Installation & Setup Guide

Installation & Setup Guide

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or higher
• pip package manager
• Claude Code (CLI)

Step 1: Install llm CLI

The skill requires the llm CLI tool by Simon Willison.

pip install llm

Verify installation:

llm --version

Step 2: Set Up API Keys (Choose Your Providers)

Option A: OpenAI (GPT Models)

1. Get API key from https://platform.openai.com/api-keys
2. Add to your shell configuration (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, etc.):

export OPENAI_API_KEY='sk-proj-...'

3. Reload shell:

source ~/.zshrc  # or ~/.bashrc

Option B: Anthropic (Claude Models)

1. Get API key from https://console.anthropic.com/account/keys
2. Add to your shell configuration:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY='sk-ant-...'

3. Reload shell:

source ~/.zshrc  # or ~/.bashrc

Option C: Google Gemini

1. Get API key from https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey
2. Add to your shell configuration:

export GOOGLE_API_KEY='your-api-key'

3. Reload shell:

source ~/.zshrc  # or ~/.bashrc

Option D: Ollama (Free, Local)

1. Install Ollama from https://ollama.ai
2. Pull a model:

ollama pull llama2
# or other models: mistral, neural-chat, etc.

3. Start Ollama service (keeps running in background):

ollama serve

No API key needed for Ollama!

Step 3: Verify Installation

Test that the skill can detect your providers:

/llm --setup

You should see output like:

🔍 Scanning for available LLM providers...

✅ Available LLM Providers:
   • openai
   • anthropic
   • google

You can also set up: ollama

✅ Configuration saved to ~/.claude/llm-skill-config.json

Step 4: Optional - Install Support Libraries

For enhanced features:

# PDF support
pip install PyPDF2

# Better output formatting (recommended)
pip install rich

Step 5: Configure Default Model (Optional)

Edit ~/.claude/llm-skill-config.json:

{
  "last_model": "gpt-4o",
  "last_provider": "openai",
  "available_providers": ["openai", "anthropic", "google", "ollama"],
  "auto_detect": true
}

Or just use the skill and it will remember your last choice!

Testing

Test with OpenAI

/llm --model gpt-4o "Say hello"

Test with Anthropic

/llm --model claude-sonnet-4.5 "Say hello"

Test with Google

/llm --model gemini-2.5-flash "Say hello"

Test with Ollama

/llm --model ollama "Say hello"

Test Interactive Mode

/llm --interactive

Troubleshooting Installation

llm CLI not found

# Verify installation
which llm

# Reinstall if needed
pip install --upgrade llm

API key not recognized

# Check if environment variable is set
echo $OPENAI_API_KEY
echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
echo $GOOGLE_API_KEY

# If empty, check shell configuration file
cat ~/.zshrc | grep "OPENAI_API_KEY"

# Make sure to source after editing
source ~/.zshrc

No models available

# Run setup to detect providers
/llm --setup

# Check which providers you set up
cat ~/.claude/llm-skill-config.json

Ollama connection error

# Make sure Ollama is running
ollama serve

# In another terminal, test:
curl http://localhost:11434/api/tags

# Pull a model if needed
ollama pull llama2

Python version issue

# Check Python version
python --version
python3 --version

# Ensure it's 3.8 or higher
# If not, install from python.org

Upgrading

To upgrade the llm CLI to the latest version:

pip install --upgrade llm

To check for updates:

pip list | grep llm

Uninstalling

If you need to remove the skill:

# Remove the skill directory
rm -rf ~/.claude/skills/llm-cli

# Optionally remove config
rm ~/.claude/llm-skill-config.json

# Optionally uninstall llm CLI
pip uninstall llm

Next Steps

• Read the README.md for usage examples
• Check out the SKILL.md for detailed feature documentation
• Try the interactive mode: /llm --interactive
• Explore different models: /llm --setup then experiment

Getting Help

If you encounter issues:

1. Provider not detected: Run /llm --setup
2. API key error: Check echo $PROVIDER_API_KEY
3. llm not installed: Run pip install llm
4. Model not found: List models for provider: /llm --model openai "test"
5. Timeout issues: Check internet connection or use local Ollama

Additional Resources

• llm CLI Documentation
• OpenAI API Keys
• Anthropic Console
• Google AI Studio
• Ollama