# Cpipe

> Use cpipe to discover, inspect, and send commands to named-pipe tool servers.

- Skill: `stefanwebb/cpipe` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add stefanwebb/cpipe`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/stefanwebb/cpipe/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: stefanwebb (https://skillmd.com/u/stefanwebb)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/stefanwebb/cpipe

---


Use `cpipe` to interact with `ToolServer` instances (servers following the `tool-*` pipe naming convention). Always activate the `named-pipes` conda environment first.

```bash
conda activate named-pipes
```

## Discover running servers

```bash
cpipe --list          # list tool pipes (tool-* convention) under /tmp (fast, no process scan)
cpipe --pid           # same, but also show which PIDs have each pipe open
cpipe --clear         # delete orphaned tool pipes (no live process) under /tmp
```

Pass an optional directory to search a different root (e.g. `cpipe --list /var/tmp`).

## Send commands to a tool server

```bash
cpipe <tool> <cmd>
```

`<tool>` is either a bare tool name (e.g. `chat`) — which resolves to `/tmp/tool-chat` — or a full pipe path. `<cmd>` is the command to send.

### Built-in commands every tool supports

```bash
cpipe chat ping                 # health check — responds with "pong"
cpipe chat status               # current state of the server (e.g. "running")
cpipe chat description          # one-line description of the tool
cpipe chat help                 # full help text (SKILL.md content)
cpipe chat stop                 # shut the server down gracefully
```

### Sending data

```bash
cpipe chat greet -d Alice                        # -d / --data sets the "data" field
cpipe chat greet Alice                           # positional DATA works too
cpipe chat chat -j '{"messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello"}]}'  # merge extra JSON fields
```

### Streaming responses

`cpipe` detects streaming automatically. Chunks are printed as they arrive; the command exits after the final `{"done": true}` sentinel.

```bash
cpipe chat chat -j '{"messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Tell me a joke"}]}'
```

## Protocol flags

| Flag | Effect |
|---|---|
| `--no-subscribe` | Skip the subscribe/unsubscribe handshake entirely |
| `-n` / `--no-wait` | Fire-and-forget; do not wait for a response |
| `-t SECS` / `--timeout SECS` | Response timeout in seconds (default: 5.0) |
| `-v` / `--verbose` | Print sent messages and status to stderr |

## Examples

```bash
cpipe --list                                         # what's running?
cpipe chat description                               # what does this tool do?
cpipe chat help                                      # full API reference
cpipe tts text -d "Hello, world"                     # send a text chunk to the TTS server
cpipe tts flush                                      # drain the TTS buffer
cpipe chat stop                                      # shut down the LLM server
cpipe --clear                                        # clean up stale pipes after a crash
```