ai-cmd

December 12, 2025 ยท View on GitHub

Zsh plugin to generate shell commands from natural language using LLMs via Claude Code or Ollama.

Installation

Oh My Zsh

git clone https://github.com/shanemcd/ai-cmd.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/ai-cmd

Add ai-cmd to your plugins in ~/.zshrc:

plugins=(... ai-cmd)

Manual

Clone the repo and source the plugin in your ~/.zshrc:

git clone https://github.com/shanemcd/ai-cmd.git ~/.zsh/ai-cmd
echo 'source ~/.zsh/ai-cmd/ai-cmd.plugin.zsh' >> ~/.zshrc

Configuration

Set these environment variables before the plugin loads (before source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh):

# Backend to use: "ollama" or "claude" (default: "ollama")
export AI_CMD_BACKEND="ollama"
export AI_CMD_BACKEND="claude"

# Ollama configuration
export AI_CMD_OLLAMA_CMD="ollama"                          # default
export AI_CMD_OLLAMA_CMD="podman exec systemd-ollama ollama"  # containerized
export AI_CMD_OLLAMA_CMD="ssh server ollama"               # remote
export AI_CMD_OLLAMA_MODEL="rnj-1:8b"                      # default
export AI_CMD_OLLAMA_MODEL="llama3.2:3b"

# Claude configuration
export AI_CMD_CLAUDE_CMD="claude"                          # default
export AI_CMD_CLAUDE_MODEL="sonnet"                        # optional
export AI_CMD_CLAUDE_MODEL="opus"

# Keybinding for ai-insert widget (default: "^[a" / Alt+a)
export AI_CMD_KEYBINDING="^[a"   # Alt+a
export AI_CMD_KEYBINDING="^xa"   # Ctrl+x, a
export AI_CMD_KEYBINDING=""      # Disable keybinding

# Custom system prompt (optional)
export AI_CMD_SYSTEM_PROMPT="Your custom prompt here..."

Usage

ai function

Generate a command from natural language:

# With arguments
ai list all docker containers sorted by size

# Interactive prompt
ai
# Then type: "find all .py files modified in the last week"

The command is printed to stdout, so you can:

# Just see the suggestion
ai show disk usage by directory

# Execute directly (use with caution!)
$(ai show disk usage by directory)

# Copy to clipboard
ai show disk usage by directory | xclip -selection clipboard

ai-insert widget (Alt+a)

  1. Type your natural language prompt: find large files over 100mb
  2. Press Alt+a (or your configured keybinding)
  3. Your text is replaced with the generated command
  4. Edit if needed, then press Enter to execute

Requirements

One of the following:

  • Claude Code installed and authenticated (claude CLI)
  • Ollama running locally or accessible via your configured command, with a model pulled (e.g., ollama pull qwen2.5:7b)

The plugin defaults to Ollama. Set AI_CMD_BACKEND=claude to use Claude Code instead.

License

MIT