ggl

ggl : common google searches from the command line

This is another life-changing tool to automate a process which will prolly save your 5-10 seconds of your time. Of course, you as a computer guy, need this kinda productivity.

Usage

ggl [ -p profile ] [ -I | --incog ] [options] query
ggl [ --mail address [--sub subject] ] text

Options:
helper options:
   -h --help             display the help page and exit

Google Services:
   -i --img              show the image section for the search
   -v --vid              show the video section from the search
   -gd --drive           search your google drive
   -gr --recent          show google's recent search results (last 1 year) 
   -tr --gtr --trans     google translate
   --map  --gmap         search google map
   -gm --gmail           search your mail with that search-query

Developer Sites:
   -so --stack-ov        search stack-overflow
   -se  --stack-ex       search stack-exchange
   -hn  --hacker-news    search on hacker news
   -su  --super          search on super user forum
   -py  --py-docs        search python3 docs
   --man --manpage       search for linux manual pages
   -gh --git             search the github
   --ghu  --gh-user      search github usernames
   --ghg  --gh-gists     search github gists
   --ghi  --gh-issues    search github issues
   --mdn  --mdn-docs     search mozilla web docs

Prompting AI:
   -c --gpt              prompt chatgpt
   -cp --copilot         prompt microsoft copilot
   -ph  --phind          prompt phind
   -px  --perplexity     prompt perplexity ai
   
Misc:
   -y -yt                search the youtube
   -w --wiki             search the wiki
   -x  --twitter         search on twitter 
   -fb --facebook        search on facebook
   -az  --amz  --amazon  search the amazon store
   --dict, --dictionary  search merriam webster dictionary

Other Search Engines:
   -d --ddg              search with duckduckgo instead of google
   -s -sp                search with startpage instead of google
   -b --bing             search with bing instead of google
   -br  --brave          search with brave instead of google
   -qw  --qwant          search with qwant instead of google
   -ya  --yahoo          search with yahoo instead of google
   -ye  --yelp           search with yelp instead of google

Promting to send Email (gmail):
   --mail address        prompt to send mail to someone with their mail address
   --sub subject         option for --mail flag to add a subject (optional)

Profile options: (Only for Chrome/Chromium/Brave Browser)
   -p profile            set a specific chrome profile for searching
   -l --list             list all the chrome profiles
   -I --incog            open Google Chrome in incognito mode
   --conf --config       open the config file


EXAMPLES:
ggl why programmers hate everyone
ggl -yt stuxnet documentary
ggl --img a flycatcher
ggl --vid how to learn to code
ggl -w computer science
ggl -gh taraqfarhan/ggl
ggl -so what language was used to write unix commands
ggl --ddg why duckduckgo is better than google
ggl --gpt why we should even bother about the command line interface
ggl --gmail contract proposal

Mail (gmail):
ggl --send-mail taraqfarhan@gmail.com 'why are you so retarted?'
ggl --mail taraqfarhan@gmail.com --sub 'quizz time' 'why are you so retarted?'

Using a specific profile:
ggl -p <profile name | customized key> [options] [search query ...]
ggl -p 3 --img chess board
ggl -p business -yt "How does money work?"
ggl -p guest how to use the dark web
ggl -I why bitcoin is illegal in some countries
ggl -p "Profile 3" -I "build linux kernel from the scratch"

How to use this script on your own machine

I will recommend you to use Google Chrome (Chromium or Brave) on your machine as your default browser to get the most out of this tool. If Google Chrome (Chromium, Brave) is installed on your machine, ggl will use Google Chrome (Chromium, Brave) for browsing, otherwise ggl will use your Default Browser.

