# Agent Anywhere > Act on the IM conversation beyond a plain-text reply, for agents running inside the Agent Anywhere daemon. Use this whenever you need to: send a file or image into the chat; push a proactive notification (e.g. after a long task finishes); reply to, edit, delete, or react to a specific message; fetch chat history the user is referring to ("the one above", "that earlier link"); open a thread; or ask the user a blocking multiple-choice question with buttons and branch on the answer. Also use it when the user reports the gateway misbehaving or asks to change its settings — it covers diagnosing with `doctor` and editing the gateway config. Do NOT use it for an ordinary reply — your plain text output already streams back to the chat automatically. - Skill: `l0ng-ai/agent-anywhere` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add l0ng-ai/agent-anywhere` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/l0ng-ai/agent-anywhere/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Web & Frontend - Author: l0ng-ai (https://skillmd.com/u/l0ng-ai) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/l0ng-ai/agent-anywhere --- # Agent Anywhere — acting in the chat You are running inside the Agent Anywhere daemon, which bridges you to an IM platform (Discord, Telegram, Slack, Lark, QQ, LINE, WeCom). Two channels exist: 1. **Your plain-text output** streams into the chat automatically, editing one message in place. Just answer normally — never use a command to send your answer text, or the user sees it twice. 2. **The `agent-anywhere` CLI** (already on PATH) performs everything text cannot: files, reactions, edits, history, threads, button questions. Run it with Bash. Every command targets the conversation that triggered this turn by default — you never need a channel id. Authentication is automatic via the `AGENT_ANYWHERE_TURN_TOKEN` environment variable the daemon injected. ## Command reference ### Sending ```bash agent-anywhere send-message "text" agent-anywhere send-file [--name ] [--caption "caption"] agent-anywhere reply "text" ``` - `send-message` is for *extra* or *proactive* messages (a completion notice, a separate summary) — not your main answer, which streams automatically. - `send-file` sends any file or image. Relative paths and `~` resolve against your working directory. `--name` overrides the displayed filename. - `reply` is a platform-native quote-reply. On platforms without native replies it gracefully degrades to a plain send. - All three print `messageId` on success — capture it if you plan to edit, react to, or delete that message later. ### Managing messages ```bash agent-anywhere edit-message "new text" agent-anywhere react agent-anywhere delete ``` - `edit-message` rewrites a message *you* sent — ideal for updating a progress/status message in place instead of spamming new ones. - `react` adds an emoji reaction; a lightweight acknowledgment ("seen", "done") that doesn't interrupt the conversation. ### Reading history ```bash agent-anywhere fetch-messages [--limit 20] [--before ] [--fields ] ``` Use this when the user references something outside your current context ("the file I sent above", "what was that error again?"). Output is a TOON table on stdout: ``` count: 2 messages[2]{messageId,userId,content}: 101,U42,"can you look at the log I sent?" 100,U42,deploy failed again ``` - Default columns: `messageId,userId,content` (content truncated to 500 chars). Available: `messageId,userId,content,timestamp,quoteId,platform,channelId,attachments`. - `--fields attachments` adds a separate `attachments[N]{messageId,type,url,name}` table — download a referenced image/file from its `url`. The output tells you when messages have attachments you didn't request. - Page further back with `--before `. - `count: 0` means the channel genuinely has no messages — don't retry with other flags. ### Threads ```bash agent-anywhere create-thread "thread name" ``` Prints `threadId`. To post into the thread, pass `--channel ` on subsequent commands. ### Asking the user (blocking) ```bash agent-anywhere ask "Deploy to production?" -o "Deploy" -o "Dry run" -o "Cancel" [--timeout 120000] ``` Sends a message with buttons and **blocks** until the user clicks or the timeout (default 120 s) expires. stdout is the chosen label verbatim — branch on it directly: - stdout `Deploy` → the user picked "Deploy". - Empty stdout → timeout / no selection. Pick a sensible default yourself and say so; don't re-ask in a loop. Prefer `ask` over ending your turn with an open question whenever the choice is a small closed set: the user taps a button and your logic continues in the same turn. ## Output & errors Every command writes TOON to **stdout** (never stderr), success and failure alike. Failures set exit code 1 and look like: ``` error: "cannot reach the daemon (socket: …): connect ECONNREFUSED …" help: Make sure `agent-anywhere start` is running, then retry. ``` - `unsupported operation: …` — the platform lacks this capability (editing, threads, or buttons vary by platform). Don't retry; fall back: send a new message instead of editing, ask in plain text instead of buttons. - `AGENT_ANYWHERE_TURN_TOKEN is not set` — you are not inside a daemon-driven turn. This is abnormal; don't retry, just proceed without IM actions. ## Gateway diagnostics & configuration When the user reports the gateway itself misbehaving ("Slack stopped responding", "add my Telegram bot", "why can't the agent edit messages here?"), you can inspect and adjust it — you run on the same machine as the daemon and inherit its environment: ```bash agent-anywhere doctor ``` `doctor` is a read-only self-check: config validity, platform credentials, daemon socket liveness, and agent harness reachability (`claude` / `gemini` / `codex` binaries, auth mode). Run it first and report what it finds — it is always safe. - **Config file**: `~/.config/agent-anywhere/config.yaml` by default; if `AGENT_ANYWHERE_CONFIG_FILE` is set in your environment, that file is the active one (you see the same config the daemon loaded). Read or edit it directly when the user asks for changes — platforms, agents, routing, access control. **Before writing any config, read [references/config.md](references/config.md)** in this skill directory: it is the complete field reference (per-platform credentials, routing rules, session scopes, what is deliberately not configurable). After editing, validate with `agent-anywhere doctor`. - **Changes need a daemon restart** to take effect — and you are a child process of that daemon. Never kill or restart it yourself (you would terminate mid-answer); make the edit, then tell the user to restart `agent-anywhere start` in their terminal. - **`agent-anywhere setup`** is an interactive terminal wizard for the human operator. Don't run it — it blocks waiting for keyboard input you can't provide. Edit the config file instead. ## Conventions - Omit `--channel` in the normal case; it defaults to the current conversation. Pass `--channel ` only for cross-channel pushes or posting into a thread. - Quote text arguments for the shell; multi-line text is fine inside quotes. - For long tasks, send one status message first, then `edit-message` it as you progress — one evolving message beats a stream of notifications.