LLM CLI Skill - START HERE

🚀 LLM CLI Skill - START HERE

Welcome to the LLM CLI Skill! This document will get you started in 5 minutes.

What Is This?

A powerful Claude Code skill that gives you access to multiple LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Ollama) through a simple command interface.

Use cases:

• ✅ Process documents with AI
• ✅ Quick text analysis and summarization
• ✅ Code review and generation
• ✅ Interactive conversations
• ✅ Batch file processing

Quick Setup (5 minutes)

Step 1: Install llm CLI

pip install llm

Step 2: Add an API Key

Pick ONE of these (or do multiple):

OpenAI (GPT-4o, GPT-5):

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

Anthropic (Claude):

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

Google Gemini:

export GOOGLE_API_KEY='...'

Ollama (Free, Local): No key needed! Just install from https://ollama.ai

Step 3: Verify Setup

/llm --setup

You're done! 🎉

First Commands

Try a simple prompt:

/llm "What is the capital of France?"

Use a specific model:

/llm --model gpt-4o "Explain quantum computing"

Process a file:

cat myfile.txt | /llm "Summarize this"

Start a conversation:

/llm --interactive
# Type your questions, press Ctrl+C to exit

What You Get

Common Tasks

Summarize

/llm "Summarize in 3 bullet points" < long_document.txt

Code Review

/llm --model gpt-4o "Review this code for bugs" < main.py

Translate

/llm "Translate to Spanish" < article.md

Analyze Data

/llm "What patterns do you see?" < data.csv

Interactive Q&A

/llm -i --model claude-sonnet-4.5
# Ask questions in the chat loop

Model Recommendations

Choose by your needs:

Next Steps

1. Explore Models: Run /llm --setup to see all available models
2. Read Full Guide: Open README.md for detailed docs
3. Quick Reference: Check QUICKSTART.md
4. Install Help: See INSTALL.md for detailed setup

Troubleshooting

"No providers found"

# Make sure you set an API key
echo $OPENAI_API_KEY
# If empty, set it again and reload shell
source ~/.zshrc

"llm command not found"

pip install llm
llm --version  # Should show version

"Model not found"

/llm --setup  # Shows all available models

"Permission denied"

chmod +x ~/.claude/skills/llm-cli/llm_skill.py

File Support

Works with:

• Text: .txt, .md, .json, .log, .csv
• Code: .py, .js, .ts, .jsx, .tsx, .html, .css
• Config: .yaml, .yml, .toml, .xml
• Media: .pdf, .jpg, .png, .gif, .mp3, .wav

Example:

/llm "Fix the JSON" < config.json
cat code.ts | /llm "Type check this"

Pro Tips

1. Remember Your Choice: Use any model once, then it's the default
2. Pipe Anything: cat file | /llm "process"
3. Quick Interactive: /llm -i starts chat immediately
4. Combine with Shell: grep ERROR app.log | /llm "analyze"
5. Multiple Providers: Set multiple API keys for flexibility

Command Reference

# Basic usage
/llm "Your prompt"                          # Uses remembered model
/llm "Prompt" < file.txt                    # From file
cat file | /llm "Process"                   # From pipe

# Model selection
/llm --model gpt-4o "prompt"               # Specific model
/llm --model openai "prompt"               # Specific provider
/llm --model claude-opus --interactive     # Model + mode

# Modes
/llm --interactive                         # Interactive chat
/llm -i --model claude-sonnet-4.5         # Interactive + model

# Setup
/llm --setup                               # Detect providers
/llm --help                                # Show all options

Configuration File

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

Automatically created and updated. Shows:

• Last model used
• Available providers
• Provider settings

Edit manually if needed, but usually not necessary!

Security

• API keys stored in environment variables (not in config)
• Config file only stores model preferences (no secrets)
• All communication goes directly to providers
• Local models (Ollama) run entirely offline

Support

Problem? Check these in order:

1. QUICKSTART.md - 5-minute overview
2. README.md - Detailed documentation
3. INSTALL.md - Setup troubleshooting
4. IMPLEMENTATION_SUMMARY.md - Technical details

What's Inside

llm-cli/
├── START_HERE.md                  ← You are here! 👈
├── QUICKSTART.md                  ← 5-min setup
├── README.md                       ← Full guide (3000+ words)
├── INSTALL.md                     ← Detailed setup
├── SKILL.md                       ← Skill definition
├── IMPLEMENTATION_SUMMARY.md      ← Technical details
├── requirements.txt               ← Dependencies
│
├── llm_skill.py                  ← Main program
├── models.py                     ← Model registry
├── providers.py                  ← Provider detection
├── executor.py                   ← Execution engine
└── input_handler.py              ← File handling

Examples by Use Case

Content Creation

/llm "Write a blog post about AI safety" < notes.txt

Code Tasks

cat broken.js | /llm "Fix syntax errors"
/llm --model gpt-5 "Refactor this" < legacy.py

Learning

/llm "Explain like I'm 5" < quantum_physics.pdf
/llm -i --model claude-opus  # Ask follow-up questions

Data Analysis

/llm "Find trends in this data" < sales.csv

Writing/Editing

/llm "Fix grammar and improve clarity" < draft.txt

Bulk Processing

for file in *.txt; do
  /llm "Summarize" < "$file" > "${file%.txt}_summary.txt"
done

Before You Go

✅ Install llm: pip install llm ✅ Set API key: export OPENAI_API_KEY='...' (or another provider) ✅ Test: /llm "Hello" ✅ Explore: /llm --setup ✅ Read: Check README.md for advanced features

Ready? Start with:

/llm "Hello, world!"

Questions? Check the documentation files or run /llm --help

Enjoy! 🎉