Inside tomnomnom/hacks: The Unglamorous Unix Tools Security Researchers Actually Use

Hook

The most-starred repository in a security researcher’s toolkit isn’t a sophisticated framework—it’s a folder of ‘hacky one-off scripts’ that does exactly what its name suggests.

Context

If you’ve spent time building tools or automating workflows, you’ve likely encountered situations where you need a quick utility but existing tools are either too heavyweight or simply don’t exist for your specific use case. You could write a bash one-liner, but it becomes unreadable. You could reach for Python, but now you’re managing dependencies for a simple script.

This appears to be the problem space tomnomnom/hacks addresses. The repository is described as ‘A collection of hacks and one-off scripts’ written in Go. These aren’t polished products with marketing sites and release cycles—based on the repository description, they’re utilities built to solve specific problems. With over 2,400 stars, the repository has attracted interest from developers who value practical, focused tools over feature-rich frameworks.

Technical Insight

The architecture of tomnomnom/hacks is, based on its self-description, deliberately minimal. The README explicitly describes the contents as ‘Hacky one-off scripts, tests etc.’ This suggests a collection of standalone utilities rather than a cohesive framework, though the specific contents and patterns used cannot be verified from the README alone.

The repository is written in Go, which typically means these scripts compile to standalone binaries. Go’s compilation model produces static binaries that can run without runtime dependencies—a significant advantage for utilities that need to work across different environments. You can theoretically compile once and deploy anywhere without worrying about Python versions, npm packages, or system library conflicts.

For developers interested in building CLI tools in Go, repositories like this can serve as practical references, though without access to the actual code, we can’t verify specific patterns or implementation details. The Go standard library provides robust support for common CLI tasks like stdin/stdout processing, file I/O, and text manipulation, which likely forms the foundation for utilities in this collection.

What makes collections of single-purpose utilities valuable is their composability. Well-designed command-line tools that read from stdin and write to stdout can be chained together in pipelines, allowing complex workflows to be built from simple building blocks. This follows the Unix philosophy of tools that do one thing well, though we cannot verify whether the tools in this specific repository follow these patterns without examining the actual code.

Gotcha

The repository’s strength is also its limitation: based on its own description, these are genuinely ‘hacks’ and ‘one-off scripts.’ The README is literally two lines: ‘Hacky one-off scripts, tests etc.’ There’s no indication of maintained software products, changelogs, semantic versioning, or guarantees about stability. Documentation appears minimal based on the sparse README—you may need to read source code to understand what each script does or how to use it. If you need enterprise support, SLAs, or tools with guaranteed stability, this isn’t that.

Installation and usage patterns are not documented in the README. Without additional documentation, you would need to explore the repository structure to understand how to build and use individual scripts. This works fine for developers comfortable exploring code, but creates friction for teams needing standardized tooling or reproducible builds. Additionally, as ‘one-off scripts,’ these tools may have been created for very specific contexts and might not generalize well to other use cases—they solved someone’s specific problem, and your requirements may differ.

Verdict

Use if: you’re comfortable exploring code repositories to find useful utilities, working with Go tooling, and don’t require comprehensive documentation or stability guarantees. This collection may be valuable as a learning resource or source of inspiration for building your own tools, particularly if you’re interested in Go CLI development. The scripts may also serve as stable building blocks if their specific functionality matches your needs. Skip if: you need enterprise-grade tools with support contracts, comprehensive documentation, and stability guarantees. Also skip if you’re uncomfortable with the Go toolchain or need assurance that tools will be actively maintained and won’t change unexpectedly. These appear to be utilities built for specific purposes rather than general-purpose tools with broad applicability—useful if they solve your exact problem, but not a framework you should build critical infrastructure around without careful evaluation.