Aliases and settings

Both persist. Set them once and they are there next time you open the shell, which is the point — a setting you have to type every session is a setting you stop using.

Settings

picklock> config:list
+----------------+---------+-----------------------------------------------+
| SETTING        | VALUE   | DESCRIPTION                                   |
+----------------+---------+-----------------------------------------------+
| limit          |      20 | Rows printed per result table (0 = no limit).  |
| max_results    | 1000000 | Scan hits kept in memory (0 = no cap).        |
| hex            |     off | Print integer values in hexadecimal.          |
| timing         |      on | Print the elapsed time after each command.    |
| progress       |      on | Show a progress line while scanning.          |
| writable_only  |     off | Scan only writable regions (faster).          |
| hex_width      |      16 | Bytes per line in 'memory:hex' output.        |
| watch_interval |     0.5 | Seconds between 'memory:watch' samples.       |
+----------------+---------+-----------------------------------------------+

config:set limit 50        change one
config:set hex on          booleans take on/off, true/false, 1/0
config:reset limit         put one back to its default
config:reset               put them all back

The two worth knowing about:

  • writable_only — makes --writable the default for every scan. If you are always scanning for values that change, turn it on and stop typing it.

  • max_results — the cap on how many hits a scan keeps in memory. A loose first scan on a big process can match tens of millions of addresses, and the cap is what stops that from becoming a swap storm. The scan says when it hit the cap.

Aliases

Your own names for commands:

picklock> alias:add r memory:read
picklock> alias:add hp scan:next --decreased

picklock> r #1 int32

An alias stands for the first word of a line, and is substituted before anything else looks at it — so r --help describes memory:read, and arguments you type are appended to the ones the alias carries.

alias:list             what you have defined, and where they are stored
alias:remove r

A name that is already a command or an existing alias is refused, so you cannot shadow scan:value with something that surprises you three weeks later.

Where they live

$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/picklock/     ~/.config/picklock/ by default
%APPDATA%\picklock\            on Windows

as aliases.json and settings.json. alias:list and config:list print the path they are using, so you never have to guess.

Two details:

  • PICKLOCK_CONFIG_DIR moves both. It is the environment variable to reach for in CI, or when you want a session that cannot touch your real configuration.

  • Only settings you changed are stored. A default that moves in a later release still reaches you, instead of being frozen by a file that recorded the old value for no reason.

If either file cannot be read or written — a read-only home directory, a corrupt file — Picklock says so once and carries on with defaults. Losing your aliases is not a reason to be unable to start the shell.