# Align Columns

> Use when pretty-printing tab-delimited output with left, center, right, or decimal-aware numeric alignment in EDirect text workflows.

- Skill: `vimalinx/align-columns` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add vimalinx/align-columns`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/vimalinx/align-columns/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: vimalinx (https://skillmd.com/u/vimalinx)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/vimalinx/align-columns

---


# align-columns

## Quick Start

- **Command**: `printf 'a\t1.2\nlonger\t10.35\n' | PATH=/home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin:$PATH /home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin/align-columns -a ln`
- **Local executable**: `/home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin/align-columns`
- **Full reference**: See [references/help.md](references/help.md) for complete options

## When To Use This Tool

- Make tab-delimited tables easier to read in the terminal or in generated reports.
- Align numeric columns on decimal points while leaving text columns left- or right-justified.
- Inspect width requirements or add extra spacing before sharing intermediate outputs with humans.

## Common Patterns

```bash
# 1) Left-align text and decimal-align numbers
printf 'a\t1.2\nlonger\t10.35\n' | \
  PATH=/home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin:$PATH \
  /home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin/align-columns -a ln
```

```bash
# 2) Use the built-in default layout shortcut
printf 'col1\tcol2\nx\ty\n' | \
  PATH=/home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin:$PATH \
  /home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin/align-columns -
```

```bash
# 3) Print only computed widths
printf 'a\t1.2\nlonger\t10.35\n' | \
  PATH=/home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin:$PATH \
  /home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin/align-columns -a w
```

## Recommended Workflow

1. Start from tab-delimited input with a consistent column count.
2. Choose an alignment string with `-a`, remembering that the last letter repeats for remaining columns.
3. Tune indentation and spacing with `-h` and `-g` only after the basic alignment mode looks right.
4. Use the aligned output for human inspection, not as the canonical machine-readable representation.

## Guardrails

- This wrapper relies on `transmute`; calling the absolute path without the bio / EDirect bin directory on `PATH` can fail with `transmute: command not found`.
- `-help`, `--help`, and `help` work, but `-version` is noisy in this environment because it delegates to `einfo -version`, which prints an error banner instead of a clean version string.
- The script expects tab-delimited input, despite many autogenerated summaries calling it a general whitespace aligner.
- Alignment letters are applied column-wise, with the last specified letter repeated for any remaining columns.