Join the RegexPilot beta - TestFlight

Join the RegexPilot beta - TestFlight

Want to help test RegexPilot?

It's a visual regex builder for macOS — drag blocks to build patterns, see a plain-English breakdown, test against 21 real language engines (JS, Python, Java, Go, Rust, PHP…), and let AI draft patterns from a description. No more guessing whether your regex actually works in production.

I'm looking for a few beta testers on macOS 14+.

testflight.apple.com
u/Large-Friend1415 — 3 days ago

RegexPilot — A visual regex tool for macOS with real language runtimes

Hi r/macapps,

I’m a solo developer and I’ve spent far too many hours trying to debug regular expressions. Most of the time the problem wasn’t writing the regex, it was figuring out whether it actually did what I thought it did.

So I built RegexPilot, a macOS app designed to make regular expressions easier to understand, test, and maintain.

Some highlights:

  • Visual regex builder using interactive railroad diagrams
  • Click any part of the pattern to edit it visually
  • Live match testing and replacement preview
  • Capture-group inspection
  • AST-based editor that keeps the visual representation and regex source in sync
  • Built-in regex library and snippets

One thing that makes it a bit different from most regex tools is that it runs patterns against the actual language runtimes instead of approximating everything through a JavaScript engine:

  • Python → CPython
  • Ruby → MRI/Onigmo
  • Perl → Microperl
  • PHP → Native PCRE
  • Java → OpenJDK
  • C# → .NET 9

and more.

So if you’re debugging a Python regex, you’re testing against Python itself.

Privacy was important to me:

  • No analytics
  • No tracking (except of the license)
  • No account required, no email list.
  • Voice dictation runs entirely on-device
  • Optional AI assistance supports your own API keys or local models through Ollama and LM Studio

Pricing:

  • Fully functional 30-day trial
  • After the trial, JavaScript/TypeScript support remains available
  • Additional language runtimes and AI features require Pro

Website: https://regexpilot.com

I’d love feedback from fellow Mac users, especially around the UI, workflow, and whether the visual approach actually makes regexes easier to work with.

u/Large-Friend1415 — 5 days ago
▲ 8 r/regex

RegexPilot — Test regexes against the actual engines, not JavaScript approximations

Hi r/regex,

First of all if this is not the place for me to post this feel free say so and I'll remove the post, I just wanted to share with you and receive some feedback on what features people here would love in a tool like this, or even negative criticism. I've built it in the first place for myself but it might be useful for others especially those learning regular expressions or people who are more visual thinkers like myself.

I built RegexPilot, a macOS regex tool to solve a problem that kept biting me: many regex testers advertise support for multiple flavors, but internally route everything through a JavaScript engine and emulate the rest. That means patterns can appear to work in the tester and then fail in production. Or AI generating a regex that later turns out to be not entirely what I was looking for.

interface

RegexPilot runs each flavor against its actual interpreter/runtime:

  • Python → CPython
  • Ruby → MRI/Onigmo
  • Perl → Microperl 5.36.3
  • PHP → Native PCRE
  • Java → OpenJDK (GraalVM-compiled)
  • C# → .NET 9
  • Additional languages available as well (see website)

Typical execution time is around 1–3 ms.

Other features:

  • Visual regex builder with railroad diagrams
  • Live match testing and replacement preview
  • Capture-group inspection
  • AST-based editor (edits modify the syntax tree and regenerate the pattern)
  • Regex library/snippets
  • Optional AI assistance (bring your own API key or run locally via Ollama / LM Studio)

Privacy notes:

  • Voice dictation runs entirely on-device (Whisper Tiny)
  • No analytics, tracking, or account requirement
  • The only network access is license validation for Pro users

Website: https://regexpilot.com

A couple of questions for the regex crowd:

  1. Have you been bitten by flavor differences that online testers failed to catch?
  2. Which regex engine quirks or debugging features would you most like to see surfaced visually?
  3. Are there any language runtimes I should prioritize adding next?

I’d love feedback from people who regularly work across multiple regex flavors.

The roadmap is also on the website if you'd like to see what I have planned next. There's even a demo on the site so you don't even have to download the app or have OS X to try some of the basic things

reddit.com
u/Large-Friend1415 — 5 days ago
▲ 6 r/tauri

RegexPilot — Mac regex tool that runs each flavor against its real language interpreter

Hi all, I’m a solo developer, and like probably most of you, I have a love-hate relationship with regex. Whenever I have to build something complex, I spend half my time wrestling with the syntax and the other half debugging why it’s not matching what I think it should.

