare output directly. Useful when you're benchmarking or verifying a fix didn't break something on another branch.

Reviewing a large PR properly
Instead of checking out the PR branch and losing your work, add it as a worktree, run the code, then remove the worktree when done.

Other commands worth knowing

List all active worktrees

git worktree list

Remove a worktree when you're done

git worktree remove ../project-hotfix

Create a worktree with a new branch (doesn't have to exist yet)

git worktree add ../experiment -b experiment-branch

One constraint

You cannot check out the same branch in two worktrees at the same time. Each worktree needs a unique branch. If you try, Git will error with a clear message.

Worth noting

git worktree has been available since Git 2.5 (released 2015). No plugins, no configuration, nothing to install. It's just there.

If you work on a codebase where context switching is frequent — multiple ongoing features, regular hotfixes, or heavy PR review load — worktrees are worth making a habit.

Discover Hidden APIs Using Chrome DevTools

Mohamed Yaseen — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 15:18:54 +0000

Many developers try to extract data from websites by scraping HTML.

That approach usually involves:

fetching the page
parsing the DOM
extracting elements using selectors

But modern web applications rarely render their data directly in HTML.

Instead, most sites load data through internal APIs that the frontend calls.

If you can find those APIs, you can often access clean structured data instead of parsing HTML.

The Trick: Use DevTools Network Tab

You can discover these APIs directly from the browser.

Step 1 — Open Chrome DevTools

Press: F12 or Right Click → Inspect

Step 2 — Go to the Network Tab

Open the Network tab inside DevTools.

This panel shows every request the page makes.

Step 3 — Filter API Requests

Click: Fetch/XHR

This filters the requests to show only API calls.

Now reload the page. Ctrl + R

Step 4 — Inspect JSON Responses

Look for requests returning JSON data.

Examples might look like:

/graphql
/api/posts
/api/content
/api/search

Click any request and open the Response tab.

You may see something like:

{
  "title": "Example Article",
  "author": "Jane Doe",
  "content": "...",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-17"
}

This means you just discovered the API powering the page.

Why This Is Useful

Instead of scraping HTML, using the API often provides:

structured JSON data
faster requests
more reliable results
easier integrations

Many APIs require authentication or have usage restrictions.

Final Thoughts

Modern websites are essentially frontends built on top of APIs.

Once you know how to inspect network requests, you can quickly understand how data flows inside an application.

And sometimes, the easiest way to get data from a website is simply to use the same API the frontend already uses.

Debug Code Faster Using AI

Mohamed Yaseen — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 09:25:09 +0000

Debugging can sometimes take longer than writing the code itself.

A common workflow is:

Search the error message
Open several StackOverflow links
Try solutions one by one

A faster workflow is using AI.

Example prompt:

Here is my code and the error message. Explain why this error occurs and suggest a fix.

AI can:

Explain the issue
Identify the problematic line
Suggest fixes
Provide a corrected example

This makes debugging faster and more educational.

Stop Googling Regex — Use AI Instead

Mohamed Yaseen — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 14:52:22 +0000

Regex is one of those things developers rarely remember.

Most of us search:
regex email validation javascript

A faster approach is using AI.

Example prompt:
Generate a regex to extract all email addresses from the following text.

Paste your sample text and AI will generate the regex instantly.

You can then test it in tools like:

regex101
VS Code search
JavaScript console

This turns a 20 minute problem into a 20 second solution.

The day I stopped Googling "how to rename 50 files at once" and just learned the CLI

Mohamed Yaseen — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 04:42:01 +0000

It started with a stupid problem. I had a folder with 60 screenshots named something like Screenshot 2024-03-14 at 10.32.11 AM.png, and I needed them all renamed to a clean img-001.png format before shipping assets to a client.

My first instinct? Google it. Find a Stack Overflow answer. Copy a bash one-liner. Paste it. Pray. It worked — but I had zero idea what it did.

That moment made me realize something uncomfortable: I'd been treating the terminal like a vending machine. Put in a query, get out a command, move on. I understood nothing about what was actually happening.

So I spent a weekend actually learning a handful of CLI tools — not to become a Unix wizard, just to stop feeling helpless every time I opened a terminal. It changed how I work in ways I didn't expect.

Here's the thing about CLI tools: they compose. Once you understand tools like find, xargs, grep, and awk at even a basic level, you can chain them together to solve problems that would otherwise require writing a whole script or installing a GUI app.

Want to find every .env file you accidentally committed?

git log --all --full-history -- "**/.env"

Want to count how many times a specific function is called across your whole codebase?

grep -r "fetchUser" ./src | wc -l

Want to bulk-replace a deprecated API call across 30 files?

find ./src -name "*.js" | xargs sed -i 's/oldMethod/newMethod/g'

None of these are magic. They're small tools doing one job well, piped together. That's the whole Unix philosophy — and once it clicks, it starts feeling like a superpower.

Beyond the built-in tools, the modern CLI ecosystem is genuinely exciting right now. Tools like fzf (fuzzy file finder), ripgrep (grep but fast), bat (cat but readable), and zoxide (smarter cd) are worth adding to your setup. They slot into your existing workflow without demanding you relearn anything.

The real shift isn't about memorizing commands. It's about developing intuition — knowing "this is a job for the terminal" versus "this needs a script" versus "this needs a proper tool." That judgment gets sharper the more you practice.

Start small. Next time you're about to reach for a GUI file manager or write a throwaway Python script for a file task — try the terminal first. Look up one new command. Understand what it does before running it.

