PATH-worthy Scripts 🛠️

A collection of various scripts I use frequently enough to justify keeping them in my system PATH.

I haven't written documentation for all of these scripts. I might in time.

For now, here's just a few highlights. But first:

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://sij.ai/sij/pathScripts.git

# Add to PATH on macOS
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/path/to/pathScripts"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

# Add to PATH on Debian/Ubuntu
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/path/to/pathScripts"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Make scripts executable:

cd pathScripts
chmod +x *

---

📄 bates - PDF Bates Number Tool

Extracts and renames PDFs based on Bates numbers.

Setup

pip3 install pdfplumber
# For OCR support:
pip3 install pytesseract pdf2image
brew install tesseract poppler  # macOS
# or
sudo apt-get install tesseract-ocr poppler-utils  # Debian

Usage

bates /path/to/folder --prefix "FWS-" --digits 6 --name-prefix "FWS "

Key Features

• Extracts Bates numbers from text/scanned PDFs
• Renames files with number ranges
• Prepare files for use with my Bates Source Link DEVONthink script
• Preserves original names in Finder comments
• OCR support for scanned documents
• Dry-run mode with --dry-run

Options

• --prefix: The Bates number prefix to search for (default: "FWS-")
• --digits: Number of digits after the prefix (default: 6)
• --ocr: Enable OCR for scanned documents
• --dry-run: Test extraction without renaming files
• --name-prefix: Prefix to use when renaming files
• --log: Set logging level (DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL)

Examples

# Test without making changes
bates /path/to/pdfs --prefix "FWS-" --digits 6 --dry-run

# Rename files with OCR support
bates /path/to/pdfs --prefix "FWS-" --digits 6 --name-prefix "FWS " --ocr

Notes

• Always test with --dry-run first
• Original filenames are preserved in Finder comments (macOS only)
• OCR is disabled by default to keep things fast

---

📦 kip - Intelligent Python Package Installer

A smart package installer that automates Python dependency management, supporting both mamba and pip.

Setup

chmod +x kip

Usage

kip <package1> [<package2> ...]  # Install specific packages
kip <script.py>                  # Install from Python file
kip -r <requirements.txt>        # Install from requirements file

Key Features

• Smart import detection in Python files
• Handles package name corrections automatically
• Uses mamba first, falls back to pip
• Supports multiple installation methods
• Filters out built-in modules

Examples

# Install single package
kip requests

# Analyze script and install dependencies
kip analysis.py

# Install from requirements
kip -r requirements.txt

Package Corrections

Automatically corrects common package names:

• yaml → pyyaml
• dateutil → python-dateutil
• dotenv → python-dotenv
• newspaper → newspaper3k

Notes

• Requires Python 3.x
• Works with mamba or pip
• Provides clear installation feedback
• Ignores built-in modules and generic names

---

🔒 vpn - Tailscale Exit Node Manager

Privacy-focused Tailscale exit node management.

Setup

pip3 install requests

Usage

vpn <action>  # actions: start, stop, new, shh

Actions

• start: Connect to a suggested exit node if not already connected
• stop: Disconnect from current exit node
• new: Switch to a new suggested exit node
• shh: Connect to a random exit node in a privacy-friendly country

Key Features

• Auto-connects to suggested nodes
• Privacy-friendly country selection (SE, CH, DE, FI, NL, NO)
• Connection verification via Mullvad API
• Default Tailscale arguments:
  • --exit-node-allow-lan-access
  • --accept-dns
  • --accept-routes

Examples

vpn start  # Connect to suggested node
vpn shh    # Connect via privacy-friendly country

Verification

• Checks Tailscale's reported exit node
• Verifies connection using Mullvad's API
• Confirms hostname matches

Notes

• Requires active Tailscale configuration
• Internet connectivity needed for verification
• Some commands may need admin privileges

---

More scripts will be documented as they're updated. Each script includes --help for detailed usage information.