Looking for files inside an archive, without having to extract them first? Using Apple’s Terminal, or any Unix / Linux bash shell:

find /dir/ -iname archive.tar -print0 | xargs -0 tar t -f | grep "filename you are searching for"
find /dir/ -iname archive.zip -print0 | xargs -0 unzip -l | grep "filename you are searching for"
find /dir/ -iname archive.rar -print0 | xargs -0 unrar l | grep "filename you are searching for"

Command breakdown

find /dir/

use the powerful find command inside the folder where the archive is

-iname archive.tar

look for the archive (case insensitive search)

-print0

when files are found, spit them out in a list with a NULL at the end instead of a new line – this helps with the next step

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pass the list generated by find to the next command…

xargs -0

…which is xargs, used to take a list of results and pass them on. The -0 is telling xargs to use NULL as the separator

tar t -f

use tar to list (t) the content of the archive, files only (-f)

unzip -l

use unzip to list the content of the archive

unrar l

use unrar to list the content of the archive

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pass the list generated by find to the next command…

grep "filename you are searching for"

only show the items in the list that match the fillename, using grep