ForHosting KIT · Developer Utilities

Tabs to spaces converter

Mixed tab and space indentation is one of the most common style fights in software teams, and also one of the quietest sources of broken diffs, broken patches, and broken continuous-integration linters.

● BetaFree · in your browser

Run — free How it works & API

Use it from WebAPIEmailTelegramApp soon

A tabs to spaces converter takes source text that still contains tab characters and rewrites every tab as spaces so the visual columns stay the same while the file becomes pure space-indented. This capability walks each line from left to right, advances a column counter for every character, and when it hits a tab it inserts just enough spaces to reach the next tab stop of your chosen width. Leading block indentation and mid-line alignment tabs are both expanded. Existing space characters are left alone, so you never collapse intentional multi-space gaps. The same pure logic powers the free browser tool and the API path, so batch rewrites in CI match what you preview in the widget.

How to use it

Enter your values in the form above. The tool checks them before calculating and shows the result on the same page.

Check your inputs

Use the labels and units shown next to each field. If something is missing or outside the allowed range, the page points to the field to fix.

Use it again or automate it

Use the browser tool for individual checks and the API when you need the same capability in an automated workflow.

What you can do with it

Get an answer now

Enter one set of values and see the result without building a spreadsheet or script.

Compare scenarios

Change one value at a time and rerun the calculation to understand what affects the result.

Automate repeated work

Use the API when the same calculation needs to run inside your product or workflow.

FAQ

How do I use this capability?

Complete the fields above and run it on this page. The form highlights anything that needs attention.

For developers — API access

Everything on this page is available programmatically. This section is for teams who want to wire it into their own systems; everyone else can just use the tool above.

API endpoint

POSThttps://api.kit.forhosting.com/dev/tabs-to-spaces

Prefer to automate it? One authenticated POST creates the task; the result comes back by webhook or a signed link. The same capability also runs here on the web, by email and from Telegram — and soon from our app too.

Call it from your stack

curl -X POST https://api.kit.forhosting.com/dev/tabs-to-spaces \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $KIT_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"text":"function hi() {\n\treturn true;\n}"}'

const res = await fetch("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/dev/tabs-to-spaces", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.KIT_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "text": "function hi() {\n\treturn true;\n}"
  })
});
const { task_id } = await res.json();

import os, requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/dev/tabs-to-spaces",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['KIT_KEY']}"},
    json={
    "text": "function hi() {\n\treturn true;\n}"
},
)
task_id = res.json()["task_id"]

<?php
$res = file_get_contents("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/dev/tabs-to-spaces", false, stream_context_create([
  "http" => [
    "method"  => "POST",
    "header"  => "Authorization: Bearer " . getenv("KIT_KEY") . "\r\nContent-Type: application/json",
    "content" => '{"text":"function hi() {\\n\\treturn true;\\n}"}',
  ],
]));
$task = json_decode($res, true);

body := bytes.NewBufferString(`{"text":"function hi() {\n\treturn true;\n}"}`)
req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/dev/tabs-to-spaces", body)
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+os.Getenv("KIT_KEY"))
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

Example request

{
  "text": "function hi() {\n\treturn true;\n}"
}

Example response

{
  "task_id": "tsk_a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6",
  "type": "dev.tabs_to_spaces",
  "status": "queued",
  "_links": {
    "result": "/tasks/tsk_…/result"
  }
}

The API is asynchronous: the call returns a task_id immediately and the result arrives by webhook. Polling is capped at 1 req/s per task.

Pricing

Per request$0.002

Published price — no tokens, no invented credits. A failed task is never charged.

Errors

HTTP	Code	Meaning
`401`	`unauthorized`	Missing or invalid API key.
`402`	`insufficient_balance`	Your balance doesn't cover the task price.
`404`	`unknown_type`	That task type doesn't exist.
`429`	`rate_limited`	Too many requests. Use the webhook instead of polling.

Read the full KIT documentation →