Colorize pattern on CLI
Notes
| 2025-05-07
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#bash
#grep
#productivity
Colorize a pattern in the given input using a neat regex and colorization hack in grep
($ matching all lines but not being able to be highlighted).
color () {
# Color highlight the pattern in the incoming stream, writing to stdout
# This effectively matches our PATTERN andy any "$" (line end)
# But only our PATTERN can be highlighted, line end characters aren't actually there to be highlighted
local PATTERN=$1
if [ -z "$1" ]; then
echo "Usage: color <pattern>"
echo "Description: Greps input with --color=always -E 'PATTERN|\$' "
echo "Example: echo \"hello world\" | color \"world\""
return 1
fi
grep --color=always "$PATTERN\|\$"
}