Supercharge Your Terminal: Meet Terminal AI 🚀

Why I Use Terminal AI Every Day (and You Should Too!)

Terminal AI is my daily companion for resolving package issues, searching files, and automating tedious shell tasks. It’s not just another wrapper around Linux commands: it’s an AI-powered toolkit and agent that understands natural language and actually helps you get things running, fast. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting out, Terminal AI bridges the gap between what you want to do and the exact shell commands you need, saving you time, frustration, and cognitive load.

If you’ve ever downloaded a new open-source project and *immediately* hit a wall with dependency hell, you know the pain: cryptic npm or pip errors, conflicting versions, and hours lost to Stack Overflow rabbit holes. Being critical of how much time I’m spending on making stuff vs time spent on resolving dependency issues, I realized that it’s time to create Terminal AI and improve efficiency.

Terminal AI is a suite of Linux commands enhanced by AI, along with additional tools like tai (Terminal AI) and resolve_ai. It enables you to seamlessly continue your workflow and invoke AI assistance whenever needed.

If you already familiar with “cp” or “grep” linux commands, now you can use them with ai versions “cp_ai”, “grep_ai” commands and pass your query to it and execute the correct commands.

Developers Pain Point: Dependency Nightmares

Installing python or npm package for you and resolving any issues

Some error happened, but resolve_ai analyzed the issue and suggesting solutions, giving you full control on the command execution

Let’s be honest: existing tools like npm install or pip install are great — until they aren’t. When you hit a dependency conflict, you’re left to decipher error logs and try random fixes. Terminal AI’s **resolve_ai** tool is a game-changer for anyone who’s ever struggled to get a project running:

Understands errors: It analyzes error output and suggests *just the right* commands to fix them. No more guessing which package to remove or reinstall — resolve_ai reads the error, figures out the root cause, and gives you a step-by-step fix.

Iterative resolution: It doesn’t just try once — it loops through install, analyze, fix, and retry until your environment is ready. This means you can throw even the messiest `package.json` or `requirements.txt` at it, and it will keep working until the dependencies are resolved or it’s clear what’s blocking you.

Supports npm & Python: Whether it’s JavaScript or Python, single packages or full dependency files, resolve_ai can handle it. It even detects the right package manager from your files, so you don’t have to remember the right command for every situation.

Example:

# Resolve a single npm package (great for fixing a specific version conflict)
resolve_ai -t npm -p "react@18.2.0"
# Resolve all dependencies from a file (perfect when you just cloned a repo and want it to work)
resolve_ai -f "requirements.txt"

With resolve_ai, you can spend less time fighting with dependency errors and more time actually building and running your projects.

What are the benefits of using Terminal AI?

Terminal AI brings AI-powered intelligence to your terminal, with tools that:

Understand natural language prompts: You don’t need to remember complex command-line flags or syntax. Just describe what you want to do, and Terminal AI translates it into the right command.

Generate safe, executable Linux commands: Every command is shown to you before it runs, so you’re always in control. No more copy-pasting from the internet and hoping for the best.

Support multiple AI providers (local and cloud): Choose between privacy-focused local models or powerful cloud-based AI, depending on your needs and preferences.

Work cross-platform (Linux, macOS, Windows): Whether you’re on your laptop, a server, or inside a Docker container, Terminal AI works everywhere you need it.

Supported Tools (Each with a Focused Capability)

Each tool is restricted to its Linux command capability — no tool tries to do everything. This design keeps things safe, predictable, and easy to understand. Here’s what you get out of the box:

cp_ai: Smart file and directory copying. Need to back up your config files, copy all images to a new folder, or duplicate a project directory? Just describe it in plain English, and cp_ai generates the safest, most robust copy commands for you. It even handles hidden files, empty directories, and permission preservation.

grep_ai: AI-powered text search and pattern matching. Want to find all TODOs in your codebase, search for error messages in logs, or extract email addresses from a pile of files? grep_ai turns your natural language queries into powerful grep/find commands, saving you from writing tricky regexes or long command chains.

find_ai: Intelligent file and directory search. Looking for large video files, recently modified documents, or all shell scripts in a project? find_ai crafts the right find command for your needs, with options for size, date, permissions, and more. It’s perfect for cleaning up disk space or tracking down elusive files.

ps_ai: Process management and analysis. Need to see which processes are hogging your CPU, find all processes for a specific user, or safely kill a runaway job? ps_ai interprets your request and generates the right ps, grep, and kill commands, tailored for your platform (Linux, macOS, BSD).

resolve_ai: Automated package/dependency resolution (npm, Python). As described above, this is your go-to tool for fixing broken installs, resolving version conflicts, and getting new projects running quickly.

Want to do something more complex? Use the main interface:

tai -p: For advanced, multi-step workflows and custom prompts. If your task spans multiple commands or requires a bit of logic, just describe the whole workflow and let Terminal AI break it down for you.

Multi-Provider Support: Local & Cloud AI

Terminal AI gives you the freedom to choose your AI engine, so you can balance privacy, speed, and power:

- 🦙 Ollama (local, privacy-first, offline): Run everything on your own machine, with no data leaving your computer. Perfect for sensitive work or when you’re offline.

