howdoi - Ask pi for shell commands

README.md

howdoi

Ask pi for shell commands without leaving your terminal.

Requirements

• pi - AI coding agent
• jq (optional, for environment caching)

Installation

curl -sL https://gist.github.com/YOUR_GIST_ID/raw/howdoi -o ~/bin/howdoi
chmod +x ~/bin/howdoi

Usage

howdoi "install gh on manjaro"
howdoi "count scala lines"
howdoi "restart docker on ubuntu"

How it works

1. Caches your environment (distro, package managers) on first run
2. Calls pi with your question + environment context
3. Returns a single command with explanation and alternatives

Output format

sudo pacman -S github-cli

Explanation:
- sudo - run with root privileges
- pacman -S - install from repositories
- github-cli - the package name

Alternatives:
- yay -S github-cli - from AUR
- git clone ... - build from source

Notes

• Wrap your query in quotes if it contains special characters: howdoi "install on manjaro?"
• First run is slightly slower (model cold start)
• Subsequent runs are faster (cached environment)

howdoi

#!/bin/bash
# howdoi - Ask pi for shell commands
# Usage: howdoi "how do i count scala lines"
#        howdoi "install gh on manjaro"
#
# Requires: pi (https://github.com/badlogic/pi)
# Optional: jq for better env caching

CACHE_DIR="${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/howdoi"
ENV_CACHE="$CACHE_DIR/env.json"

# Detect and cache env info (runs once, reused)
if [ ! -f "$ENV_CACHE" ]; then
  mkdir -p "$CACHE_DIR"
  DISTRO=$(cat /etc/os-release 2>/dev/null | grep PRETTY_NAME | cut -d= -f2 | tr -d '"')
  PKGMGR=""
  for pm in pacman apt dnf brew yum apk; do
    if which $pm &>/dev/null; then
      PKGMGR="${PKGMGR}${PKGMGR:+,}$pm"
    fi
  done
  echo "{\"distro\":\"$DISTRO\",\"pkgmgr\":\"$PKGMGR\"}" > "$ENV_CACHE"
fi

# Read cached info
ENV_INFO=$(cat "$ENV_CACHE" | jq -r ' "Environment: \(.distro). Package managers: \(.pkgmgr)."')

pi -p \
  --system-prompt "Shell expert answering: $ENV_INFO. Format: command on line 1 (NO backticks, NO code blocks), blank line, 'Explanation:' with dash list, 'Alternatives:' with alternatives." \
  --no-builtin-tools \
  "howdoi: $*"