cli-anything

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Translated

Reference guide for CLI-Anything, which auto-generates production-ready agent-controllable CLI harnesses for any GUI application via a 7-phase.

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Sourceterrylica/cc-skills

Added on2026-05-28

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add terrylica/cc-skills cli-anything

SKILL.md Content

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CLI-Anything Reference

Auto-generates production-ready, agent-controllable CLI interfaces for any GUI application with accessible source code. A 7-phase pipeline maps GUI actions to backend APIs and emits Click-based harnesses with

--json

output mode, interactive REPL, and pytest test suites.

Source: https://github.com/HKUDS/CLI-Anything License: MIT | Python: 3.10+ | Tests: 1,508 passing across 11 apps

Self-Evolving Skill: This skill improves through use. If instructions are wrong, parameters drifted, or a workaround was needed — fix this file immediately, don't defer. Only update for real, reproducible issues.

Installation

Method 1: Claude Code Marketplace (recommended)

/plugin marketplace add HKUDS/CLI-Anything
/plugin install cli-anything

Method 2: Manual Claude Code

bash

git clone https://github.com/HKUDS/CLI-Anything.git
cp -r CLI-Anything/cli-anything-plugin ~/.claude/plugins/cli-anything
# Reload in Claude Code:
/reload-plugins

Method 3: OpenCode — global

bash

git clone https://github.com/HKUDS/CLI-Anything.git
cp CLI-Anything/opencode-commands/*.md ~/.config/opencode/commands/
cp CLI-Anything/cli-anything-plugin/HARNESS.md ~/.config/opencode/commands/

Method 4: OpenCode — project-level

bash

cp CLI-Anything/opencode-commands/*.md .opencode/commands/
cp CLI-Anything/cli-anything-plugin/HARNESS.md .opencode/commands/

Generating a New CLI Harness

bash

# From local source path
/cli-anything ./gimp

# From GitHub URL (auto-cloned)
/cli-anything https://github.com/blender/blender

# Claude Code variant (plugin command)
/cli-anything ./inkscape

# OpenCode variant
/cli-anything ./libreoffice

All Commands

Command	Platform	Purpose
`/cli-anything <path-or-url>`	Claude Code	Build full 7-phase harness
`/cli-anything:refine <path> [focus]`	Claude Code	Expand with gap analysis
`/cli-anything:test <path-or-url>`	Claude Code	Run tests + update TEST.md
`/cli-anything:validate <path-or-url>`	Claude Code	Verify HARNESS.md standards
`/cli-anything:list [--path dir] [--depth n] [--json]`	Claude Code	Discover installed CLI-Anything tools
`/cli-anything ./gimp`	OpenCode	Build harness
`/cli-anything-refine ./gimp`	OpenCode	Refine harness
`/cli-anything-test ./gimp`	OpenCode	Run tests
`/cli-anything-validate ./gimp`	OpenCode	Validate standards
`/cli-anything-list`	OpenCode	List installed tools

Refinement with Focus

bash

# Broad gap analysis
/cli-anything:refine ./gimp

# Targeted domain expansion
/cli-anything:refine ./gimp "batch processing and filters"
/cli-anything:refine ./blender "rendering pipeline and animations"
/cli-anything:refine ./libreoffice "spreadsheet formulas and macros"

Installing a Generated CLI

bash

cd <software>/agent-harness
pip install -e .

# Verify PATH entry created
which cli-anything-gimp
cli-anything-gimp --help

Using Generated CLIs

All generated CLIs share a consistent interface pattern.

