shell-use Skill
Drive, inspect, assert on, record, and watch a real terminal from the command line with the shell-use CLI. Use when running shells (bash, zsh, fish, PowerShell, pwsh, cmd, xonsh, elvish, nushell) or TUI programs (vim, less, top, etc.) in a headless PTY; sending keystrokes, key combos, or mouse input; resizing, writing Published by microsoft in shell-use.
What is shell-use Skill?
Drive, inspect, assert on, record, and watch a real terminal from the command line with the shell-use CLI. Use when running shells (bash, zsh, fish, PowerShell, pwsh, cmd, xonsh, elvish, nushell) or TUI programs (vim, less, top, etc.) in a headless PTY; sending keystrokes, key combos, or mouse input; resizing, writing Published by microsoft in shell-use. This profile combines repository metadata with install, compatibility, and usage signals so developers can quickly decide whether it fits their agent workflow before opening the source repository.
Automated repository signals based on public metadata such as recency, license, installation evidence, and adoption. These are not a security audit or endorsement.
Key capabilities
- Includes SKILL.md support
- Reusable instructions support
- Writing
- Writing use cases
Technical details
- Install or run with Copy skill directory
When to use shell-use Skill
- Use it for writing.
Built with
Editorial notes
Source
- Creator: microsoft
- Repository: microsoft/shell-use
- Skill file: SKILL.md
What it does
Drive, inspect, assert on, record, and watch a real terminal from the command line with the shell-use CLI. Use when running shells (bash, zsh, fish, PowerShell, pwsh, cmd, xonsh, elvish, nushell) or TUI programs (vim, less, top, etc.) in a headless PTY; sending keystrokes, key combos, or mouse input; resizing, writing
Skill instructions
shell-use shell-use controls a real terminal from the command line. It runs shells and TUI programs in a headless PTY behind a background daemon: a stateless CLI front end talks to a daemon that owns the PTY and renders it into a full terminal emulator. Each call connects, acts, and exits, and they all share one live session. With it you can spawn a session, read the rendered screen, send keys and mouse input, wait for a condition, assert on the result, and record the session. Built for agents: self-documenting commands Three commands let an agent look up the rest of the surface instead of guessing: - shell-use agent-context: versioned JSON describing every command, flag, enum, default, and the exit-code taxonomy. It is generated from the CLI, so it stays in sync. Read this first when you need exact argument shapes. - shell-use usage: a one-screen command cheatsheet. - shell-use skill: this guide. Core model - Sessions. --session <name (default default, env SHELLUSESESSION) selects a t
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Frequently asked questions
What is shell-use?
shell-use is a open-source AI agent skill with Copy skill directory. Drive, inspect, assert on, record, and watch a real terminal from the command line with the shell-use CLI.
Who is shell-use best for?
shell-use is best for reusing agent instructions, scripts, and references, writing workflows.
How do I install shell-use?
Install or run shell-use using Copy skill directory. Check shell-use for the latest setup command.
Is shell-use actively maintained?
shell-use may need a closer maintenance check before production use.
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