Anyway, to use this script just clone this repo using

git clone https://www.github.com/taraqfarhan/ggl

Then run this python script. Ofc you’ll need python3 installed on your machine first to run a python script duh!

python3 /path/to/ggl  # mac/linux (like: python3 ggl -h)
py /path/to/ggl  # windows (like: py ggl -h)
To run `ggl` globally without specifying `python3 /path/to/ggl or py path/to/ggl` each time (like the EXAMPLES) refer to this section
THIS SECTION IS FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO RUN IT GLOBALLY, ANYWHERE FROM THE TERMINAL. OTHERWISE, YOU’LL HAVE TO EXPLICITLY SPECIFY THE PATH OF THE SCRIPT EACH TIME
python3 path/to/the/ggl/script  # mac/linux
py path/to/the/ggl/script  # windows

Follow any of the following processes

Process 1 (mac/linux)

Creating alias

echo "alias ggl='python3 $(pwd)/ggl'" >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrc  # from the ggl folder

Process 2 (mac/linux)

Creating a symbolic link

sudo ln -s $(pwd)/ggl /usr/bin/ggl  # from the ggl folder

# you can choose any directory which is in the PATH instead of /usr/bin/
# use the follwoing command to get all the environment variable paths 
echo $PATH | tr ':' '\n'

Process 3 (mac/linux/windows)

Environment Variables

mac/linux

echo "export PATH='$PATH:$(pwd)'" >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrc  # from the ggl folder

Windows

  1. Open Environment Variables:

    • Press Win + S, search for Environment Variables, and click Edit the system environment variables.
    • In the System Properties window, click Environment Variables.

  2. Add the Directory to PATH:

    • Under System Variables or User Variables, find Path and click Edit.
    • Add your directory where you have ggl file

Configuration (for searching with specific profiles)

IF AND ONLY IF YOU WANT TO USE (flags that are specific to Google Chrome, Chromium & Brave only), YOU NEED TO CONFIGURE THE config.json FILE, OTHERWISE YOU’RE GOOD TO GO. YOU DON’T NEED ANY CONFIGURATIONS (YOU CAN SKIP THIS SECTION COMPLETELY) YOU SHOULD CONFIGURE THE ‘config.json’ FILE PROPERY TO USE THIS SCRIPT IN ANY OPERATING SYSTEM. OTHERWISE YOU MIGHT GET UNEXPECTED ERROR MESSAGES.

A config.json file will be created automatically if you run this scipt for the first time. You need to configure that config.json file. Read the COMMENTS from the config file to follow along

  1. Set the values (your own customized value) of the keys (Profiles) according to your own needs.
  2. Then set the Google Chrome or Chromium or Brave Browser’s path. Check the path on your computer and set the path to the config.json file if needed. These browsers are usually in:
1. mac: inside /Application/ or ~/Application/
      /Applications/Google Chrome.app (for Google Chrome)
      /Application/Chromium.app (for Chromium)
      /Application/Brave Browser.app (for Brave)
2. linux: inside /usr/bin/ (usually in this /usr/bin/ directory, check other bin directories if not found)
      /usr/bin/chrome (for google chrome)
      /usr/bin/chromium (for chromium)
      /usr/bin/brave (or /usr/bin/brave-browser for brave)
3. windows: usually in one of these directories:
      %ProgramFiles%\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
      %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
      %LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe

How to Find Your Browser’s Profile Names

1. mac: inside ~/Library/Application Support/
   ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/ (for Chrome)
   ~/Library/Application Support/Chromium/ (for Chromium)
   ~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser (for Brave)
2. linux: inside ~/.config/
   ~/.config/google-chrome/ (for google chrome)
   ~/.config/chromium (for chromium)
   ~/.config/BraveSoftware/ (for Brave)
3. windows: C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\

Inspect the Directory. Match the folder name with the corresponding Chrome profile. Directories might be hidden, if you don’t find the directories then google how to see hidden file and directories for your OS. For mac its CMD + SHIFT + .

1. Default: The main profile.
2. Profile 1, Profile 2, ... Profile <some number> : Additional profiles.

Caveats (Only on Windows)

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