sd: An Intuitive Find-and-Replace CLI Tool (Modern sed Alternative)

TL;DR — Quick Summary

sd is a modern sed alternative for search-and-replace. Uses familiar regex syntax, no escaping nightmares, supports string literal mode. Just sd 'old' 'new'.

sd makes find-and-replace simple. No more fighting with sed’s arcane syntax — just sd 'old' 'new'. It handles regex by default and literal strings with -F.

Installation

# macOS
brew install sd

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S sd

# Cargo
cargo install sd

# Ubuntu/Debian (via cargo)
cargo install sd

Usage

# Basic replacement (stdin)
echo 'hello world' | sd 'world' 'Rust'
# → hello Rust

# Replace in file (in-place)
sd -i 'old_name' 'new_name' config.toml

# Multiple files
sd -i 'TODO' 'DONE' src/*.rs

# Literal mode (no regex — perfect for code)
sd -F 'Vec<String>' 'Vec<&str>' src/main.rs
sd -F 'console.log(' 'logger.info(' src/*.js

# Regex with capture groups
sd '(\d+)px' '${1}rem' styles.css
sd '(\w+)\.old' '$1.new' manifest.txt

# Preview changes (don't write)
cat file.txt | sd 'pattern' 'replacement'

# Use with find for recursive replacement
find . -name '*.md' -exec sd -i 'oldterm' 'newterm' {} +

# Combine with fd for even better experience
fd -e rs | xargs sd -i 'old_api' 'new_api'

Comparison: sd vs sed

# sed: Replace "hello" with "world"
sed 's/hello/world/g' file.txt
# sed: Escape slashes in paths
sed 's/\/usr\/local\/bin/\/opt\/bin/g' file.txt
# sed: In-place (differs between GNU and BSD!)
sed -i 's/old/new/g' file.txt      # GNU
sed -i '' 's/old/new/g' file.txt   # BSD/macOS

# sd: Same operations, much simpler
sd 'hello' 'world' file.txt
sd '/usr/local/bin' '/opt/bin' file.txt
sd -i 'old' 'new' file.txt         # Same on all platforms

Feature	sd	sed	perl -pe
Syntax	Intuitive	Cryptic	Complex
Escaping	Minimal	Heavy	Heavy
Literal mode	-F flag	No	-Q flag
Capture groups	$1, $2	\1, \2	$1, $2
Cross-platform	Identical	GNU vs BSD	Identical
Speed	Fast (Rust)	Fast (C)	Moderate

Summary

sd is a modern, intuitive sed replacement — sd 'old' 'new'
No delimiter escaping, no GNU/BSD differences
String literal mode (-F) for code refactoring without regex headaches
Regex with $1, $2 capture groups by default
Combine with fd for powerful recursive find-and-replace

Guide & Instructions

Estimated Time: 3m

Tools Needed:

sd
Terminal

Install sd

Install with brew install sd, cargo install sd, pacman -S sd, or apt install sd.

Basic replace

echo 'hello world' | sd 'world' 'universe' → hello universe

Replace in files

sd -i 'old_function' 'new_function' src/*.rs to edit files in-place.

Literal mode

sd -F 'function()' 'method()' file.js — no regex interpretation of parentheses.

Regex with groups

sd '(\\w+)@(\\w+)' '$2/$1' file.txt — use $1, $2 for capture groups.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is sd?

sd is a command-line search-and-replace tool written in Rust. It's a simpler, more intuitive alternative to sed. Instead of sed's cryptic syntax (s/old/new/g with delimiter escaping), sd uses sd 'old' 'new' — straightforward and readable.

How is sd different from sed?

sed requires learning its custom command language with delimiters (s/foo/bar/g). sd uses regular arguments — sd 'pattern' 'replacement'. No delimiter escaping, no -e flags, no confusion between GNU and BSD sed. sd also supports string-literal mode (-F) with no regex.

Does sd support regex?

Yes, sd uses Rust's regex engine by default. Use capture groups with $1, $2 syntax. For literal string matching (no regex), use sd -F 'exact string' 'replacement'.

Can sd edit files in-place?

Yes, pipe input or use sd -i 'old' 'new' filename. sd also works with stdin/stdout for pipeline usage.