- 🤖 OpenAI (GPT-3.5/4): Tap into the power of state-of-the-art language models for the most complex or nuanced tasks.

- 🧠 Claude (Anthropic): Great for advanced reasoning and longer context windows.

- 💎Gemini (Google): Access Google’s latest AI technology for a different flavor of results.

- LlamaCPP (local, privacy-first, offline): Run everything on your own machine, with no data leaving your computer. Perfect for sensitive work or when you’re offline. No requirements of adding additional software

Switch providers anytime — just run `tai init` and follow the prompts. You can even configure different models for different tasks, so you’re always using the best tool for the job.

How to Get Started

Getting up and running with Terminal AI is straightforward, even if you’re new

1. Download latest tools (if you haven’t already)

Download https://github.com/AmirKamali/TerminalAI/releases

Add them to your bash script so it can be executed from any place

export PATH="/Users/alex/Documents/terminalai-macos-x86_64:$PATH" 

This will set up everything you need to build and run Rust projects.

2. Initialize and Configure

Set up your preferred AI provider and configuration:

tai init

You’ll be guided through selecting your provider (Ollama, OpenAI, Claude, Gemini) and entering any required API keys or local model details. You can always re-run this command to change providers or update your settings.

Try Out the Tools!

cp_ai: File copy operations with

Copying files and directories can be tricky, especially when you want to include hidden files, preserve permissions, or avoid overwriting important data. With cp_ai, you just describe your goal:

cp_ai “copy all .txt files from current directory to ~/documents”
cp_ai "backup my config files to /backup preserving permissions"

No more worrying about the right flags or missing files — cp_ai handles the details for you.

grep_a: AI Powered Text Search

Searching for patterns in code or logs is a daily task for most developers. grep_ai lets you use natural language to find exactly what you need:

grep_ai "find all TODO comments in Python files"
grep_ai "search for email addresses in log files recursively"

It generates the right combination of find, grep, and regex so you don’t have to.

find_a Search File & Directory

Need to clean up disk space, audit your files, or find something fast? find_ai is your friend:

find_ai "find all PDF files in documents folder"
find_ai "locate large video files bigger than 1GB"

It crafts efficient, safe find commands tailored to your request.

Process Management with ps_ai

Monitoring and managing processes is essential for troubleshooting and system health. ps_ai makes it easy:

ps_ai "show all running processes"
ps_ai "find processes using high CPU"

It generates cross-platform commands, so you get the right output whether you’re on Linux, macOS, or BSD.

resolve_ai: Dependency Resolution with

When you’re stuck on a dependency error, resolve_ai is your lifeline:

resolve_ai -t npm -p "express@4.18.2"
resolve_ai -f "package.json" # npm
resolve_ai -f "requirements.txt" #python

It analyzes the error, figures out what’s wrong, and gives you a sequence of commands to fix it — no more trial and error.

Prefer Docker? Try the Alpine Container!

If you want a clean, isolated environment or need to run Terminal AI on a server, the Alpine Linux Docker image is perfect. It’s lightweight, fast, and includes all the tools pre-installed:

./docker-quick-start.sh
# Or build manually
./build-alpine.sh
docker-compose -f docker-compose.alpine.yml up -d

Once inside the container, all Terminal AI commands are available globally, just like on your host system. This is great for CI/CD pipelines, cloud development, or when you want to avoid polluting your main system with extra dependencies.

How Each Tool Stays Safe and Focused

Each tool is restricted to its Linux command: (e.g., cp_ai only does copy operations). This means you always know what to expect, and there’s no risk of a tool doing something outside its scope.

No tool will run destructive commands without confirmation. You’ll always see the generated command and be asked to confirm before anything potentially risky happens.

All generated commands are shown before execution: This transparency builds trust and helps you learn the right shell commands over time.

Clear error messages and explanations. If something goes wrong, you get actionable feedback, not just a cryptic error code.

Want More Power? Use `tai -p [Prompt]`

For complex, multi-step workflows, use the main interface:

tai -p "Set up a Python environment, install dependencies, and run tests"

This is perfect for automating onboarding, setting up new projects, or running custom scripts that span multiple tools. Just describe your workflow, and Terminal AI will break it down into safe, executable steps.

Contribute: Add Your more AI powered linux Tool!

Terminal AI is open source and *loves* contributions. If you have an idea for a new command or want to improve an existing one, it’s easy to get started:

1. Create a new command definition in cmd/yourcommand.conf, describing the system prompt, usage, and examples.

2. Add a binary in src/bin/yourcommand_ai.rs, following the pattern of existing tools.

3. Open a pull request! The community is friendly and happy to help you get your tool merged.

See ADD_COMMAND.md and PULL_REQUEST_CHECKLIST.md for a step-by-step guide.

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I’m excited about Terminal AI and it’s potential features to make everyone’s life easier. Give it a try, and if you build something cool, tag me there, send a PR and hope to see it grow! With Terminal AI, you’ll spend less time fighting your terminal and more time building, exploring, and creating.