Shell-AI

Describe what you want. Get shell commands. Or explain commands you don't understand.

What It Does

Suggest (shell-ai suggest or shai) turns natural language into executable shell commands. Describe what you want in any language, and Shell-AI generates options you can run, copy, or refine.

Explain (shell-ai explain) breaks down shell commands into understandable parts, citing relevant man pages where possible. Useful for understanding unfamiliar commands or documenting scripts.

Quick Start

# Install
cargo install shell-ai
ln -v -s shell-ai ~/.cargo/bin/shai  # Optional: shorthand alias for `shell-ai suggest`

# Configure
export SHAI_API_PROVIDER=openai
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

# Generate commands from natural language
shai "ファイルを日付順に並べる"  # Japanese: sort files by date

# Explain an existing command
shell-ai explain "tar -czvf archive.tar.gz /path/to/dir"

For guided configuration, run shell-ai config init to generate a documented config file.

Installation

After installing, configure your AI provider. Then, consider adding shell integrations for optional workflow enhancements.

From GitHub Releases

Download prebuilt binaries from the Releases page.

From crates.io

cargo install shell-ai
ln -v -s shell-ai ~/.cargo/bin/shai

From Source

git clone https://github.com/Deltik/shell-ai
cd shell-ai
cargo install --path .
# Installs to ~/.cargo/bin/shell-ai
ln -v -s shell-ai ~/.cargo/bin/shai

Features

Single binary: No Python, no runtime dependencies. Just one executable.
Shell integration: Tab completions, aliases, and Ctrl+G keybinding via shell-ai integration generate.
Multilingual: Describe tasks in any language the AI model understands.
Explain from man: shell-ai explain includes grounding from man pages, not just AI knowledge.
Multiple providers: OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Groq, Ollama (local), and Mistral.
Interactive workflow: Select a suggestion, then explain it, execute it, copy it, or revise it.
Vim-style navigation: j/k keys, number shortcuts (1-9), arrow keys.
Scriptable: --frontend=noninteractive and --output-format=json for automation. Pipe commands to shell-ai explain via stdin.
Configuration introspection: shell-ai config shows current settings and their sources.

Run shell-ai --help for all options, or shell-ai config schema for the full configuration reference.

Showcase

Suggest: XKCD #1168 (tar)

Explain: XKCD #1654 (Universal Install Script)


$printf '#!/bin/bash\n\npip install "$1" &\neasy_install "$1" &\nbrew install "$1" &\nnpm install "$1" &\nyum install "$1" & dnf install "$1" &\ndocker run "$1" &\npkg install "$1" &\napt-get install "$1" &\nsudo apt-get install "$1" &\nsteamcmd +app_update "$1" validate &\ngit clone https://github.com/"$1"/"$1" &\ncd "$1";./configure;make;make install &\ncurl "$1" \| bash &' \| shell-ai explain$

Multilingual: Danish Skills (Flersproget: Danskkundskaber)

Challenging Tasks

Suggest	Explain

JSON Output for Scripting

Configuration Introspection

Configuration

Shell-AI loads configuration from multiple sources (highest priority first):

CLI flags (--provider, --model, etc.)
Environment variables (SHAI_API_PROVIDER, OPENAI_API_KEY, etc.)
Config file (see paths below)
Built-in defaults

Config file locations:

Linux: ~/.config/shell-ai/config.toml
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/shell-ai/config.toml
Windows: %APPDATA%\shell-ai\config.toml

Generate a documented config template:

shell-ai config init

Example config:

provider = "openai"

[openai]
api_key = "sk-..."
model = "gpt-4o"

Providers

Set the provider in your config file (~/.config/shell-ai/config.toml on Linux, ~/Library/Application Support/shell-ai/config.toml on macOS, %APPDATA%\shell-ai\config.toml on Windows). The provider-specific settings go in a section named after the provider.

provider = "openai"  # or: groq, azure, ollama, mistral

Shell-AI may alternatively be configured by environment variables, which override the config file:

Environment variables

export SHAI_API_PROVIDER=openai  # or: groq, azure, ollama, mistral

OpenAI

Works with OpenAI and any OpenAI-compatible API (e.g., DeepSeek).

