CLI-Anything: give your agent a CLI for desktop apps
Added NewCopyable prompt below
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Our verdict
Worth trying when you want an agent to do real work in desktop software (edit an image, render a Blender scene, convert documents) without fragile screen clicking. Start with CLI-Hub, the registry of ready-made CLIs: one pip install, then cli-hub install gimp. If the app you need isn't there, the CLI-Anything plugin generates a new harness from the software's source or docs. Quality varies by CLI because many are community-built, and each still needs the real application installed. Agents running these CLIs act on your files, so keep the usual approval prompts on.
- Who it's for
- Builders using Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw, Cursor or another skill-compatible agent who want it to operate creative or office software
- Leverage
- Agents operate desktop software through stable commands instead of the GUI
- Effort
- Medium
- Date added
What it does
CLI-Anything (HKUDS/CLI-Anything, Apache-2.0, from the Data Intelligence Lab at the University of Hong Kong) has two parts. CLI-Hub (pip install cli-anything-hub) lists, installs, updates and launches CLI-Anything harnesses and public third-party CLIs. The CLI-Anything plugin or skill runs a multi-phase generator that builds a new agent-facing CLI, with subcommands, JSON output, state, a REPL, tests and a SKILL.md, for software, a codebase or an internal tool. A cli-hub meta-skill lets an agent find and install the right CLI for a task itself. Outside contributors have added CLIs to the registry through pull requests.
How builders use it
- Install the package manager: pip install cli-anything-hub (Python 3.10+).
- Browse and install: cli-hub search image, then cli-hub install gimp, and install GIMP itself if it isn't already there.
- Give your agent the meta-skill: npx skills add HKUDS/CLI-Anything --skill cli-hub-meta-skill -g -y.
- Prompt: Find appropriate CLI software in CLI-Hub and complete the task: ...
- For software with no CLI yet, install the CLI-Anything plugin in your agent and run its generator on the app's source.
What to expect
An agent that edits, converts or renders with real desktop software through commands it can check, and a reusable CLI for each app you add.
Copy this: CLI-Hub + meta-skill setup
# Official source: github.com/HKUDS/CLI-Anything
pip install cli-anything-hub
cli-hub search image
cli-hub install gimp # also install GIMP itself
cli-hub info gimp
# Let a skill-compatible agent pick CLIs on its own
npx skills add HKUDS/CLI-Anything --skill cli-hub-meta-skill -g -y
Then ask your agent:
Find appropriate CLI software in CLI-Hub and complete the task: resize every PNG in ./assets to 1200px wide and export as WebP.Related discoveries
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