You won't regret it. Except maybe the first time you run rm -rf in the wrong directory. But that's a lesson you only need once.

The Easiest Way to Style Active Links in Next.js App Router (2026)

Mohamed Yaseen — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 10:22:20 +0000

If you have moved to the Next.js App Router, you probably noticed that activeClassName is gone.

To style a Sidebar link when it is active, you now have to use the usePathname hook.

The Hard Way (Manual)

You usually end up writing code like this for every single link:

'use client';
import { usePathname } from 'next/navigation';
import Link from 'next/link';

export function Navbar() {
  const pathname = usePathname();

  return (
    <nav>
      <Link 
        href="/" 
        className={pathname === '/' ? 'active' : ''}
      >
        Home
      </Link>
       {/* Repeat this logic 5 more times... */}
    </nav>
  );
}

This works, but it clutters your component code significantly.

The Easy Way (Using a Wrapper)
I built a tiny package to solve exactly this. It brings back the cleaner syntax we used to have.

Step 1: Install npm install next-app-active-link

Step 2: Use It works exactly like the standard Link component, but cleaner:

import { ActiveLink } from 'next-app-active-link';

<ActiveLink href="/about" activeClassName="text-blue-500 underline">
  About
</ActiveLink>

That's it. It handles the usePathname logic internally, keeps your code dry, and is fully typed for TypeScript.

Npm Package Link next-app-active-link

Hope this saves you some time!

Definitely worth reading

Mohamed Yaseen — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 03:54:56 +0000

Jenuel Oras Ganawed

Jul 29 '25

The Hidden Cost of Free AI: Don’t Let ChatGPT Replace Your Thinking

#programming #ai #webdev #productivity

Comments 2

2 min read

7 Tips That Actually Helped Me Get Better at Programming (Stuff No One Taught Me)

Mohamed Yaseen — Sat, 26 Jul 2025 20:10:36 +0000

Hey folks,
I wanted to share a few small things that made a big difference in my coding journey — not the kind of stuff you get in tutorials or courses, but more like… stuff I figured out after breaking things a lot 😅

Maybe it helps someone out there who’s still in the trenches.

⸻

Just start building — even if it sucks

Seriously. I kept waiting until I “understood everything” before starting a project. That was a trap.
Turns out, trying to build a super basic app (even badly) taught me more than hours of watching others code. You’ll learn while building. Not before.

⸻

Get good at Googling

Nobody remembers everything. The real skill is knowing what to search and how to phrase it.
And it’s totally fine to copy-paste solutions, as long as you understand why it works.

⸻

Keep a “dump” file

I always have a random file open (mine’s called junk.js) where I test stuff, break code, or just experiment. It’s like a no-pressure sandbox — no rules, no cleanup, just play.

⸻

Console.logs are fine. But learn the debugger

Took me way too long to realize breakpoints and watch values are actually easy and save you so much time. Especially when stuff gets messy in loops or async code.

⸻

If you can’t explain it, you probably don’t get it

Try explaining a concept out loud — to yourself or someone else. If you stumble, that’s a clue to revisit it. Writing blog posts or rubber-ducking really helps here.

⸻

It’s okay to delete code

Sometimes when I’m stuck, the fastest fix is just… deleting the thing and starting over. I used to be scared of that, but it usually ends up cleaner the second time.

⸻

You don’t need to know everything

There’s so much pressure to learn every new framework or language. Truth is, you can go very far by just going deep in one stack. Don’t burn out trying to chase every trend.

⸻

That’s it for now. Not groundbreaking, just honest stuff that helped me personally.
If you’ve got a tip that saved you a ton of time or helped things finally click — I’d love to hear it. Drop it in the comments 🙌

I Built a Developer-Focused Snippet Hub to Finally Organize My Coding Life

Mohamed Yaseen — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 15:25:04 +0000

Introducing SnippKit – My Solution to Code Chaos 🧩

As a developer, I constantly found myself digging through old projects, Notion pages, or random files just to find a single code snippet I had written weeks ago. Sound familiar?

That’s why I built SnippKit – a clean, focused space where you can save, manage, and reuse your code snippets effortlessly.

🔧 Why I Built It

I wanted something:

Simple, fast, and clean.
That supported syntax highlighting and multi-language snippets.
That didn't just dump everything in a list but let me organize by tags, folders, or favorites.
That respected my privacy, but still allowed me to share a snippet when I wanted to.

There were some tools out there, but they either felt bloated, outdated, or not built with modern developers in mind.

✨ Key Features

🚀 Save your favorite snippets with language support
🏷️ Tag-based organization
🔐 Public by default but changeable, shareable when needed
🔎 Instant search & filter
🌘 Built-in dark/light mode

Bonus: It's also blazing fast ⚡

💬 Built With

Next.js + Supabase
Tailwind CSS
Framer Motion for sweet microinteractions
Clerk for auth
LemonSqueezy for subscription support

It’s all part of a #BuildInPublic journey – I’m learning and shipping every day.

🧠 What's Next?

VS Code Extension
AI tagging & auto-suggestion
Public snippet sharing
GitHub import/export

🗣️ Feedback Wanted!

I'd love to hear:

How do you currently manage your code snippets?
What features would make SnippKit valuable to you?
What snippet tools do you use (if any)?

Try it out at 👉 snippkit.com

And follow my build journey on Twitter: @i_am_yaseen

Thanks for reading 🙏

Let’s organize code like pros 🚀