getgrille Overview
This skill documents Windows-specific environmental truths that apply across all Grille modules. Apply it proactively — these constraints are not module-specific, and forgetting them causes silent failures. For full detail on executable naming and CRLF patterns, see references/.
Executables: Always Use the Extension
Grille spawns executables without a shell — .exe and .cmd do not resolve automatically.
Quick reference: cargo.exe, git.exe, npm.cmd, az.cmd, xcopy.exe, docker.exe, node.exe, python.exe.
⛔ az and az.exe both fail — the Azure CLI is az.cmd. This error is silently swallowed by the auth chain. See references/executable-naming.md for the full table.
CRLF: Use Single-Line Anchors in fs_str_replace
Windows files use CRLF (\r\n). fs_str_replace fails when old_str spans line boundaries in a CRLF file. Use a unique single-line anchor — never span a line boundary.
⛔ Multi-line old_str on Windows files will silently fail to match. Use a unique single-line string. See references/crlf-patterns.md for the full pattern including append-only document strategy.
Dollar Signs in Passwords
$ is interpolated by both PowerShell and Docker Compose. Use alphanumeric-only passwords in all demo and dev environments.
Key File Paths
| Resource | Path |
|---|---|
| Binary (MSIX install) | C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Grille\grille.exe |
| Config | C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Grille\grille.toml |
| Audit logs | C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Grille\logs\ |
| Source | C:\dev\<project>\ |
grille_reload_config: What It Does and Does Not Do
Hot-swaps existing config values from disk. Does not register new SQL connections, new secrets providers, or new remote hosts — those require a full Claude Desktop restart.
The "no changes detected" response is a known bug — the reload still executes correctly.
Two Filesystems: The Critical Distinction
⛔ create_file and str_replace (Anthropic sandbox tools) do NOT write to real Windows disk. They write to a sandbox that mimics Windows paths but is completely separate. For any write to C:\, always use grille:fs_write_file or grille:fs_str_replace, then verify with grille:fs_stat.
The failure mode is silent — sandbox writes return success while the real file is untouched.
Git and SSH
git pushcannot work via Grille — SSH agent is inaccessible from subprocess context. Push manually.git.exerequires the.exesuffix; Git for Windows deadlock is prevented internally by Grille.
Machines
Configure your machines — laptop, desktop, or any deployment target — in grille.toml. Each machine runs its own Grille instance with its own config. Config is machine-local; changes on one machine do not affect another.