(?i)\b((?:(?:[a-z][\w-]+:)?(?:/{1,3}|[a-z0-9%])|www\d{0,3}[.]|[a-z0-9.\-]+[.][a-z]{2,4}/)(?:[^\s()<>]+|\(([^\s()<>]+|(\([^\s()<>]+\)))*\))+(?:\(([^\s()<>]+|(\([^\s()<>]+\)))*\)|[^\s`!()\[\]{};:'".,<>?«»“”‘’]))
This is an example of the old adage that “When you use a regex to solve a problem, you end up with two problems.”
That’s John Gruber’s regex pattern for matching URL’s (⌐■_■).
truly a sunglasses moment indeed
Looks like an URL matcher of some sorts, not limited to HTTP. Kudos for handling parentheses as valid URL characters.
URLs can have newlines too
/unlearn
It seems most browsers basically ignore them:
https://lemire.me/blog/2026/02/28/you-can-use-newline-characters-in-urls/
So probably not worth remembering anyway.
What. The. Fuck.
Also no encoded basic auth or raw ip addresses (not that a useful website would likely use raw ipv4 or 6 since that causes huge CORS and sometimes even DNS issues…)
As visualized by Regex Vis [1]
As visualized by Regexper [2]
The regex fucks with the markdown, so I had to put them in code tags:
[1]
https://regex-vis.com/?r=%5Cb%28%28%3F%3A%28%3F%3A%5Ba-z%5D%5B%5Cw-%5D%2B%3A%29%3F%28%3F%3A%2F%7B1%2C3%7D%7C%5Ba-z0-9%25%5D%29%7Cwww%5Cd%7B0%2C3%7D%5B.%5D%7C%5Ba-z0-9.%5C-%5D%2B%5B.%5D%5Ba-z%5D%7B2%2C4%7D%2F%29%28%3F%3A%5B%5E%5Cs%28%29%3C%3E%5D%2B%7C%5C%28%28%5B%5E%5Cs%28%29%3C%3E%5D%2B%7C%28%5C%28%5B%5E%5Cs%28%29%3C%3E%5D%2B%5C%29%29%29*%5C%29%29%2B%28%3F%3A%5C%28%28%5B%5E%5Cs%28%29%3C%3E%5D%2B%7C%28%5C%28%5B%5E%5Cs%28%29%3C%3E%5D%2B%5C%29%29%29*%5C%29%7C%5B%5E%5Cs%60%21%28%29%5C%5B%5C%5D%7B%7D%3B%3A%27%22.%2C%3C%3E%3F%C2%AB%C2%BB%E2%80%9C%E2%80%9D%E2%80%98%E2%80%99%5D%29%29[2]
https://regexper.com/#\b((?:(?:[a-z][\w-]%20:)?(?:\/{1,3}|[a-z0-9%])|www\d{0,3}[.]|[a-z0-9.\-]+[.][a-z]{2,4}\/)(?:[^\s()%3C%3E]+|\(([^\s()%3C%3E]+|(\([^\s()%3C%3E]+\)))*\))+(?:\(([^\s()%3C%3E]+|(\([^\s()%3C%3E]+\)))*\)|[^\s%60!()\[\]{};:'%22.,%3C%3E?%C2%AB%C2%BB%E2%80%9C%E2%80%9D%E2%80%98%E2%80%99]))check out Regulex! it doesn’t support mode modifiers but
it does lack some features but i really like how its graphs lookNice. Is there terminal/native running software with something similar?
Other than just running the HTML+JS/TS project in a container.
Looks like the hacking mini game in Fallout 4.
No
URLs in an HTML document that aren’t namespaces or otherwise enclosed?
At first glance IP address or URL, embedded in HTML, whatever it is, it’s a doozy. I wonder what the performance of it is like.
It works out as
O(regex^n)At least 2
Whatever this is supposed to match, I bet the bycatch is bigger than tuna fishing.
Probably documents from HP’s atrocious support site
Is it a rick roll?
:(
Hold on, let me draw up the NFA
