improvement(utils): share escapeRegExp, compareStrings and isRecordLike (#8052)

* improvement(utils): add escapeRegExp and compareStrings to @sim/utils/string

* improvement(utils): replace nine local escapeRegExp copies with the shared helper

* improvement(utils): adopt shared compareStrings and isRecordLike over local copies

* docs: document the shared escapeRegExp, compareStrings, and isRecordLike helpers

* improvement(utils): finish the escapeRegExp sweep and share the metacharacter class

Replaces the nine inline copies of the escape body the name-based sweep missed,
folds the catalog cursor comparator into compareStrings, and gives linear-regex
its metacharacter test from the same source the escaper uses.

Author: waleedlatif1

.claude/rules/global.md

@@ -51,7 +51,10 @@ Use shared helpers from `@sim/utils` instead of writing inline implementations:
 - `structuredClone(value)` — built-in deep clone, no import needed. Never write `JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj))`
 - `omit(obj, keys)` from `@sim/utils/object` — remove keys from object
 - `filterUndefined(obj)` from `@sim/utils/object` — strip undefined-valued keys. Never write `Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(obj).filter(([, v]) => v !== undefined))`
+- `isRecordLike(value)` from `@sim/utils/object` — indexable-object guard. Never redeclare `typeof value === 'object' && value !== null && !Array.isArray(value)`
 - `truncate(str, maxLength, suffix?)` from `@sim/utils/string` — safe string truncation with ellipsis
+- `escapeRegExp(value)` from `@sim/utils/string` — escape regex metacharacters. Never inline `replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&')`
+- `compareStrings(left, right)` from `@sim/utils/string` — code-unit string comparator for hashes, fingerprints, and values compared across processes. Never `localeCompare` there
 - `backoffWithJitter(attempt, retryAfterMs, options?)` from `@sim/utils/retry` — exponential backoff with jitter
 - `parseRetryAfter(header)` from `@sim/utils/retry` — parse HTTP `Retry-After` header to milliseconds
 

.cursor/rules/global.mdc

@@ -54,7 +54,10 @@ Use shared helpers from `@sim/utils` instead of writing inline implementations:
 - `structuredClone(value)` — built-in deep clone, no import needed. Never write `JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj))`
 - `omit(obj, keys)` from `@sim/utils/object` — remove keys from object
 - `filterUndefined(obj)` from `@sim/utils/object` — strip undefined-valued keys. Never write `Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(obj).filter(([, v]) => v !== undefined))`
+- `isRecordLike(value)` from `@sim/utils/object` — indexable-object guard. Never redeclare `typeof value === 'object' && value !== null && !Array.isArray(value)`
 - `truncate(str, maxLength, suffix?)` from `@sim/utils/string` — safe string truncation with ellipsis
+- `escapeRegExp(value)` from `@sim/utils/string` — escape regex metacharacters. Never inline `replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&')`
+- `compareStrings(left, right)` from `@sim/utils/string` — code-unit string comparator for hashes, fingerprints, and values compared across processes. Never `localeCompare` there
 - `backoffWithJitter(attempt, retryAfterMs, options?)` from `@sim/utils/retry` — exponential backoff with jitter
 - `parseRetryAfter(header)` from `@sim/utils/retry` — parse HTTP `Retry-After` header to milliseconds
 

CLAUDE.md

@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@ You are a professional software engineer. All code must follow best practices: a
   - `getErrorMessage(e, fallback?)` from `@sim/utils/errors` — extract message string from unknown caught value; never write `e instanceof Error ? e.message : 'fallback'`
   - `structuredClone(value)` — built-in deep clone; never `JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(...))`
   - `omit(obj, keys)` / `filterUndefined(obj)` from `@sim/utils/object` — object trimming; never `Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(...).filter(...))`
+  - `isRecordLike(value)` from `@sim/utils/object` — never redeclare `typeof value === 'object' && value !== null && !Array.isArray(value)`
   - `truncate(str, maxLength, suffix?)` from `@sim/utils/string` — never inline slice + ellipsis
+  - `escapeRegExp(value)` from `@sim/utils/string` — never inline `replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&')`
+  - `compareStrings(left, right)` from `@sim/utils/string` — code-unit ordering for hashes, fingerprints, and cross-process comparisons; never `localeCompare` there
   - `backoffWithJitter(attempt, retryAfterMs, options?)` / `parseRetryAfter(header)` from `@sim/utils/retry` — shared retry pacing; never reimplement exponential backoff inline
 - **Deployment flags in the browser**: client code inside a workspace, organization, or standalone settings surface reads `hosted`, `billingEnabled`, `chatEnabled`, and the enterprise feature set through `useDeploymentShape()` (components) or `getDeploymentShape()` (block conditions, stores, helpers) from `@/lib/core/config/deployment-shape`, never `isHosted`/`isBillingEnabled`/... from `env-flags`. The constants freeze at module init from the root layout's `NEXT_PUBLIC_*` transport, which Next's bare 404 shell and `global-error` never emit; the reader is seeded from the server-resolved workspace host context, organization layout, or standalone settings layout instead. Server code keeps reading `env-flags`
 - **Package Manager**: Use `bun` and `bunx`, not `npm` and `npx`

