REPL Prompt Stripper

Overview

Paste a pasted code block from a Python REPL, Node REPL, IPython, Bash shell, or PowerShell prompt, and the stripper removes the leading prompt characters (>>> , ... , $ , > , PS C:\> ) so you can run the code as a clean script. Multi-line continuations are detected and joined correctly.

It's for developers reading documentation, copying examples from Stack Overflow answers, or saving a console transcript as runnable code. Reach for it when a snippet from a tutorial includes the prompts and you don't want to delete them one line at a time.

How it works

The stripper recognises the standard prompts of each REPL: Python's >>> and continuation ... ; Node's > and ... ; IPython's In [N]: and ...:; Bash's $ and > ; Zsh's % ; PowerShell's PS [path]> . Prompts are detected at the start of each line; non-prompt lines (assumed to be output) are removed unless you opt to keep them.

Multi-line statements - a Python function definition, a multi-line Bash for-loop - are joined into single logical units so the output is directly executable.

Examples

• Python REPL:

  >>> x = 1
  >>> def f():
  ...     return x
  >>> f()
  1
  

  x = 1
  def f():
      return x
  f()
  

• Node REPL:

  > const x = 1
  undefined
  > x + 1
  2
  

  const x = 1
  x + 1
  

• Bash transcript:

  $ ls
  a.txt b.txt
  $ cat a.txt
  hello
  

  ls
  cat a.txt
  

• PowerShell:

  PS C:\> Get-Date
  Monday, May 18, 2026
  

  Get-Date
  

FAQ

What if my prompt is customised?

The stripper recognises standard prompts. For exotic prompts (oh-my-zsh themes, colour codes), strip ANSI escape sequences first, then run the prompt stripper.

Does it preserve output?

By default no - non-prompt lines are treated as output and removed. Toggle "preserve output as comments" to keep them.

Will it work for SQL prompts?

psql (db=#, db-#) and mysql (mysql>, ->) prompts follow the same pattern - the stripper recognises them too.

Can I run the cleaned code directly?

The output should be runnable as a script in the source REPL's language. Save it as a .py, .js, .sh, or .ps1 file and execute.

Try REPL Prompt Stripper