RowBrief · CSV handoff checker

Inspect CSVs locally. Compare delimiters, locate issues and share a report without cell values. Free MIT source.

Type

Tool

Tech stack

javascripthtmlcss

Documentation

Full

Setup, architecture, and how the pieces fit together.

Maintenance

None

Sold as-is. No further updates from the Builder.

Description

Make the next handoff clearer

RowBrief is a local CSV workbench for people receiving unfamiliar exports or preparing a file for someone else. Inspect structure, compare delimiter choices and locate a malformed record before passing it on.

Included

Strict UTF-8 file reading or pasted text, with explicit comma, semicolon, tab or pipe selection.
Quoted delimiters, doubled quotes and multiline cells. Fatal syntax errors stop inspection and label partial results.
Field-count checks, optional exact-duplicate and empty-header findings, physical source lines and source context.
A paged preview that renders values as text. No formula execution or inferred types.
JSON and Markdown handoff reports with parsing choices, counts and generic findings. Cell values, header names, source excerpts and filename are omitted.
Five original synthetic examples, a focused test suite, documentation, MIT source and an original SVG identity.

Use and requirements

Open the live tool in a modern browser, or use Node.js 22+ locally: npm ci, then npm start. There is no build, backend, account, API key or npm dependency. Files are read locally and are not uploaded. No browser storage or offline cache is installed. Public page hosting can receive ordinary request metadata.

Imported file text retains its original decoded line endings until explicitly edited. Textareas normalize pasted/edited newlines to LF. No original disk file is overwritten and no cleaned CSV is exported.

Limits

2 MiB UTF-8, 10,000 parsed records including blank records, 100 fields per record and the first 200 findings. Preview is 20 records per page with 200 characters displayed per cell. UTF-16/32 are unsupported. BOM-marked unsupported encodings, malformed UTF-8 and NUL characters are rejected; no general encoding detector is claimed. Header duplicates are exact and case-sensitive.

This is a structural inspection tool, not a business-rule validator, formula-safety scanner, encoding converter or universal spreadsheet-compatibility certificate. A consistent file can still contain incorrect or unsafe data for another application. Reports still contain counts and source locations; review before sharing. Clear/refresh is not secure memory erasure.

License and support

Original software, docs, examples and artwork are MIT licensed. Free repository and live-tool access do not require a marketplace purchase. Created by Arya Rashid with AI assistance. All example content and product screens are synthetic. No customer results or benchmark claims are made. Support is through GitHub issues/community contributions, without a paid maintenance agreement or response-time promise. Keep the MIT notice when redistributing.

FAQ

What is RowBrief for?: Understanding a CSV structure before handing it to someone else, with explicit parsing choices and a report that omits cell values.
Does my file leave the browser?: The app reads it locally and makes no upload or analytics request. It saves no file, report or preference to browser storage. Hosting still receives ordinary page requests.
What does a report include?: Delimiter/header/blank-record choices, BOM and line-ending metadata, counts and generic findings with source locations. Cell values, header names, source excerpts and filename are omitted. Counts/locations remain; review before sharing.
Can it fix or convert a file?: No. The on-disk original is never modified, and no cleaned CSV or encoding conversion is exported. Files must be valid UTF-8.
What are the limits?: 2 MiB, 10,000 parsed records including blanks, 100 fields per record, first 200 findings, and 20 preview records per page. Cell display is clipped to 200 characters.
What is not checked?: Business rules, data types, formula safety and universal spreadsheet compatibility. Values render as text. A structural pass does not certify data quality or safety.
How do I run and license it?: Use the free hosted tool or Node.js 22+, npm ci and npm start. Original code, docs, examples and artwork use MIT. No paid service, account or key is required. Community support has no response-time promise.