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ke jia
ke jia

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My Entire Dev Workflow Runs on 4 Tiny npm Packages

#cli #javascript #node #productivity

I keep my toolchain deliberately small. No IDE extension suite, no "developer environment" with 40 moving parts. Just four zero-dependency npm packages, run with npx, covering the four moments where my old workflow leaked time.

Here is the map.

1. Starting a project → ScaffoldX

The moment: "new folder, sensible defaults, go."

npx scaffoldx-cli
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Nine templates (React, Next.js, Express, FastAPI, Chrome extension, CLI, landing page, Discord bot, Electron), one interactive pick, project generated with git init already done.

What it killed: the 30-minute "copy an old project and delete half of it" ritual.

2. Saving code snippets → SnippetX

The moment: "I found the one-liner I needed, now where does it go?"

pbpaste | npx @wuchunjie/snippetx add debounce js
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Everything lives in ~/.snippetx/snippets.json. Search by name or content, copy back to clipboard or append to a file:

npx @wuchunjie/snippetx search debounce
npx @wuchunjie/snippetx copy f3a1b2c4 | pbcopy
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What it killed: the 40-tab "code stuff" bookmark folder.

3. Checking a repo's health → GitPulse

The moment: "what is actually going on in this repo before I touch it?"

npx @wuchunjie/gitpulse
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Total commits, contributors with bar charts, file-type breakdown, recent activity heatmap — in the terminal, in one command.

What it killed: opening the GitHub web UI, clicking through three pages, mentally reconstructing the same data.

4. Shipping with a clean conscience → DotGuard

The moment: "one last check before this goes public."

npx @wuchunjie/dotguard .
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Walks the directory, finds every .env file, flags hardcoded passwords, API keys, tokens, private keys, and database URLs. Exits non-zero on findings, so it is a one-line CI gate too.

What it killed: the "I probably did not commit the .env" hope.

Why Four, and Why These

Each package covers exactly one recurring pain, has zero dependencies, runs via npx (no install, no version drift in my global packages), and prints results I can read in 5 seconds.

The total maintenance cost of the whole workflow: zero. The total install cost: zero. That is the point of keeping it small — when every tool is one npx away, the workflow cannot rot.

The Full List

Package Command Job
scaffoldx-cli npx scaffoldx-cli Generate project templates
@wuchunjie/snippetx npx @wuchunjie/snippetx Terminal snippet manager
@wuchunjie/gitpulse npx @wuchunjie/gitpulse Git repo analytics
@wuchunjie/dotguard npx @wuchunjie/dotguard .env secret scanning

All free, all MIT, all zero-dependency.

npm: scaffoldx-cli · @wuchunjie/dotguard · @wuchunjie/gitpulse · @wuchunjie/snippetx

From the same toolbox

  • ScaffoldX — generate production-ready project templates in seconds: npx scaffoldx-cli
  • DotGuard — scan .env files for exposed secrets: npx @wuchunjie/dotguard
  • GitPulse — git analytics (commits, contributors, activity) in your terminal: npx @wuchunjie/gitpulse
  • SnippetX — save, search, and copy code snippets from the terminal: npx @wuchunjie/snippetx

GitHub: wuchunjie00/devtools

☕ If This Saved You Time

All of these tools are and will always be 100% free. If they make your day a little easier, consider fueling the next one:

Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi

Built with ❤️. Zero dependencies, zero tracking, zero bloat.

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