Elv

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction{#toc-introduction}
2. Installation{#toc-installation}
3. Uninstallation{#toc-uninstallation}
4. Examples{#toc-examples}
5. FAQ{#toc-faq}
6. [Configuration] (#configuration){#toc-configuration}

Introduction

elv is a command line interface program that lets you interact with Advent of Code API. Advent of Code is a yearly event that happens around Christmas time. Each day of the event, one algorithmic riddle becomes available on its site and everyone can join by solving it and submitting their answers to it.

elv helps you interact with with Advent of Code via your terminal instead of the webpage. So far elv supports:

• downloading riddles' description
• downloading a riddle's input for a given year and day
• submitting answers to a riddle
• caching AoC responses whenever possible, so you minimize your footprint on AoC's servers

Installation

Using cargo

cargo is Rust's package manager. You can use it to install elv directly from crates.io. Once you install cargo, you can do it by running the below command in your terminal:

cargo install elv

After the installation, elv should be available from your CLI.

Using homebrew

Homebrew is the self-described "Missing Package Manager for macOS (or Linux)". If you want to install elv using homebrew; first you need to install homebrew itself. Then, run the below in your terminal:

brew install kpagacz/elv/elv

elv is hosted on a private tap (if you are into homebrew's terminology), which is essentially a GitHub repository. By default, homebrew installs the latest version of the application available in the repository. To install one of the previous versions, you must check out a specific commit corresponding to that version.

Downloading a binary

elv publishes several executables for different operating systems and architectures. Head to the releases subpage to check out the latest released version of elv.

Choose the binary matching your operating system and architecture

The archived binaries follow a simple naming scheme: elv-{version}-{target-os-and-arch}.zip. Match your operating system with the file name and the architecture:

• Windows: look for one of the Windows binaries.
• Apple: if you use one of the Silicon processors, download the aarch64-apple-darwin target; otherwise, download the other one.
• Linux: get one of the Linux distributions.

The choice between the GNU version and the other depends on whether you have GNU installed. If yes, then go ahead and grab the appropriate GNU version.

Run the binary

The archives in each release contain a single executable file. Unpack the file. You need to put this executable file on your PATH, which translates to either unpacking the zip file to one of the directories already on PATH or anywhere you want and adding this location to PATH. If inspecting or changing your PATH is unclear, I recommend:

• Windows: https://www.h3xed.com/windows/how-to-add-to-and-edit-windows-path-variable
• Linux/macOS: https://opensource.com/article/17/6/set-path-linux

After that, you should be able to call elv directly in your CLI:

elv

Installing from source

You can create your own executable from this repository if you possess a Rust compiler and cargo. The steps are:

1. Clone the repository. You can use a terminal to clone the repository, e.g.:

   git clone git@github.com:kpagacz/elv.git
   # or
   https://github.com/kpagacz/elv.git

2. Install elv. Navigate towards the elv directory and run:

   cargo install --path .

Uninstallation

Removing configuration files and caches

elv uses a configuration file and caches when running. You can list the directories elv uses by running:

elv list-dirs

The output lists the directories. If you want your configuration file gone and the cache gone as well, just remove these directories from your system.

Cargo

cargo uninstall elv

Installed from binary

Delete the binary from your system.

Installed via brew

brew uninstall kpagacz/elv/elv
brew autoremove

Examples

You need an Advent of Code session token to interact with its API. elv does not support authentication to the API on its own, so you need to get your token beforehand.

Getting the session token - IMPORTANT

You will need to log into Advent of Code. AoC site sends the session token back to you using cookies. So you need to inspect the cookies and get the one named session value. This is your session token you can use with elv. The session token is valid for about a month, so remember to get another once the old one expires.

If you do not get the session token, you will not be able to interact with Advent of Code API using elv.

Downloading the description

Getting today's riddle description

This works only while the event is being held, not all the time of the year. While the event is not held, you need to specify the year and day of the challenge explicitly using -y' and-d' parameters.

elv -t <YOUR SESSION TOKEN> desc

Getting a description of a particular riddle

You specify the day and the year of the riddle.

elv -t <YOUR SESSION TOKEN> -y 2021 -d 1 desc
# Prints the description of the riddle published on the 1st of December 2021

Downloading the input

Getting today's riddle input

This works only while the event is being held, not all the time of the year. While the event is not held, you need to specify the year and day of the challenge explicitly using -y' and-d' parameters.

elv -t <YOUR SESSION TOKEN> input

Getting input for a particular riddle

You specify the day and the year of the riddle.

elv -t <YOUR SESSION TOKEN> -y 2021 -d 1 input
# downloads the input for the riddle published on the 1st of December 2021

FAQ

How can I store the session token?

elv looks for your token in three places, starting from the first on the below list and moving to the next one if it did not find the token already.

1. Passed as an argument to elv with the -t parameter:

   elv -t <YOUR TOKEN HERE> input
   # or
   elv --token <YOUR TOKEN HERE> input

   As a live example:

   elv -t 01234567890123456789abcdefghi input

2. As an environment variable. elv looks for an environmental variable AOC_TOKEN while searching for your session token. Example:

   export AOC_TOKEN=0123456789abcdefghi
   elv input

   Despite the fact we have not provided the value for the --token parameter, elv will pick the value of AOC_TOKEN and use it as a token.

3. In a configuration file. elv creates a configuration file in your home directory. You can find the configuration file in a directory listed by running elv list-dirs in your terminal. Your config file should look like this:

   [aoc]
   token = "<YOUR TOKEN HERE>"

How can I get the value of the session token?

The session token is sent to your HTTP client (usually your browser) as a cookie when you log into the Advent of Code web page. The easiest way to get the value of a cookie is by using your browser's built-in inspection tools. Look for a way to inspect the cookies specific to your browser.

Where is the configuration file?

All the directories elv uses can be listed by running:

elv list-dirs

Configuration

The application suppports a number of parameters in the configuration file. You can find the configuration file by invoking:

Configuration file

elv list-dirs
# cache: /Users/konradpagacz/Library/Caches/elv
# config: /Users/konradpagacz/Library/Application Support/elv

which prints the paths used by elv on your machine. Track down the one named config and open the .config file inside the directory.

Configuration parameters

The configuration file is written in TOML. You can set the following values

• aoc.token - the token used by the application to authenticate you while connecting to AOC servers
• cli.output_width - the column width of the output when calling elv description