# xan — Blazing-Fast CSV Swiss Army Knife for the Command Line

> xan is a high-performance CSV data manipulation toolkit written in Rust that combines the functionality of cut, grep, sort, join, and stats into a single binary with an expressive expression language for complex data transformations.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# xan — Blazing-Fast CSV Swiss Army Knife for the Command Line

## Quick Use
```bash
# Install via Cargo
cargo install xan
# Or download pre-built binary from GitHub releases
# Basic operations
xan headers data.csv
xan select name,age data.csv
xan search "pattern" data.csv
xan frequency name data.csv
xan stats data.csv
```

## Introduction
xan addresses the pain of working with CSV data in the terminal by providing a single tool that replaces fragmented workflows of awk, cut, grep, and Python scripts. Built in Rust for speed, it processes multi-gigabyte files efficiently while offering an expression language that makes complex column transformations and filtering straightforward.

## What xan Does
- Selects, renames, and reorders columns with a concise syntax
- Filters rows using regex patterns or a built-in expression language
- Computes statistics, frequency tables, and histograms over columns
- Joins, merges, and deduplicates CSV files by key columns
- Handles large files efficiently with streaming processing and minimal memory usage

## Architecture Overview
xan is implemented in Rust using the csv crate for fast parsing and a custom expression evaluator for the transformation language. Commands are structured as subcommands (select, filter, map, stats) that compose via Unix pipes. The parser processes CSV records in a streaming fashion, avoiding loading entire files into memory. The expression language supports string operations, arithmetic, conditionals, and regex matching, compiled to an internal representation for evaluation speed.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install via cargo install xan or download pre-built binaries from GitHub releases
- No configuration files needed; all options are passed via command-line flags
- Set default delimiter with the -d flag for TSV or custom-delimited files
- Pipe multiple xan commands together for complex multi-step transformations
- Use --no-headers flag for headerless files and --output to write results to a file

## Key Features
- Built-in expression language with string, math, and regex functions for column transformations
- Streaming architecture handles multi-gigabyte files without loading them into memory
- Frequency analysis and descriptive statistics computed in a single pass
- Join operations across multiple CSV files by key columns
- Colorized terminal output for better readability of results

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **xsv** — the predecessor project; xan adds an expression language, more commands, and active maintenance
- **Miller (mlr)** — supports multiple formats (JSON, CSV); xan is CSV-focused with a richer expression syntax
- **csvkit** — Python-based CSV toolkit; xan offers significantly faster processing for large files
- **q** — runs SQL on CSV files; xan provides a purpose-built expression language instead of SQL

## FAQ
**Q: How fast is xan compared to Python-based tools?**
A: xan processes CSV files orders of magnitude faster than Python tools thanks to Rust performance and streaming I/O.

**Q: Does xan support TSV and other delimiters?**
A: Yes. Use the -d flag to specify any delimiter character.

**Q: Can I chain xan commands together?**
A: Yes. xan commands compose naturally via Unix pipes, similar to standard Unix text utilities.

**Q: Does xan modify files in place?**
A: No. xan reads from stdin or a file and writes to stdout or a specified output file, leaving the original unchanged.

## Sources
- https://github.com/medialab/xan

---
Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-52d997e1
Author: AI Open Source