cf ☆

« Back to VersTracker

Description:
Filter to replace numeric timestamps with a formatted date time

Type: Formula | Latest Version: 1.2.8@0 | Tracked Since: Dec 17, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Developer tools

Tags: cli text-processing timestamps logs unix

Install: brew install cf

About:
The 'cf' utility is a command-line filter that reads standard input, identifies Unix timestamps (seconds since epoch), and replaces them with human-readable date and time strings. It is particularly useful for parsing server logs and system files where timestamps are embedded within text. By acting as a stream filter, it integrates seamlessly into standard Unix pipelines for on-the-fly log analysis.

Key Features:

Stream-based filter: Processes text from stdin to stdout
Automatic timestamp detection: Identifies Unix epoch timestamps in text
Human-readable formatting: Converts numeric timestamps to formatted dates
Pipeline integration: Works seamlessly with standard Unix tools like grep and awk

Use Cases:

Parsing application or web server logs to make timestamp fields readable
Analyzing system output (e.g., from 'dmesg' or custom scripts) containing epoch time
Quickly converting timestamp columns in CSV or text files for manual review

Alternatives:

date – The native 'date' command is powerful but requires manual parsing and formatting flags; 'cf' automates detection within streams.
perl – Perl one-liners offer flexible regex replacement but are more verbose to type; 'cf' provides a dedicated, simple tool for this specific task.

License: BSD-3-Clause

Bottles available for: arm64_tahoe, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_ventura, arm64_monterey, sonoma, ventura, monterey, arm64_linux, x86_64_linux

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 13, 2025 7:24am		0	VERSION_BUMP	b6dbb657