comment-stripper

A CLI tool that strips comments from source code files across a wide range of languages (C-like languages, Python, Ruby, Rust, Go, shell scripts, SQL, batch files, LaTeX, and more) across an entire directory tree, in parallel.

Features

• Comment removal across many languages, including line comments, block comments, and language-specific quirks like Ruby's =begin/=end and batch's REM / ::. See Supported languages below.
• String-aware lexer: comment markers inside '...', "...", or `...` are left untouched.
• Recursive directory processing with --include / --exclude glob filters.
• --dry-run and --diff modes to preview changes before touching any file.
• Optional .bak backups before overwriting.
• Parallel file processing via --jobs.
• Automatic language detection from file extension or well-known filenames (Makefile, Dockerfile, Gemfile, Rakefile, Vagrantfile), or force one with --lang.

Installation

Requires Python 3.8+.

Option A: install script (recommended)

This installs the package for the current user and automatically adds the launcher's directory to your PATH if it isn't already there.

# Windows (PowerShell)
.\install.ps1

# Linux / macOS
./install.sh

Open a new terminal window afterwards so the updated PATH takes effect, then run:

comment-stripper --version

To uninstall:

python scripts/install.py --uninstall   # or install.ps1 --uninstall / install.sh --uninstall

Option B: pip directly

pip install --user .

Pip installs the comment-stripper launcher into your Python user-scripts directory. If that directory isn't already on your PATH, run the install script above (or add it manually) so the command is available globally.

Usage

comment-stripper [path] [options]

Option	Description
path	File or directory to process (default: current directory).
--lang	Force a language, bypassing extension detection. One of the names in Supported languages.
--include	Only process files matching one of these glob patterns.
--exclude	Skip files matching one of these glob patterns.
--dry-run	Report what would change without writing to disk.
--diff	Print a unified diff instead of writing changes.
--backup	Save the original file as <file>.bak before overwriting.
--jobs	Number of worker threads (default: 4).
--version	Print the installed version.

Examples

# Preview changes for an entire project
comment-stripper ./src --dry-run

# Strip comments from JS/TS files only, keeping backups
comment-stripper . --include "*.js" "*.ts" --backup

# Force LaTeX rules on a file with a non-standard extension
comment-stripper notes.txt --lang latex

# Show a diff instead of modifying files
comment-stripper ./src --diff

Supported languages

Language is auto-detected from the file extension (or from well-known filenames like Makefile), and can always be overridden with --lang <name>.

--lang name	Line comment(s)	Block comment(s)	Recognized extensions / filenames
c_like	//	/* */	.c .h .cpp .cc .cxx .hpp .java .js .jsx .ts .tsx .mjs .cjs .cs .kt .kts .swift .m .mm .scala .dart .groovy
go	//	/* */	.go
rust	//	/* */	.rs
python	#	—	.py .pyw
shell	#	—	.sh .bash .zsh .ksh, Makefile, Dockerfile
ruby	#	=begin / =end*	.rb .rake, Gemfile, Rakefile, Vagrantfile
sql	--	/* */	.sql
batch	REM* / ::*	—	.bat .cmd
css	—	/* */	.css .scss .less
markup	—	<!-- -->	.html .htm .xml .svg
php	//, #	/* */	.php .phtml
lua	--	--[[ ]]	.lua
powershell	#	<# #>	.ps1 .psm1 .psd1
yaml	#	—	.yml .yaml
ini	#, ;	—	.toml .ini .cfg
perl	#	—	.pl .pm
r	#	—	.r
latex	%	—	.tex
mixed	//, #, %	/* */	(not auto-detected; use --lang mixed)

* Recognized only when it's the first non-whitespace text on the line (batch's REM/::), or when the token is the first thing on its own line (Ruby's =begin/=end), matching how those languages actually define comments.

Known limitation: the lexer does not handle nested block comments (e.g. Rust's /* /* */ */) — the first */ always closes the block.

Development

pip install -e .[dev]
pytest

License

Copyright 2026, Seyyed Ali Mohammadiyeh (MAX BASE).

GPL-3.0, see LICENSE.

https://github.com/BaseMax/comment-stripper