Fix -l/-list option to parse comma-separated values

[buildingvibes]

Summary

Fixes #859 - The -l/-list option now correctly parses comma-separated values on a single line, matching the behavior of the -u option.

/claim #859

Problem

The -l/-list option was treating entire lines as single inputs, even when they contained comma-separated values. This was inconsistent with the -u option which correctly splits comma-separated values.

Before this fix:

# This works
./tlsx -u 192.168.1.0/24,192.168.2.0/24,192.168.3.0/24

# This fails (treats entire line as one host)
echo "192.168.1.0/24,192.168.2.0/24,192.168.3.0/24" > hosts.txt
./tlsx -l hosts.txt
# Error: Could not connect input 192.168.1.0/24,192.168.2.0/24,192.168.3.0/24:443

Solution

Modified normalizeAndQueueInputs() in internal/runner/runner.go to split each line by commas before processing. Applied the same logic to both file input and stdin for consistency.

After this fix:

# Both work identically now
./tlsx -u google.com,github.com,example.com
./tlsx -l hosts.txt  # where hosts.txt contains: google.com,github.com,example.com

Changes

• Split file input lines by comma in normalizeAndQueueInputs()
• Split stdin input lines by comma for consistency
• Trim whitespace from each parsed item
• Maintains backward compatibility with newline-separated inputs

Testing

Verified the fix works correctly:

# Test with comma-separated hosts in file
$ echo "google.com,github.com,example.com" > /tmp/test_hosts.txt
$ ./tlsx -l /tmp/test_hosts.txt -v -silent
[INF] Processing input google.com:443
[INF] Processing input github.com:443
[INF] Processing input example.com:443
google.com:443
github.com:443
example.com:443
[INF] Connections made using crypto/tls: 3, zcrypto/tls: 0, openssl: 0

# Compare with -u flag (identical behavior)
$ ./tlsx -u google.com,github.com,example.com -v -silent
[INF] Processing input github.com:443
[INF] Processing input google.com:443
[INF] Processing input example.com:443
google.com:443
github.com:443
example.com:443
[INF] Connections made using crypto/tls: 3, zcrypto/tls: 0, openssl: 0

# Test with CIDR prefixes (as mentioned in issue)
$ echo "192.168.1.1/32,192.168.1.2/32" > /tmp/test_cidrs.txt
$ ./tlsx -l /tmp/test_cidrs.txt -v -silent
[INF] Processing input 192.168.1.1:443
[INF] Processing input 192.168.1.2:443
# Both IPs processed separately (correctly)

All existing tests pass:

$ go test ./internal/runner
ok  	github.com/projectdiscovery/tlsx/internal/runner	0.313s

Checklist

• Minimal code changes (14 lines added, 2 removed)
• Follows existing code style and patterns
• Backward compatible with newline-separated inputs
• Maintains consistency with -u flag behavior
• All runner tests pass
• Tested with various input formats (domains, IPs, CIDRs)

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features
  • Comma-separated values in input lines are now automatically split, trimmed, and processed as individual items when reading from files or STDIN, allowing a single line to generate multiple tasks and improving batch input handling.

[coderabbitai]

Walkthrough

The runner now expands comma-separated items from file and STDIN inputs: each line is split on commas, trimmed, and each non-empty item is enqueued as an individual input task, preserving existing error handling and single-item behavior.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Input Parsing Enhancement internal/runner/runner.go	When reading from -l/file or STDIN, lines are split by commas, trimmed, and each non-empty token is enqueued separately (expands single line with multiple comma-separated inputs into multiple tasks).

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
    participant File as File/STDIN
    participant Runner as Runner (normalize & enqueue)
    participant Queue as TaskQueue
    participant Worker as Worker

    rect rgba(200,230,255,0.5)
    File->>Runner: provide line "a,b,c" (or single item)
    end

    rect rgba(200,255,200,0.5)
    Runner->>Runner: split by ',', trim tokens, filter empty
    Runner->>Queue: enqueue "a"
    Runner->>Queue: enqueue "b"
    Runner->>Queue: enqueue "c"
    end

    rect rgba(255,230,200,0.5)
    Queue->>Worker: deliver tasks for processing
    Worker->>Queue: ack / process results
    end

Loading

Estimated code review effort

🎯 3 (Moderate) | ⏱️ ~20 minutes

Poem

🐰 A commaed line once stayed as one,
I nibbled gaps until each shone,
Trimmed and hopped, each token flew,
Now every input finds its queue! 🥕✨

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title accurately describes the main change: implementing comma-separated value parsing for the -l/--list option.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	The changes fully address issue #859 by splitting comma-separated values in file/stdin input and trimming whitespace, matching -u flag behavior.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	All changes in internal/runner/runner.go are directly scoped to fixing the comma-separated input parsing issue described in #859.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.

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✨ Finishing touches

• 📝 Generate docstrings

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Post copyable unit tests in a comment

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[buildingvibes]

Closing this PR to focus on one contribution at a time per project guidelines. I'll resubmit if bandwidth allows. Thank you!