How to Extract Markdown Reference Links from Text
Like a lot of people, I write in Markdown. Markdown has support for reference links, which look like the following:
This is a [link to something][lts] that I am sharing.
More writing...
`[lts]: http://wwww.link.com`
(The backticks are there so that the Markdown parser doesn’t think I’m trying to link to something.)
I love using links in this style, but I often forget what I’ve referenced after I’ve linked it. I’ve written a short command line to grab out the link identifiers from a Markdown post.
With the contents of your writing on the clipboard, run the following in Terminal.
pbpaste | egrep -o '\]\[[a-zA-Z0-9\-]+\]' | sed -E 's/]//' | pbcopy
Now all of the references to links will be on the clipboard, ready for you to hit Command+V to paste at the end of your blog post.
`[editor]: ...`
`[fs]: ...`
`[mp]: ...`
If you have any questions, let me know on Twitter.
My apps
💅 Vanilla – hide icons from your Mac menu bar for free
🚀 Rocket – super-fast emoji shortcuts everywhere on Mac… :clap: → 👏
😄 Emoji Bullet List – easily emojify your bullet point lists (like this one!)
Jump on my email list to get sent the stuff that’s too raunchy for the blog.
(Seriously though, it’s a once-a-month update on apps I’ve built, tips for your Mac, and other relevant info.)
💅 Vanilla – hide icons from your Mac menu bar for free
🚀 Rocket – super-fast emoji shortcuts everywhere on Mac… :clap: → 👏
😄 Emoji Bullet List – easily emojify your bullet point lists (like this one!)
Jump on my email list to get sent the stuff that’s too raunchy for the blog.
(Seriously though, it’s a once-a-month update on apps I’ve built, tips for your Mac, and other relevant info.)