vrk base

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vrk, compiled to WebAssembly

# Encodes text as base64. Use decode to go back.

Command to run

echo 'hello' | vrk base encode --to base64

Enter runs, Shift+Enter adds a line

output

Press RUN. Nothing leaves your browser.

files you can cat:

Edit the command and press RUN. Open the full playground for more recipes, or install vrk to run it on your own files.

vrk base encodes and decodes base64, base64url, hex, and base32 with identical behavior on every platform.

The problem

base64 behaves differently on macOS and Linux. macOS wraps output at 76 characters. -w0 disables wrapping on Linux but does not exist on macOS. -d means decode on macOS, --decode on Linux. A script that works locally breaks in CI on a different OS.

The solution

vrk base encodes and decodes base64, base64url, hex, and base32 with identical behavior on every platform. It has two subcommands: encode and decode. It strips one trailing newline from stdin, so echo input works as you expect. It has no platform-specific flags.

Before and after

Before

# macOS
echo 'hello' | base64
# Linux
echo 'hello' | base64 -w0
# Different flags, different output

After

echo 'hello' | vrk base encode --to base64

Example

echo 'hello' | vrk base encode --to base64

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Invalid encoded input (bad characters, wrong padding)
2	Missing subcommand, –to/–from missing or unsupported

Flags

Flag	Short	Type	Description
`--to`		string	Target encoding: base64, base64url, hex, base32 (encode subcommand)
`--from`		string	Source encoding: base64, base64url, hex, base32 (decode subcommand)
`--quiet`	-q	bool	Suppress stderr output

Supported encodings

vrk base encodes and decodes text as base64, base64url, hex, or base32.

Encoding	Flag value	Example output
Base64	`base64`	`aGVsbG8=`
Base64url	`base64url`	`aGVsbG8` (no padding, URL-safe)
Hex	`hex`	`68656c6c6f`
Base32	`base32`	`NBSWY3DP`

How it works

Encode

$ echo 'hello' | vrk base encode --to base64
aGVsbG8=

$ echo 'hello' | vrk base encode --to hex
68656c6c6f

$ echo 'hello' | vrk base encode --to base64url
aGVsbG8

Decode

$ echo 'aGVsbG8=' | vrk base decode --from base64
hello

$ echo '68656c6c6f' | vrk base decode --from hex
hello

Trailing newline handling

echo adds a newline. vrk base removes exactly one trailing newline before it encodes, so echo 'hello' and printf 'hello' give the same result. To keep the newline, use printf 'hello\n'.

Pipeline integration

Decode a base64 field from JSON

echo "$JWT_PAYLOAD" | vrk base decode --from base64url | jq .

Encode content for embedding in JSON

ENCODED=$(cat binary-file | vrk base encode --to base64)
echo "{\"data\":\"$ENCODED\"}" | vrk kv set --ns cache payload

When it fails

Invalid base64 input:

$ echo '!!invalid!!' | vrk base decode --from base64
error: base: invalid base64 input
$ echo $?
1

Missing encoding flag:

$ echo 'hello' | vrk base encode
usage error: base: --to is required
$ echo $?
2