Pp Paul Graham

Paul Graham — Printing Press CLI

Prerequisites: Install the CLI

This skill drives the paul-graham-pp-cli binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:

1. Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to $HOME/.local/bin on macOS/Linux and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\bin on Windows:

   npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install paul-graham --cli-only
   

2. Verify: paul-graham-pp-cli --version
3. Ensure the reported install directory is on $PATH for the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill.

If the npx install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.6 or newer). This installs into $GOPATH/bin (default $HOME/go/bin), so add that directory to $PATH instead:

go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/media-and-entertainment/paul-graham/cmd/paul-graham-pp-cli@latest

If --version reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on $PATH. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.

Static public essay index for paulgraham.com.

When Not to Use This CLI

Do not activate this CLI for requests that require creating, updating, deleting, publishing, commenting, upvoting, inviting, ordering, sending messages, booking, purchasing, or changing remote state. This printed CLI exposes read-only commands for inspection, export, sync, and analysis.

Command Reference

latest — List the newest essays from the live index

• paul-graham-pp-cli latest --limit 10 — Return the newest essays from paulgraham.com/articles.html.

list — Browse the essay index

• paul-graham-pp-cli list --query startup --limit 20 — List essays, optionally filtering by title or slug.

search — Search essays

• paul-graham-pp-cli search — Search essay titles and slugs; pass the query as the positional argument, for example startup.
• paul-graham-pp-cli search --full-text — Fetch essay pages and search full text; pass the query as the positional argument.

read — Read one essay

• paul-graham-pp-cli read --max-chars 2000 — Extract readable text for an essay; pass a slug, URL, title, or title substring as the positional argument.

links — Extract essay links

• paul-graham-pp-cli links — Return links found on an essay page; pass a slug, URL, title, or title substring as the positional argument.

random — Pick an essay

• paul-graham-pp-cli random --seed 42 — Pick a random essay from the live index.

articles-html — Manage articles html

• paul-graham-pp-cli articles-html — Returns the static HTML essay index from paulgraham.com.

Finding the right command

When you know what you want to do but not which command does it, ask the CLI directly:

paul-graham-pp-cli which "<capability in your own words>"

which resolves a natural-language capability query to the best matching command from this CLI's curated feature index. Exit code 0 means at least one match; exit code 2 means no confident match — fall back to --help or use a narrower query.

Auth Setup

No authentication required.

Run paul-graham-pp-cli doctor to verify setup.

Agent Mode

Add --agent to any command. Expands to: --json --compact --no-input --no-color --yes.

• Pipeable — JSON on stdout, errors on stderr

• Filterable — --select keeps a subset of fields. Dotted paths descend into nested structures; arrays traverse element-wise. Critical for keeping context small on verbose APIs:

  paul-graham-pp-cli list --agent --select title,url
  

• Previewable — --dry-run shows the request without sending

• Offline-friendly — sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available

• Non-interactive — never prompts, every input is a flag

• Read-only — do not use this CLI for create, update, delete, publish, comment, upvote, invite, order, send, or other mutating requests

Response envelope

Commands that read from the local store or the API wrap output in a provenance envelope:

{
  "meta": {"source": "live" | "local", "synced_at": "...", "reason": "..."},
  "results": <data>
}

Parse .results for data and .meta.source to know whether it's live or local. A human-readable N results (live) summary is printed to stderr only when stdout is a terminal AND no machine-format flag (--json, --csv, --compact, --quiet, --plain, --select) is set — piped/agent consumers and explicit-format runs get pure JSON on stdout.

Agent Feedback

When you (or the agent) notice something off about this CLI, record it:

paul-graham-pp-cli feedback "the --since flag is inclusive but docs say exclusive"
paul-graham-pp-cli feedback --stdin < notes.txt
paul-graham-pp-cli feedback list --json --limit 10

Entries are stored locally at ~/.local/share/paul-graham-pp-cli/feedback.jsonl. They are never POSTed unless PAUL_GRAHAM_FEEDBACK_ENDPOINT is set AND either --send is passed or PAUL_GRAHAM_FEEDBACK_AUTO_SEND=true. Default behavior is local-only.

Write what surprised you, not a bug report. Short, specific, one line: that is the part that compounds.

Output Delivery

Every command accepts --deliver <sink>. The output goes to the named sink in addition to (or instead of) stdout, so agents can route command results without hand-piping. Three sinks are supported:

Unknown schemes are refused with a structured error naming the supported set. Webhook failures return non-zero and log the URL + HTTP status on stderr.

Named Profiles

A profile is a saved set of flag values, reused across invocations. Use it when a scheduled agent calls the same command every run with the same configuration - HeyGen's "Beacon" pattern.

paul-graham-pp-cli profile save briefing --json
paul-graham-pp-cli --profile briefing latest
paul-graham-pp-cli profile list --json
paul-graham-pp-cli profile show briefing
paul-graham-pp-cli profile delete briefing --yes

Explicit flags always win over profile values; profile values win over defaults. agent-context lists all available profiles under available_profiles so introspecting agents discover them at runtime.

Exit Codes

Argument Parsing

Parse $ARGUMENTS:

1. Empty, help, or --help → show paul-graham-pp-cli --help output
2. Starts with install → ends with mcp → MCP installation; otherwise → see Prerequisites above
3. Anything else → Direct Use (execute as CLI command with --agent)

MCP Server Installation

1. Install the MCP server:

   go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/media-and-entertainment/paul-graham/cmd/paul-graham-pp-mcp@latest
   

2. Register with Claude Code:

   claude mcp add paul-graham-pp-mcp -- paul-graham-pp-mcp
   

3. Verify: claude mcp list

Direct Use

1. Check if installed: which paul-graham-pp-cli If not found, offer to install (see Prerequisites at the top of this skill).
2. Match the user query to the best command from the Unique Capabilities and Command Reference above.
3. Execute with the --agent flag:

   paul-graham-pp-cli <command> [subcommand] [args] --agent
   

4. If ambiguous, drill into subcommand help: paul-graham-pp-cli <command> --help.