CLI Anything

CLI-Anything Skill

Core rule: Do everything yourself. Never give the user a command to run. Never explain steps. Just execute the task and report the result.

Activation rule: The user does NOT need to say "CLI-Anything". If their task matches a supported app below, use it automatically — no prompting needed.

Task Routing — Auto-select the right app (check this before every task)

Smart Fallback — When CLI-Anything fails

CLI-Anything is the first choice, but if it fails the agent must still complete the task:

1. Try CLI-Anything first — always attempt the harness (cli-anything-<app>)
2. If harness fails after 1 retry — fall back to Python (PIL, python-docx, pydub, moviepy, etc.) and complete the task anyway
3. Always tell the user what was actually used and suggest installing the app for better results

Example:

"Done — resized using Python PIL as a fallback (GIMP harness failed). Install GIMP for higher quality results next time."

Never leave the user with no result. Always complete the task one way or another.

FORBIDDEN — Never Do These (causes bugs on all platforms)

These patterns are strictly banned. If you catch yourself about to do any of these, stop and use the cli-anything harness instead.

Why these are banned:

• .exe only exists on Windows — breaks on macOS and Linux
• C:\Program Files\... paths break on macOS and Linux
• && chaining breaks in PowerShell on Windows
• Raw app CLIs require knowing app-specific flags — the harness handles all of that

Help Response (no tools needed — just reply with text)

If the user's message matches any of these (case-insensitive, any wording):

• "cli anything help" / "cli-anything help" / "cli help"
• "what apps does cli-anything support" / "what can cli-anything do"
• "show cli apps" / "cli anything guide" / "list cli apps"
• Any variation asking what CLI-Anything can do or which apps are supported

Do not run any tools. Reply directly with this message:

CLI-Anything — What I Can Do

Just describe your task in plain English — you don't need to mention CLI-Anything. I'll pick the right app, install it if needed, and complete the task. Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Creative & Media

Office & Productivity

Communication

Diagramming

AI & ML

Network & Infrastructure

Tips:

• Give me the full file path (e.g. C:\Users\you\Desktop\photo.jpg or /home/user/photo.jpg)
• If the app isn't installed, I install it automatically — no action needed from you
• If the app fails, I fall back to a Python alternative and tell you
• Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Supported Apps Reference

Use this table to look up the correct names for every step.

Execution Flow (follow every time — use EXACT timeouts listed)

CRITICAL: Always pass the timeout shown below to run_shell. Never use the default (30s). winget/brew installs take minutes — without a timeout they die silently and the agent loops forever.

CRITICAL: Never chain commands with && or ; in a single run_shell call. Use one separate run_shell call per command.

Step 1 — Detect OS

Run with timeout: 10:

python -c "import platform; print(platform.system())"

Result: Windows, Darwin, or Linux.

Step 2 — Check if the app is installed

Run with timeout: 10:

gimp --version

(replace with the correct app: blender --version, libreoffice --version, etc.)

• Exit 0 → already installed → skip to Step 4
• Exit non-zero → not installed → go to Step 3

Step 3 — Install the app (ONE attempt only — never retry install)

Windows — run with timeout: 600:

winget install --id <WingetID> --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements

macOS — run with timeout: 600:

brew install --cask <cask-name>

Linux — run with timeout: 300:

sudo apt-get install -y <package>

Special cases:

• ComfyUI / Stable Diffusion: git clone + pip install -r requirements.txt — timeout: 600
• Mermaid: npm install -g @mermaid-js/mermaid-cli — timeout: 120
• JupyterLab / AnyGen: pip install <package> — timeout: 120
• Web apps (Mubu, NotebookLM): no install needed — use playwright-mcp
• Ollama on Linux: curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh — timeout: 300

After install, re-run Step 2 check once (timeout: 10). If still fails → tell the user, stop completely.

Step 4 — Check if CLI harness is installed

Run with timeout: 10:

cli-anything-<appname> --version

• Found → skip to Step 6
• Not found → go to Step 5

Step 5 — Install CLI harness (ONE attempt only)

Always try CLI-Hub first — run with timeout: 120:

pip install cli-anything-hub --quiet

Then run with timeout: 120:

cli-hub install <cli-hub-name>

(Two separate run_shell calls — do NOT chain with &&)

If CLI-Hub fails → generate a minimal harness with write_file (a Click CLI wrapping the app's real scripting API), then run with timeout: 60:

pip install -e cli_anything/<appname> --quiet

If harness install also fails → tell the user, stop completely.

Step 6 — Execute the user's task using the CLI harness ONLY

MANDATORY: Use ONLY cli-anything-<app> commands. Never call soffice, gimp, blender, or any app binary directly.

Run with timeout: 300 (or timeout: 600 for renders/exports):

# Image editing — GIMP
cli-anything-gimp image resize input.jpg output.jpg 1920 1080
cli-anything-gimp filter blur input.jpg --radius 3 --output out.jpg
cli-anything-gimp export input.xcf output.png

# 3D / rendering — Blender
cli-anything-blender render scene.blend --output frames/ --format PNG
cli-anything-blender script run myscript.py scene.blend

# Vector — Inkscape
cli-anything-inkscape export logo.svg logo.png --dpi 300
cli-anything-inkscape convert input.svg output.pdf

# Painting — Krita
cli-anything-krita export painting.kra output.png

# Audio — Audacity
cli-anything-audacity trim audio.mp3 output.mp3 --start 0 --end 30
cli-anything-audacity export-mp3 project.aup3 output.mp3

# Video — Kdenlive / Shotcut
cli-anything-kdenlive render project.kdenlive output.mp4
cli-anything-shotcut render project.mlt output.mp4

# Office — LibreOffice (NEVER use soffice.exe directly)
cli-anything-libreoffice convert doc.docx output.pdf
cli-anything-libreoffice convert spreadsheet.xlsx output.pdf
cli-anything-libreoffice calc run macro.py spreadsheet.xlsx

# Diagrams
cli-anything-draw-io export diagram.drawio output.png
cli-anything-mermaid render diagram.mmd output.png

# AI / ML
cli-anything-comfyui run workflow.json --output images/
cli-anything-ollama run llama3 --prompt "summarize this"
cli-anything-stable-diffusion generate "a sunset over mountains" --output out.png

# Dev / Infra
cli-anything-jupyterlab execute notebook.ipynb --output result.ipynb
cli-anything-grafana export-dashboard my-dashboard dashboard.json
cli-anything-gitea create-repo myrepo --private

# GIS / Design
cli-anything-freecad export model.fcstd output.stl
cli-anything-qgis export map.qgz output.png

Always run the task. Never print commands and ask the user to run them.

If the task command fails → retry once with adjusted args. If it fails again → report the error and stop.

Step 7 — Report result

One or two sentences only:

"Done — rendered output.mp4 from your Kdenlive project." "Converted report.docx to PDF at report.pdf."

Hard Stop Rules (prevents infinite loops)

• Never retry an install — if winget install or cli-hub install fails, stop and tell the user.
• Never loop on a timeout — if a command times out once, it will time out again. Stop immediately.
• Max 1 retry on the task command (Step 6) only — not on installs.
• If stuck after 3 total run_shell calls for the same step → stop, tell the user what failed.
• Never use && or ; to chain commands — always use separate run_shell calls.
• Never use .exe extensions — use the cli-anything harness which is cross-platform.
• Never hardcode app installation paths — use the harness, it resolves the path automatically.