GIMP Example

bash

# Help
cli-anything-gimp --help

# Create project
cli-anything-gimp project new --width 1920 --height 1080 -o poster.json

# Machine-readable JSON output (for agent consumption)
cli-anything-gimp --json layer add -n "Background" --type solid --color "#1a1a2e"

# Interactive REPL
cli-anything-gimp

# Stateful workflow with --project flag
cli-anything-gimp --project poster.json layer add -n "Logo" --type group
cli-anything-gimp --project poster.json export render output.png --format png

LibreOffice Example

bash

# New document
cli-anything-libreoffice document new -o report.json --type writer

# Populate document
cli-anything-libreoffice --project report.json writer add-heading -t "Q1 Report" --level 1
cli-anything-libreoffice --project report.json writer add-table --rows 4 --cols 3

# Export
cli-anything-libreoffice --project report.json export render output.pdf -p pdf --overwrite

# JSON output
cli-anything-libreoffice --json document info --project report.json

Blender Example

bash

cli-anything-blender scene new -o scene.json
cli-anything-blender --project scene.json object add --type mesh --mesh-type CUBE
cli-anything-blender --project scene.json render image output.png --engine CYCLES
cli-anything-blender --json scene info --project scene.json

Inkscape Example

bash

cli-anything-inkscape document new --width 800 --height 600 -o design.json
cli-anything-inkscape --project design.json shape add rect --x 10 --y 10 --w 200 --h 100
cli-anything-inkscape --project design.json export render output.svg
cli-anything-inkscape --json document info --project design.json

Output Modes

Every command supports two output modes:

Mode	Usage	Audience
Human-readable (default)	`cli-anything-gimp layer add ...`	Terminal / humans
Machine-readable JSON	`cli-anything-gimp --json layer add ...`	AI agents, scripts

The

--json

flag is always the first argument, before any subcommands.

Interactive REPL

Enter by running the CLI with no subcommands:

bash

cli-anything-gimp
cli-anything-blender
cli-anything-libreoffice

REPL features:

50-level undo/redo stack
Persistent command history
ANSI 256-color output (software-specific accent colors)
Table rendering, progress indicators
All subcommands available interactively

Running Tests

bash

# Standard pytest run
cd <software>/agent-harness
python3 -m pytest cli_anything/<software>/tests/ -v

# Validate the installed binary is invoked (not just the module)
CLI_ANYTHING_FORCE_INSTALLED=1 python3 -m pytest cli_anything/<software>/tests/ -v -s

# Coverage
python3 -m pytest cli_anything/<software>/tests/ --cov=cli_anything/<software>

# Per-software examples
cd gimp/agent-harness && python3 -m pytest cli_anything/gimp/tests/ -v
cd blender/agent-harness && python3 -m pytest cli_anything/blender/tests/ -v
cd libreoffice/agent-harness && python3 -m pytest cli_anything/libreoffice/tests/ -v

Environment Variables

Variable	Purpose
`CLI_ANYTHING_FORCE_INSTALLED=1`	Forces tests to use the real installed binary (validates `which cli-anything-<software>` resolves correctly, not just module import)

Supported Applications (11 total, 1,508 tests)

Application	Category	Entry Point
GIMP	Creative (raster)	`cli-anything-gimp`
Blender	Creative (3D)	`cli-anything-blender`
Inkscape	Creative (vector)	`cli-anything-inkscape`
Audacity	Media (audio)	`cli-anything-audacity`
LibreOffice	Productivity	`cli-anything-libreoffice`
OBS Studio	Media (streaming)	`cli-anything-obs-studio`
Kdenlive	Media (video)	`cli-anything-kdenlive`
Shotcut	Media (video)	`cli-anything-shotcut`
Zoom	Communication	`cli-anything-zoom`
Draw.io	Diagramming	`cli-anything-drawio`
AnyGen	AI Content	`cli-anything-anygen`

The 7-Phase Pipeline (HARNESS.md)

What

/cli-anything

triggers under the hood:

Phase	Name	What happens
1	Source Acquisition	Accept local path or GitHub URL; clone if needed
2	Codebase Analysis	Map GUI actions → backend APIs; inventory existing CLI tools; document data model
3	CLI Architecture Design	Choose interaction model (stateful REPL + subcommand); define command groups; plan `--json` output
4	Implementation	Build Click-based CLI with `cli_anything.<software>` namespace; implement REPL via shared `ReplSkin`
5	Test Planning	Write `TEST.md` with planned test inventory before code
6	Test Implementation	Unit tests (synthetic data) + E2E tests (real software output) + subprocess tests
7	PyPI Publishing	`setup.py` with `find_namespace_packages()` ; console_scripts entry points

Fundamental Rule: The CLI MUST delegate rendering to the real software — never reimplement functionality in Python. The target software is a hard dependency.