apps/desktop/src/main/local-filesystem.ts

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import {
 } from '@sim/desktop-bridge/local-filesystem-limits'
 import { generateId } from '@sim/utils/id'
 import { isRecordLike } from '@sim/utils/object'
+import { escapeRegExp } from '@sim/utils/string'
 import { app, dialog, shell } from 'electron'
 import micromatch from 'micromatch'
 import safeRegex from 'safe-regex2'
@@ -1114,7 +1115,7 @@ export class LocalFilesystemService {
       regex =
         rawPattern !== undefined
           ? new RegExp(expression, ignoreCase ? 'i' : '')
-          : new RegExp(expression.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&'), ignoreCase ? 'i' : '')
+          : new RegExp(escapeRegExp(expression), ignoreCase ? 'i' : '')
     } catch {
       // An empty result set would tell the model the string appears nowhere in
       // the user's files — a factual claim it will act on, when in truth the

apps/sim/app/(landing)/comparisons/[provider]/page.test.tsx

@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ vi.mock('@/app/(landing)/comparisons/components/comparison-cards', () => ({
   ComparisonCards: () => null,
 }))
 
+import { escapeRegExp } from '@sim/utils/string'
 import type { Prose } from '@/lib/compare/data'
 import { dustProfile } from '@/lib/compare/data'
 import ComparisonProviderPage from '@/app/(landing)/comparisons/[provider]/page'
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ function countMatches(markup: string, pattern: RegExp): number {
  * against the wrong anchor.
  */
 function anchorWrapping(markup: string, text: string): string {
-  const escaped = text.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&')
+  const escaped = escapeRegExp(text)
   return markup.match(new RegExp(`<a [^>]*>${escaped}</a>`))?.[0] ?? ''
 }
 

apps/sim/app/(landing)/integrations/(shell)/[slug]/page.tsx

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { ChipLink } from '@sim/emcn'
-import { truncate } from '@sim/utils/string'
+import { escapeRegExp, truncate } from '@sim/utils/string'
 import type { Metadata } from 'next'
 import Link from 'next/link'
 import { notFound } from 'next/navigation'
@@ -127,10 +127,6 @@ function sentenceWithTerminalPunctuation(value: string): string {
   return /[.!?]$/.test(trimmedValue) ? trimmedValue : `${trimmedValue}.`
 }
 
-function escapeRegex(value: string): string {
-  return value.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&')
-}
-
 /**
  * Server-side rewrite of bare integration names in a curated template prompt
  * to `@`-mention form (`Slack` → `@Slack`) so the prompt chips with brand
@@ -152,7 +148,7 @@ function mentionifyPromptForNames(prompt: string, names: readonly string[]): str
   )
   if (unique.length === 0) return prompt
   const regex = new RegExp(
-    `(?<![A-Za-z0-9_@])(${unique.map(escapeRegex).join('|')})(?![A-Za-z0-9_])`,
+    `(?<![A-Za-z0-9_@])(${unique.map(escapeRegExp).join('|')})(?![A-Za-z0-9_])`,
     'gi'
   )
   return prompt.replace(regex, (match) => `@${match}`)

apps/sim/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/components/search-highlight/search-highlight.tsx