TOML config

[openai]
api_key = "sk-..."  # REQUIRED
# api_base = "https://api.openai.com"  # change for compatible APIs
# model = "gpt-5"
# max_tokens = ""
# organization = ""  # for multi-org accounts

Environment variables

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...  # REQUIRED
# export OPENAI_API_BASE=https://api.openai.com
# export OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-5
# export OPENAI_MAX_TOKENS=
# export OPENAI_ORGANIZATION=

Groq

TOML config

[groq]
api_key = "gsk_..."  # REQUIRED
# api_base = "https://api.groq.com/openai"
# model = "openai/gpt-oss-120b"
# max_tokens = ""

Environment variables

export GROQ_API_KEY=gsk_...  # REQUIRED
# export GROQ_MODEL=openai/gpt-oss-120b
# export GROQ_MAX_TOKENS=

Azure OpenAI

TOML config

[azure]
api_key = "your-key"  # REQUIRED
api_base = "https://your-resource.openai.azure.com"  # REQUIRED
deployment_name = "your-deployment"  # REQUIRED
# api_version = "2023-05-15"
# max_tokens = ""

Environment variables

export AZURE_API_KEY=your-key  # REQUIRED
export AZURE_API_BASE=https://your-resource.openai.azure.com  # REQUIRED
export AZURE_DEPLOYMENT_NAME=your-deployment  # REQUIRED
# export OPENAI_API_VERSION=2023-05-15
# export AZURE_MAX_TOKENS=

Ollama

No API key required for local Ollama.

TOML config

[ollama]
# api_base = "http://localhost:11434"
# model = "gpt-oss:120b-cloud"
# max_tokens = ""

Environment variables

# export OLLAMA_API_BASE=http://localhost:11434
# export OLLAMA_MODEL=gpt-oss:120b-cloud
# export OLLAMA_MAX_TOKENS=

Mistral

TOML config

[mistral]
api_key = "your-key"  # REQUIRED
# api_base = "https://api.mistral.ai"
# model = "codestral-2508"
# max_tokens = ""

Environment variables

export MISTRAL_API_KEY=your-key  # REQUIRED
# export MISTRAL_API_BASE=https://api.mistral.ai
# export MISTRAL_MODEL=codestral-2508
# export MISTRAL_MAX_TOKENS=

Shell Integration

Shell-AI works well standalone, but integrating it into your shell enables any or all of these streamlined workflows:

Tab completion for shell-ai commands
Aliases as shorthands for shell-ai commands:
- ?? alias for shell-ai suggest --
- explain alias for shell-ai explain --
Ctrl+G keybinding to transform the current line into a shell command

Setup

Generate an integration file for your shell:

# Generate with default features (completions + aliases)
shell-ai integration generate bash

# Or with all features including Ctrl+G keybinding
shell-ai integration generate bash --preset full

Then add the source line to your shell config as instructed.

Available presets:

Feature	`minimal`	`standard`	`full`
Tab completions	✓	✓	✓
Aliases (`??`, `explain`)		✓	✓
Ctrl+G keybinding for `suggest`			✓

Default: standard

Customization examples:

# Standard preset plus keybinding
shell-ai integration generate zsh --preset standard --add keybinding

# Full preset without aliases
shell-ai integration generate fish --preset full --remove aliases

# Update all installed integrations after upgrading shell-ai
shell-ai integration update

# View available features and installed integrations
shell-ai integration list

Alternative: eval on startup (not recommended)

Instead of generating a static file, you can eval the integration directly in your shell config:

# Bash/Zsh
eval "$(shell-ai integration generate bash --preset=full --stdout)"

# Fish
shell-ai integration generate fish --preset=full --stdout | source

# PowerShell
Invoke-Expression (shell-ai integration generate powershell --preset=full --stdout | Out-String)

This approach doesn't write files to your config directory and is always up to date after upgrading Shell-AI, but adds several milliseconds to shell startup (the time to spawn Shell-AI and generate the integration). The file-based approach above is recommended for faster startup.

Performance

The shell integration file is pre-compiled to minimize shell startup overhead. Here are benchmark results comparing the overhead of each preset.

Benchmark Results

This is how much slower Shell-AI v0.5.1's shell integration makes shell startup:

Baseline: Sourcing an Empty File

Shell	N	Min	Q1	Median	Q3	Max	Mean	Std Dev
Bash	1000	1.06ms	1.18ms	1.21ms	1.31ms	2.95ms	1.27ms	0.16ms
Zsh	1000	1.17ms	1.33ms	1.37ms	1.45ms	4.87ms	1.42ms	0.23ms
Fish	1000	0.78ms	0.88ms	0.91ms	0.96ms	2.69ms	0.94ms	0.12ms
PowerShell	100	79.03ms	81.09ms	82.48ms	84.91ms	98.50ms	83.32ms	3.31ms

Incremental Overhead (Above Baseline)

Shell	Preset	Overhead (Mean)
Bash	minimal	+1.56ms
Bash	standard	+1.64ms
Bash	full	+2.11ms
Zsh	minimal	+1.98ms
Zsh	standard	+2.05ms
Zsh	full	+2.43ms
Fish	minimal	+2.42ms
Fish	standard	+2.56ms
Fish	full	+2.69ms
PowerShell	minimal	+20.30ms
PowerShell	standard	+21.67ms
PowerShell	full	+125.24ms