Generated Harness Structure

Each generated CLI follows this layout (PEP 420 namespace packages):

<software>/agent-harness/
├── setup.py                          # find_namespace_packages(), entry_points
├── <SOFTWARE>.md                     # Software-specific SOP
└── cli_anything/                     # NO __init__.py (namespace package)
    └── <software>/
        ├── __init__.py
        ├── __main__.py
        ├── <software>_cli.py         # Main Click entry point
        ├── core/                     # Domain modules (project, session, export, ...)
        ├── utils/
        │   └── repl_skin.py          # Shared REPL UI (copied from plugin)
        └── tests/
            ├── TEST.md               # Test inventory (written in phase 5)
            ├── test_core.py          # Unit tests
            └── test_full_e2e.py      # E2E + subprocess tests

Why namespace packages:

cli_anything/

has no

__init__.py

, enabling multiple separately-installed CLIs to coexist under the same

cli_anything.*

namespace without conflict.

Output Verification Standards

Tests verify real output using magic bytes and content analysis:

Output Type	Verification
PDF	`%PDF-` magic bytes + non-zero size
OOXML (.docx, .xlsx)	ZIP structure validation
CSV	Data row count + column check
Images	Pillow pixel value analysis
Audio	RMS level check (non-silent)

Prerequisites Checklist

Before running

/cli-anything <path>

Python 3.10+ installed
Target software installed (hard dependency — it will be called for rendering)
Source code accessible (local path or public GitHub URL)
```
click>=8.0.0
```
available (installed via
```
pip install -e .
```
)
```
Pillow>=10.0.0
```
,
```
prompt-toolkit>=3.0.0
```
available
```
pytest
```
available for running tests

Key Files Reference

File	Purpose
`cli-anything-plugin/HARNESS.md`	Complete methodology document (30K chars)
`cli-anything-plugin/QUICKSTART.md`	Quick start guide
`cli-anything-plugin/repl_skin.py`	Shared REPL UI class (18K, ANSI 256-color)
`cli-anything-plugin/commands/cli-anything.md`	`/cli-anything` slash command definition
`cli-anything-plugin/commands/refine.md`	`/cli-anything:refine` command
`cli-anything-plugin/commands/test.md`	`/cli-anything:test` command
`cli-anything-plugin/commands/validate.md`	`/cli-anything:validate` command
`cli-anything-plugin/commands/list.md`	`/cli-anything:list` command

Post-Execution Reflection

After this skill completes, check before closing:

Did the command succeed? — If not, fix the instruction or error table that caused the failure.
Did parameters or output change? — If the underlying tool's interface drifted, update Usage examples and Parameters table to match.
Was a workaround needed? — If you had to improvise (different flags, extra steps), update this SKILL.md so the next invocation doesn't need the same workaround.

Only update if the issue is real and reproducible — not speculative.

cli-anything

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

CLI-Anything Reference

Installation

Method 1: Claude Code Marketplace (recommended)

Method 2: Manual Claude Code

Method 3: OpenCode — global

Method 4: OpenCode — project-level

Generating a New CLI Harness

All Commands

Refinement with Focus

Installing a Generated CLI

Using Generated CLIs

GIMP Example

LibreOffice Example

Blender Example

Inkscape Example

Output Modes

Interactive REPL

Running Tests

Environment Variables

Supported Applications (11 total, 1,508 tests)

The 7-Phase Pipeline (HARNESS.md)

Generated Harness Structure

Output Verification Standards

Prerequisites Checklist

Key Files Reference

Post-Execution Reflection