Shell (Bash)

Connect to Blink Store from bash using built-in /dev/tcp — no external tools needed beyond base64.

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Prerequisites

• Bash 4+
• base64 command (pre-installed on most systems)
• Blink Store server running (Installation)

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Interactive client

A complete REPL client. Save as client.sh and run it.

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

HOST="${1:-127.0.0.1}"
PORT="${2:-8765}"

exec 3<>/dev/tcp/"$HOST"/"$PORT" 2>/dev/null || {
  echo "Cannot connect to $HOST:$PORT" >&2
  exit 1
}

echo "Connected to $HOST:$PORT"
echo "Commands: SET <key> <value> | GET <key> | DELETE <key> | USAGE | QUIT"
echo

while printf "> " && read -r line; do
  [ -z "$line" ] && continue
  [[ "${line^^}" == "QUIT" ]] && break

  printf '%s\n' "$line" >&3
  read -r -u 3 resp

  if [[ "$resp" == VALUE\ * ]]; then
    echo "${resp#VALUE }" | base64 -d 2>/dev/null
    echo
  else
    echo "$resp"
  fi
done

printf 'QUIT\n' >&3
exec 3<&-

Run:

bash client.sh

Connected to 127.0.0.1:8765
Commands: SET <key> <value> | GET <key> | DELETE <key> | USAGE | QUIT

> SET name bash
OK
> GET name
bash
> QUIT

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One-off commands

Send a single command from a script:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# blink.sh -- send one command to Blink Store
HOST="${2:-127.0.0.1}"
PORT="${3:-8765}"

exec 3<>/dev/tcp/"$HOST"/"$PORT"
printf '%s\n' "$1" >&3
read -r resp <&3
exec 3<&-

if [[ "$resp" == VALUE\ * ]]; then
  echo "${resp#VALUE }" | base64 -d
else
  echo "$resp"
fi

Usage:

bash blink.sh "SET key value"   # -> OK
bash blink.sh "GET key"          # -> value
bash blink.sh "USAGE"            # -> USAGE 8

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Using netcat

If /dev/tcp is not available (e.g. on minimal containers), use nc:

echo "SET color red" | nc 127.0.0.1 8765     # -> OK
echo "GET color"     | nc 127.0.0.1 8765     # -> VALUE cmVk
echo "cmVk" | base64 -d                       # -> red

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Key concepts

Concept	Bash API
TCP connection	exec 3<>/dev/tcp/HOST/PORT
Send command	printf '%s\n' "$cmd" >&3
Read response	read -r -u 3 resp
Base64 decode	echo "$b64" | base64 -d
Close socket	exec 3<&-