Total Overhead (What Users Experience)

Bash

Preset	N	Min	Q1	Median	Q3	Max	Mean	Std Dev
blank (baseline)	1000	1.06ms	1.18ms	1.21ms	1.31ms	2.95ms	1.27ms	0.16ms
minimal	1000	2.55ms	2.71ms	2.78ms	2.89ms	3.85ms	2.82ms	0.17ms
standard	1000	2.62ms	2.76ms	2.85ms	2.98ms	6.08ms	2.91ms	0.25ms
full	1000	2.97ms	3.22ms	3.32ms	3.47ms	6.55ms	3.38ms	0.26ms

Zsh

Preset	N	Min	Q1	Median	Q3	Max	Mean	Std Dev
blank (baseline)	1000	1.17ms	1.33ms	1.37ms	1.45ms	4.87ms	1.42ms	0.23ms
minimal	1000	3.03ms	3.27ms	3.35ms	3.47ms	5.07ms	3.40ms	0.20ms
standard	1000	3.07ms	3.32ms	3.41ms	3.55ms	5.86ms	3.47ms	0.25ms
full	1000	3.40ms	3.69ms	3.80ms	3.94ms	6.20ms	3.85ms	0.27ms

Fish

Preset	N	Min	Q1	Median	Q3	Max	Mean	Std Dev
blank (baseline)	1000	0.78ms	0.88ms	0.91ms	0.96ms	2.69ms	0.94ms	0.12ms
minimal	1000	3.03ms	3.19ms	3.27ms	3.44ms	4.64ms	3.36ms	0.26ms
standard	1000	3.15ms	3.29ms	3.40ms	3.64ms	5.50ms	3.50ms	0.29ms
full	1000	3.30ms	3.45ms	3.53ms	3.70ms	5.58ms	3.63ms	0.27ms

PowerShell

Preset	N	Min	Q1	Median	Q3	Max	Mean	Std Dev
blank (baseline)	100	79.03ms	81.09ms	82.48ms	84.91ms	98.50ms	83.32ms	3.31ms
minimal	100	96.98ms	101.39ms	103.04ms	105.27ms	118.27ms	103.62ms	3.95ms
standard	100	99.77ms	103.34ms	104.47ms	106.13ms	115.67ms	104.98ms	3.12ms
full	100	200.65ms	205.15ms	207.09ms	209.94ms	241.00ms	208.55ms	5.94ms

Methodology

To reproduce these benchmarks, run cargo run --package xtask -- bench-integration [sample_count] from this repository.

Migrating from Python Shell-AI

If you're coming from ricklamers/shell-ai:

The provider is required. Set SHAI_API_PROVIDER explicitly, as the default is no longer Groq.
SHAI_SKIP_HISTORY is removed. Writing to shell history is no longer supported. The previous implementation made assumptions about the shell's history configuration. Shells don't expose history hooks to child processes, making this feature infeasible.
SHAI_SKIP_CONFIRM is deprecated. Use --frontend=noninteractive or SHAI_FRONTEND=noninteractive as a more flexible alternative.
Context mode is deprecated. The --ctx flag and CTX environment variable still work but are not recommended. The extra context from shell output tends to confuse the completion model rather than help it.
Model defaults differ. Set model explicitly if you prefer a specific model.

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Open an issue or pull request at Deltik/shell-ai.

For changes to the original Python Shell-AI, head upstream to ricklamers/shell-ai.

Acknowledgments

This project began as a fork of ricklamers/shell-ai at v0.4.4. Since v0.5.0, it shares no code with the original—a complete Ship of Theseus rebuild in Rust. The hull is new, but the spirit remains.

License

Shell-AI is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 100 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
docs/images		docs/images
src		src
xtask		xtask
.gitignore		.gitignore
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
Cargo.lock		Cargo.lock
Cargo.toml		Cargo.toml
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
build.rs		build.rs

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Deltik/shell-ai

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Shell-AI

What It Does

Quick Start

Installation

From GitHub Releases

From crates.io

From Source

Features

Showcase

Suggest: XKCD #1168 (tar)

Explain: XKCD #1654 (Universal Install Script)

Multilingual: Danish Skills (Flersproget: Danskkundskaber)

Challenging Tasks

JSON Output for Scripting

Configuration Introspection

Configuration

Providers

OpenAI

Groq

Azure OpenAI

Ollama

Mistral

Shell Integration

Setup

Performance

Baseline: Sourcing an Empty File

Incremental Overhead (Above Baseline)

Total Overhead (What Users Experience)

Bash

Zsh

Fish

PowerShell

Methodology

Migrating from Python Shell-AI

Contributing

Acknowledgments

License

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