So I built a regex tool with Tauri that solves a problem I kept hitting: most regex testers route every flavor through one JavaScript engine and approximate the rest. So your "Python regex" tab is actually a JS engine pretending — and patterns that work in the tester silently break in production.

RegexPilot bundles the actual interpreters as sidecars:

  • Python → real CPython
  • Ruby → MRI/Onigmo
  • Java → GraalVM-compiled OpenJDK
  • C# → .NET 9
  • PHP → native PCRE
  • Plus bundled Perl (microperl 5.36.3) and a few more (see website)

Each flavor runs against its real engine in 1–3ms.

Other things worth knowing:

  • Visual builder — drag pieces onto a railroad diagram, click any piece to edit
  • Live testing panel with capture-group inspection + replace mode
  • AST-based editor (your edits mutate the tree, source regex regenerates)
  • Optional AI assist — bring your own key (OpenAI / Anthropic / Gemini / etc.) or run locally via Ollama / LM Studio.
  • Voice dictation runs on-device (Whisper Tiny bundled). Audio never leaves your Mac.
  • No analytics, no tracking, no signup to emails. The only network call is license validation against Lemon Squeezy if you activate Pro.

Free to download — fully functional for 30 days, then reverts to JavaScript/TypeScript-only (the most common case). Existing library entries for non-JS flavors stay visible but become read-only after trial. Nothing breaks. Fully functional besides the sidecar engines and AI. So if JavaScript is all you work with it's basically free.

https://regexpilot.com

u/Large-Friend1415 — 5 days ago

RegexPilot: https://www.regexpilot.com

The goal is to make regex easier to understand by showing exactly how patterns behave against real input, instead of relying on trial-and-error across multiple tools.

Core features:

  • Visualize how regex patterns match step by step
  • Instantly test against real inputs
  • Spot edge cases and mistakes faster
  • Reduce time spent debugging complex expressions

https://preview.redd.it/4sxkactmbh3h1.png?width=2266&format=png&auto=webp&s=c4fbb37e9a0da0ae4ab90bc166e0123864694672

We’re still early, so feedback from real developers will directly shape the product.

Who it’s for:

  • Developers who use regex regularly
  • People who find regex powerful but painful to debug
  • Anyone willing to give practical feedback on workflow and usability

Beta access is free during the testing period. Testers providing valuable feedback and/or reporting bugs will receive a free version of v1. Feedback via https://github.com/Kristofp/regex-pilot-issues

reddit.com
u/Large-Friend1415 — 15 days ago

RegexPilot: https://www.regexpilot.com

RegexPilot is an interactive workspace for building and debugging regular expressions. The goal is to make regex easier to understand by showing exactly how patterns behave against real input, instead of relying on trial-and-error across multiple tools.

Core features:

  • Visualize how regex patterns match step by step
  • Instantly test against real inputs
  • Spot edge cases and mistakes faster
  • Reduce time spent debugging complex expressions

We’re still early, so feedback from real developers will directly shape the product.

https://preview.redd.it/dnd6zwm47h3h1.png?width=2266&format=png&auto=webp&s=e67b4b68c63be129b1ae492ceeba451d908967ec

Who it’s for:

  • Developers who use regex regularly
  • People who find regex powerful but painful to debug
  • Anyone willing to give practical feedback on workflow and usability

Beta access is free during the testing period. Testers providing valuable feedback and/or reporting bugs will receive a free version of v1. Feedback via https://github.com/Kristofp/regex-pilot-issues

reddit.com
u/Large-Friend1415 — 15 days ago
▲ 2 r/Betatester+1 crossposts

I’m looking for a small group of beta testers for RegexPilot:

RegexPilot is an interactive workspace for building regular expressions. The goal is to make regex easier to understand by showing exactly how patterns behave against real input, instead of relying on trial-and-error across multiple tools.

Core features:

  • Visualize how regex patterns match step by step
  • Instantly test against real inputs
  • Spot edge cases and mistakes faster
  • Reduce time spent debugging complex expressions
  • Use Ai to generate regexes
  • Library
  • Drag and Drop interface

We’re still early, so feedback from real developers will directly shape the product.

Who it’s for:

  • Developers who use regex regularly
  • People who find regex powerful but painful to debug
  • Anyone willing to give practical feedback on workflow and usability

There's also a demo on the website with limited functionality.

Beta access is free during the testing period. And people that provide valuable input and spot real bugs will get v1 for free.

https://www.regexpilot.com

u/Large-Friend1415 — 15 days ago