Unravel is the artisanal decompression studio that liberates your data from .gz compression — gently, faithfully, with zero loss. Handcrafted restoration, one file at a time.
For too long, files have been imprisoned — squeezed into suffocating .gz wrappers, their original identities stripped away, their timestamps forgotten, their names rewritten. Compression was necessary. But decompression? Decompression is an act of liberation.
We founded Unravel because we believe that restoring data is not a commodity operation. It is a
craft. Every original filename recovered with -N is a small act of justice. Every byte
verified with -t is a promise kept. Every recursive traversal through nested
directories is a pilgrimage into the archives of what was and what shall be again.
Unravel doesn't just decompress your files. We set them free — with the care of a conservator restoring a Renaissance fresco, the precision of a watchmaker, and the conviction that behind every .gz suffix is a story waiting to be told in full.
Each capability of Unravel has been carefully considered — like a tool in a master artisan's workshop, purpose-built for a single, perfect task.
The -N flag recovers the original filename and timestamp stored inside the
compressed archive — because your data deserves its name back. Full provenance. Zero compromise.
With -k, Unravel preserves your compressed source files untouched. Decompress
without destruction. The original artifact remains — a living record, a safety net, a companion.
Point -r at any directory tree and watch Unravel gently descend into every nested
folder, restoring every .gz file it encounters. Entire archives freed with a single gesture.
The -t flag runs a comprehensive CRC verification pass — testing every compressed
file's integrity without extracting a single byte. Trust, verified.
With -c, Unravel sends decompressed output directly to stdout — perfect for piping
into other tools, composing workflows, or watching data unfold in real time.
The -l flag reveals detailed metadata for every compressed file — original size,
compressed size, compression ratio, and method. A full audit of what's inside, before you open
it.
The -f flag powers through edge cases — overwriting existing files, bypassing output
to terminals, handling multi-linked files. When you need it done, Unravel obliges.
Enable -v to receive a detailed narration of every file restored, its compression
ratio, and the exact operation performed. Full transparency. Nothing hidden.
Point Unravel at any .gz file or directory. Our engine reads the magic bytes, verifies the header, and identifies the original file waiting inside.
Unravel decompresses the Lempel-Ziv encoded data stream, rebuilding each byte with perfect fidelity. The original file emerges — modes, timestamps, ownership intact.
A 32-bit CRC integrity check confirms the restoration is complete and accurate. Your data is whole again. Breathe easy.
Roastwell, a specialty coffee importer, had accumulated over 340,000 compressed log files across a decade of supply chain operations. When they decided to migrate to a new analytics platform, they discovered that years of inconsistent archival practices had left them with .gz files scattered across hundreds of nested directories — many with corrupted suffixes, others with original filenames lost to hasty automation scripts.
"We pointed Unravel at our root archive directory with -r -N -v and walked
away. When we came back, every file had been restored with its original name, its original
timestamp, and a full verbose log of what happened. It felt like watching someone carefully
unfold fourteen years of history."
— Meera Patel, VP of Data Operations at Roastwell
The recursive traversal processed all 340,000 files without a single integrity failure. Unravel's
-t verification pass confirmed byte-perfect restoration across the entire corpus.
Roastwell's migration completed ahead of schedule, with their analytics team gaining access to
complete, uncompressed datasets for the first time.
"Compression is a necessary compromise. Decompression is restoration — and restoration is love."
"Every CRC check is a handshake between the past and the present. We take that seriously."
"We don't ship features. We ship feelings. The feeling when your data comes home."
No hidden fees. No per-byte metering. Just the tools you need to free your data.
For personal projects and curious minds.
-c)For professionals who care about their craft.
-r)-N)-v)-t)-l)-f)-S)For teams restoring data at scale.
For enterprises with bespoke requirements.
"We used to decompress files like it was a chore. Unravel turned it into a ritual. The verbose journal alone changed how our team thinks about data provenance."
"I pointed -r at our entire archive directory and went to
make coffee. When I came back, everything was restored. Names, timestamps, everything. I nearly
cried."
"The -t integrity check caught a corrupted archive that
would have gone to production. Unravel doesn't just recover data — it keeps you honest."
"We replaced five internal scripts with a single Unravel command using
-c piped to our processing pipeline. It's not a tool — it's infrastructure."
Unravel recognizes files with the extensions .gz, .z,
-gz, -z, _z, and .tgz (which is restored
to .tar). Custom suffixes are supported via the -S flag on the
Artisan plan and above.
By default, Unravel replaces the compressed file with the decompressed original. If you want
to keep both, enable Gentle Touch™ mode with the -k flag, which preserves the
compressed source file alongside the restored output.
Every decompression includes an automatic 32-bit CRC check against the value stored in the
gzip header. You can also run a standalone verification pass using -t without
extracting any data — perfect for pre-flight checks on critical archives.
Absolutely. Unravel operates entirely locally with zero cloud dependencies. All decompression, verification, and metadata restoration happens on your machine. Your data never leaves your environment.
Unravel will prompt you before overwriting any existing file. To bypass this and force
overwrite, use the -f flag. We recommend pairing -f with
-v for full transparency in automated workflows.