@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { escapeRegExp } from '@sim/utils/string'
+
 interface SearchHighlightProps {
   text: string
   searchQuery: string
@@ -18,7 +20,7 @@ export function SearchHighlight({ text, searchQuery, className = '' }: SearchHig
     .trim()
     .split(/\s+/)
     .filter((term) => term.length > 0)
-    .map((term) => term.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&'))
+    .map(escapeRegExp)
 
   if (searchTerms.length === 0) {
     return <span className={className}>{text}</span>

apps/sim/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/home/components/user-input/components/prompt-editor/use-prompt-editor.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from 'react'
 import { toast } from '@sim/emcn'
 import { assessTextPaste, PASTE_LIMITS, PASTE_RENDER_THRESHOLDS } from '@sim/utils/paste'
+import { escapeRegExp } from '@sim/utils/string'
 import {
   attachSelectionContextToClipboard,
   readSelectionContextFromClipboard,
@@ -28,7 +29,6 @@ import {
 } from '@/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/w/[workflowId]/components/panel/components/copilot/components/user-input/hooks'
 import {
   areContextsEqual,
-  escapeRegex,
   filterContextsPresentInMessage,
   prepareContextForInsert,
   restoreSkillTriggerText,
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ export function usePromptEditor({
 
       const labelIsUsed = (candidate: string): boolean => {
         if (selectedContexts.some((selected) => selected.label === candidate)) return true
-        return new RegExp(`(^|\\s)@${escapeRegex(candidate)}(?![A-Za-z0-9_])`).test(currentValue)
+        return new RegExp(`(^|\\s)@${escapeRegExp(candidate)}(?![A-Za-z0-9_])`).test(currentValue)
       }
 
       while (labelIsUsed(label)) {

apps/sim/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/home/components/user-input/hooks/use-skill-auto-mention.ts

@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 import { useCallback, useMemo, useRef } from 'react'
-import {
-  escapeRegex,
-  SKILL_CHIP_TRIGGER,
-} from '@/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/w/[workflowId]/components/panel/components/copilot/components/user-input/utils'
+import { escapeRegExp } from '@sim/utils/string'
+import { SKILL_CHIP_TRIGGER } from '@/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/w/[workflowId]/components/panel/components/copilot/components/user-input/utils'
 import type { McpServer } from '@/hooks/queries/mcp'
 import type { SkillDefinition } from '@/hooks/queries/skills'
 import type { ChatContext } from '@/stores/panel'
@@ -104,8 +102,8 @@ export function useSkillAutoMention({
     // Match either trigger: the typed '/' or the stored sentinel, so both fresh
     // input and pasted/restored chips resolve. The trigger group is the match's
     // first char (`text[match.index]`); group 1 is the skill name.
-    const trigger = `(?:/|${escapeRegex(SKILL_CHIP_TRIGGER)})`
-    const pattern = `${trigger}(${names.map(escapeRegex).join('|')})(?![A-Za-z0-9_-])`
+    const trigger = `(?:/|${escapeRegExp(SKILL_CHIP_TRIGGER)})`
+    const pattern = `${trigger}(${names.map(escapeRegExp).join('|')})(?![A-Za-z0-9_-])`
     return { regex: new RegExp(pattern, 'gi'), byName }
   }, [skills, mcpServers])
 

apps/sim/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/home/components/user-message-content/user-message-content.tsx

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import { useMemo } from 'react'
 import { cn } from '@sim/emcn'
+import { escapeRegExp } from '@sim/utils/string'
 import { ContextMentionIcon } from '@/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/home/components/context-mention-icon'
 import type { ChatMessageContext } from '@/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/home/types'
 import { getIntegrationMatcher } from '@/blocks/integration-matcher'
@@ -22,10 +23,6 @@ interface UserMessageContentProps {
   compact?: boolean
 }
 
-function escapeRegex(str: string): string {
-  return str.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&')
-}
-
 interface MentionRange {
   start: number
   end: number
@@ -54,7 +51,7 @@ function computeMentionRanges(text: string, contexts: ChatMessageContext[]): Men
     const ctx = withResolvedBlockType(rawCtx)
     const prefix = ctx.kind === 'skill' || ctx.kind === 'mcp' ? '/' : '@'
     const token = `${prefix}${ctx.label}`
-    const pattern = new RegExp(`(^|\\s)(${escapeRegex(token)})(\\s|$)`, 'g')
+    const pattern = new RegExp(`(^|\\s)(${escapeRegExp(token)})(\\s|$)`, 'g')
     let match: RegExpExecArray | null
     while ((match = pattern.exec(text)) !== null) {
       const leadingSpace = match[1]