ShellGenius is an intuitive CLI tool designed to enhance your command-line experience. By turning your task descriptions into efficient shell commands, ShellGenius makes command-line operations easier and more intuitive than ever before, saving you time and/or reducing the learning curve.
Powered by ChatGPT, ShellGenius not only generates accurate commands based on your input but also provides step-by-step explanations. This way, you not only execute your tasks but also gain a deeper understanding of the commands you're using.
This repository is dedicated to ShellGenius as a standalone tool within the LLM-Toolbox, a curated suite of AI-powered CLI tools built to modernize your terminal experience. Here, you will find all resources, discussions, and updates specifically related to ShellGenius.
To explore other tools within the LLM-Toolbox—such as commitgen, the automatic commit message generator—please visit the LLM-Toolbox repository.
shellgenius_extract_frames_demo.mp4
shellgenius_sync_dir_demo.mp4
Ensure you have Python 3.8 or later installed on your system. To install ShellGenius, use the following command:
python3 -m pip install shellgeniuspipx is an alternative package manager for Python applications. It allows you to install and run Python applications in isolated environments, preventing conflicts between dependencies and ensuring that each application uses its own set of packages. I recommend using pipx to install ShellGenius.
First, install pipx if you haven't already:
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On macOS and Linux:
python3 -m pip install --user pipx python3 -m pipx ensurepath
Alternatively, you can use your package manager (brew, apt, etc.).
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On Windows:
py -m pip install --user pipx py -m pipx ensurepath
Once pipx is installed, you can install ShellGenius using the following command:
pipx install shellgenius
ShellGenius requires an OpenAI API key to function. You can obtain a key by signing up for an account at OpenAI's website.
Once you have your API key, set it as an environment variable:
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On macOS and Linux:
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"
To avoid having to type it everyday, you can create a file with the key:
echo "your-api-key" > ~/.openai-api-key.txt
Note: Remember to replace
"your-api-key"with your actual API key.And then, you can add this to your shell configuration file (
.bashrc,.zshrc, etc.):export OPENAI_API_KEY="$(cat ~/.openai-api-key.txt)"
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On Windows:
setx OPENAI_API_KEY your_key
To use ShellGenius, simply type shellgenius followed by a description of the task you want to perform:
shellgenius "description of your task"The tool will generate a shell command based on your description, display it with an explanation, and prompt you to confirm if you want to execute the command.
The quotes are not necessary when the task description does not contain a single quote, or a special character.
Not necessary:
shellgenius compile and run myprogramm.cppNecessary:
shellgenius "find and replace 'oldtext' with 'newtext' in *.txt files"To further enhance the usability of ShellGenius, even with the presence of autocompletion, I recommend to create an alias for effortless access. One suggested alias is ??.
By defining an alias, you can invoke ShellGenius simply by typing ?? followed by your task description, eliminating the need to type the full command each time.
To create the alias, add the following line to your shell configuration file (~/.bashrc, ~/.bash_profile, or ~/.zshrc, depending on your shell):
alias '??'='shellgenius'After adding the alias, you can use ShellGenius by typing ?? instead of shellgenius, making your command-line experience even more seamless and efficient.
Note: Make sure to restart your shell or run source ~/.bashrc (or the corresponding file for your shell) for the alias to take effect.
You can describe your task in your native language, but ShellGenius might still respond in English. If that happens, you can add a specific request at the end of your task description. Here's an example:
shellgenius "Description of your task in your own language. Réponds en français."
In the above command, "Réponds en français" is a request for ShellGenius to respond in French. You can replace this with a similar phrase in your language. For example, if you want the response in German, you can use "Antworte auf Deutsch". ShellGenius will then oblige and respond in the requested language.
shellgenius "Erstellt eine Datei. Antworte auf Deutsch."
Here are some examples of ShellGenius in action:
shellgenius "remove duplicate lines from file.txt"Output:
awk '!seen[$0]++' file.txt
Explanation:
* awk is a pattern scanning and processing language
* '!seen[$0]++' is an awk expression that removes duplicate lines
* file.txt is the name of the file to process
Be careful with your answer.
Do you want to execute this command? [Y/n]: yshellgenius "extract columns 1, 3, and 5 from data.csv"Output:
cut -d',' -f1,3,5 data.csv
Explanation:
* cut command is used to extract portions of lines from files
* -d',' specifies the delimiter as a comma
* -f1,3,5 specifies the columns to extract
* data.csv is the input CSV file
Be careful with your answer.
Do you want to execute this command? [Y/n]: yshellgenius "download a file from https://example.com/file.zip"Output:
curl -OJL https://example.com/file.zip
Explanation:
* curl is a command-line tool for transferring data using various protocols
* -O option saves the downloaded file with its original name
* -J option tries to set the file name based on the URL
* -L option follows redirects if the URL points to a different location
* https://example.com/file.zip is the URL of the file to download
Be careful with your answer.
Do you want to execute this command? [Y/n]: yshellgenius "count the number of lines in a file called data.csv"Output:
wc -l data.csv
Explanation:
* wc is a word, line, and byte count utility
* -l flag counts the number of lines
* data.csv is the target file
Be careful with your answer.
Do you want to execute this command? [Y/n]: yShellGenius is powered by an AI model and may not always generate the most efficient or accurate commands. Exercise caution when executing commands, especially when working with sensitive data or critical systems.
ShellGenius is released under the Apache 2.0 Licence.