Grex

A modern, tabbed grep experience for Windows.
Search local drives, UNC shares, WSL distributions, and running Docker containers from one WinUI 3 application.

Install | Quick start | Documentation | Contributing | Security and privacy

Why Grex?

Grex keeps the familiar precision of grep while adding the parts that are awkward to manage in a terminal:

• Independent search tabs with persistent column and filter preferences
• Plain-text and .NET Regex matching with case, culture, Unicode normalization, and diacritic controls
• Content-line and per-file result views
• Local, UNC, WSL, and Docker search targets
• Nested .gitignore, filename, directory, size, hidden, system, binary, and symbolic-link filters
• Context preview, result filtering, sorting, export, history, and named profiles
• Confirmed bulk replace for Windows, UNC, and WSL paths
• Visual Regex Builder with presets, live matches, and syntax breakdown
• Optional AI chat through a user-configured OpenAI-compatible endpoint
• A Windows command-line companion, grex-cli

See the feature matrix for exact behavior and boundaries.

Install

Published builds target Windows x64. Choose an asset from the latest release:

Asset	Best for	What it does
grex-<version>-setup.exe	Most users	Per-user install under %LocalAppData%\Programs\Grex, Start menu entry, uninstaller, optional desktop shortcut, optional grex-cli PATH entry
grex-<version>-win-x64.zip	Portable GUI use	Extract anywhere and run Grex.exe; no installer or automatic updates
grex-cli-<version>-win-x64.zip	Scripts and terminals	Extract anywhere and run grex-cli.exe

Requirements:

• Windows 10 version 1809, build 17763, or later
• x64 processor for published releases
• Windows App Runtime 1.8

Install the runtime with:

winget install --id Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.1.8 -e --source winget

Release archives are self-contained for .NET, so the .NET SDK is not required to run them. The current installer is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may ask you to confirm the download. Verify that the file came from this repository's Releases page before continuing.

Full install, update, portable, and uninstall instructions are in the Usage Guide.

Quick start

1. Open Grex.
2. Browse to a directory or paste a Windows, UNC, or WSL path.
3. Enter text or a Regex pattern.
4. Pick Content or Files results and set any filters.
5. Select Search or press Enter.
6. Select a result to preview context, open the file, filter the current results, or export them.

For replacement, enable Replace, enter replacement text, review the confirmation, and select Replace.

Replace has no undo. Grex writes eligible files directly, and cancelling can leave files already processed changed. Commit, back up, or snapshot important data first.

Docker

Enable Docker search in Settings, choose a running container, and enter a path inside it such as /app. Grex tries in-container grep, then falls back to a temporary host mirror when needed. Docker replacement is disabled.

WSL

Use \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\user\repo, \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\user\repo, or a Linux path such as /home/user/repo. Grex runs Linux-side search commands through wsl.exe. WSL replacement uses sed -i for eligible text files, treats replacement text literally, and is not reversible.

CLI

The positional order is <path> <term>:

grex-cli "C:\Projects" "TODO"
grex-cli "C:\src" "TODO|FIXME" --regex --gitignore --match-files "*.cs|*.xaml"
grex-cli "C:\logs" "error" --format json

Exit codes are grep-like: 0 for matches, 1 for no matches, and 2 for an error. See the complete CLI reference.

Optional AI chat

Grex can send a chat request to an OpenAI-compatible endpoint that you configure. It sends the current path, query, search/result modes, active filter suggestions, and chat history. It does not automatically send file contents or search results.

The API key is stored as plain text in %LocalAppData%\Grex\settings.json and is included in settings exports. Use HTTPS, protect backup files, and read Security and Privacy before enabling AI chat.

Documentation

Document	Audience and scope
Public documentation	Start here; map of every public guide
Usage Guide	Install, search, replace, Docker, WSL, AI, settings, and troubleshooting
Feature Matrix	Supported capabilities, fallbacks, limits, and target differences
Technical Reference	Shortcuts, patterns, settings schema, CLI flags, files, formats, and caps
Architecture	Runtime design, service boundaries, flows, persistence, and dependencies
Build and Test	Windows setup, build, tests, packaging, and release artifacts
Translation Guide	Resource catalogs, status tracking, scripts, review, and line endings
Contributing	Contribution workflow and repository rules
Security and Privacy	Reporting, local writes, credentials, network use, Docker, WSL, and logs
Third-party notices	Redistributed components and license texts

Build from source

The GUI, CLI, and .NET test projects build only on Windows because the solution depends on WinUI XAML, Windows App SDK, MSIX, and PRI tooling. Use a concrete platform:

git clone https://github.com/visorcraft/Grex.git
cd Grex
dotnet restore grex.sln
dotnet build grex.sln -p:Platform=x64
dotnet test grex.sln -p:Platform=x64 -p:WindowsAppSdkBootstrapInitialize=false
dotnet run --project Grex.csproj -p:Platform=x64

The Python tools in Scripts/ are the only cross-platform build tooling. See Build and Test before contributing.

Support

• Search existing issues before opening a new one.
• Include the Grex version, Windows build, target type, reproduction steps, and relevant %Temp%\Grex.log lines.
• Report vulnerabilities only through private vulnerability reporting.

License

Grex is licensed under GNU GPL v3.0. Third-party components retain their own licenses as listed in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt.