# Cheat Sheets — Tips & Tricks

> Knacks for the Cheat Sheets: search faster, use the two search fields correctly, deep links, pitfalls, and combining with other JPKCom tools.

Source: https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/tools/cheatsheet/tips/

Back to the overview: [Cheat Sheets](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/tools/cheatsheet/) · Open the tool live: [www.jpkc.com/tools/cheatsheet/](https://www.jpkc.com/tools/cheatsheet/)

The [manual](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/tools/cheatsheet/manual/) explains every feature, the [examples](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/tools/cheatsheet/examples/) show the workflows. This page is about the surrounding stuff: how to find things faster, which quirk trips people up, and how the sheets play with the other JPKCom tools.

## Don't confuse the two search fields

The most common stumbling block: there are **two** search fields, and they do different things.

- The field **inside the `Cheat Sheet` dropdown** (`Search cheat sheets…`) only searches **sheet names** — i.e. "which tool". It gets you from "I need something about containers" to the Docker sheet.
- The **`Search`** field in the controls card searches the **commands of the currently loaded sheet** — i.e. "which command". It gets you from within Docker to `docker exec`.

There is **no** search that spans the commands of all 219 sheets at once. So the flow is always two-step: **pick the tool first, then filter the command.** Internalize that and you search twice as fast.

## Search faster

- **The command search also matches descriptions.** It's a full-text substring search over an entry's entire visible text. So you don't need to know the exact command — a keyword from the explanation (`undo`, `compress`, `permission`) often gets you there just as well.
- **Keyboard first in the dropdown.** Open the `Cheat Sheet` dropdown, type two or three letters, then **Down arrow** and **Enter** — without touching the mouse. **Escape** closes the dropdown again.
- **The `×` button only resets the command search**, not the sheet. Handy when you're checking several commands in a row within the same sheet.
- **Categories as a map.** When you don't know the tool name, the grouping helps: backup tools sit together under **Remote & Backup**, text tools under **Text Processing** — good for discovering alternatives (`restic` vs. `borgbackup`, `grep` and its relatives).

## Deep links as a tool

- **Bookmark your regulars.** Every sheet has its own URL via the hash (`#git`, `#docker`, `#nginx`). A browser bookmark straight on the hash link drops you into the right sheet with one click.
- **Share the exact cheat sheet.** Instead of "go check the Cheat Sheets," you send `…/tools/cheatsheet/#ssh` — the other person lands right on target.
- **The hash doesn't clutter history.** Sheet switches are set via `replaceState`, so your back button stays usable even as you click through many sheets.

## Pitfalls from practice

- **Copied commands contain placeholders verbatim.** `<url>`, `<name>`, `<branch>` are copied exactly as written — they're meant as a fill-in template, not a runnable command. Fill them in before running. If you want an immediately runnable invocation, copy the **example block**, not the generic command line above it.
- **The syntax highlighting is shell-oriented.** Examples are colored as shell/Bash syntax (highlight.js, theme `github-dark`). For examples that are really configuration or another language, the coloring is purely cosmetic — trust the text, not the color.
- **Only one sheet visible at a time.** You can't show two sheets side by side. To compare `apt` and `dnf`, open them in two browser tabs (thanks to deep links, each has its own URL).
- **Pure reference, not a playground.** The tool runs nothing and validates nothing. It shows you the syntax — you test in your own terminal.
- **Sheets load on demand.** The first time you open a sheet there's a brief fetch; after that it's cached and instant. On a network problem you get an error notice instead of content — just reload.

## Combine with other JPKCom tools

The Cheat Sheets are the fast lookup part; for working *on* code and regular expressions there are matching interactive tools:

- **[Regex tool](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/tools/regex/)** — the "Regex Reference" sheet gives you the syntax, the regex tool lets you **test** the expression against real text live. Look it up first, then try it out.
- **[Source tool](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/tools/source/)** — when you build a longer pipeline out of a `sed`, `awk`, or `jq` command, the source tool helps you view and tidy the result.
- **[Coder tool](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/tools/coder/)** — commands like `openssl`, `curl`, or `base64` often work with encoded values; the coder tool encodes and decodes Base64, URL, JWT, and more right in the browser.

A curiosity on the side: among the 219 sheets, the *Development* category even includes a **Claude Code** sheet — the command-line reference for the AI coding assistant. The tool itself, however, has **no AI feature**: it's a classic, static reference that you search and copy from.

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More context: the [overview](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/tools/cheatsheet/) for the big picture, the [manual](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/tools/cheatsheet/manual/) for every feature, and the [examples](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/tools/cheatsheet/examples/) for the step-by-step workflows. You can try all of it right in the [tool](https://www.jpkc.com/tools/cheatsheet/).