🚀 Human-Regex: Write Readable Regular Expressions Like English

Created by Ridwan Ajibola

// Before: Cryptic regex for password validation  
const passwordRegex = /^(?=.*\d)(?=.*[!@#$%^&*])(?=.*[a-zA-Z]).{8,}$/;

// After: Human-readable with human-regex  
const humanPasswordRegex = createRegex()
  .startAnchor()
  .hasDigit()          // (?=.*\d)
  .hasSpecialChar()    // (?=.*[!@#$%^&*])
  .hasLetter()         // (?=.*[a-zA-Z])
  .anyCharacter()      // .
  .atLeast(8)          // {8,}
  .endAnchor()
  .toRegExp();

🔗 GitHub | 📦 npm

Why I Built This

Regex is powerful, but let’s be honest: patterns like /^[\w-\.]+@([\w-]+\.)+[\w-]{2,4}$/ look like someone fell asleep on their keyboard. When I first learned JavaScript, regex was my #1 frustration – and every developer I asked shared this pain.

So I asked: What if we could write regex in plain English?

Human-Regex was born, created by Ridwan Ajibola, a utility library that turns regex patterns into chainable, self-documenting code.

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How It Works

Traditional Regex → Human-Regex

const emailRegex = createRegex()
  .startAnchor()
  .word().oneOrMore()        // [a-zA-Z0-9_]+
  .literal('@')              // @
  .word().oneOrMore()        // [a-zA-Z0-9_]+
  .literal('.')              // .
  .letter().atLeast(2)       // [a-zA-Z]{2,}
  .endAnchor()
  .toRegExp();

No more guessing what [a-zA-Z0-9_] or {2,} means. The code explains itself.

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Key Features

✅ Readable Syntax
Methods like .hasDigit() and .startAnchor() make patterns self-documenting.

✅ Chainable Design
Build complex patterns step-by-step, just like writing a sentence.

✅ Lightweight
Just 1.0 kB gzipped. (1.4kB new version)

✅ Open Source
MIT licensed. Contributions welcome!

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Get Started in 60 Seconds

Install the library:

npm install human-regex

Build your first regex:

const urlRegex = createRegex()
  .startAnchor()
  .protocol()     // https?://
  .www().optional() // (www\.)?
  .word().oneOrMore()
  .literal('.')
  .tld()          // com|org|net
  .toRegExp();

More Examples
For additional usage examples, take a look at the test file in the repository.

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Why This Matters

Onboarding: New developers understand regex logic at a glance.

Maintenance: No more regex archaeology to update old code.

Collaboration: Teams spend less time decoding patterns.

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Join the Movement

Regex doesn’t have to be scary. Try Human Regex and:
⭐ Star the GitHub repo — it really helps! 🚀
🐞 Report bugs or request features
💡 Contribute code or documentation

Let’s make regex accessible to everyone!

Don't forget to connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm currently exploring new opportunities, so if you have any leads or ideas, feel free to reach out!