ai-input-output - AI Terminal Assistant

An intelligent terminal command assistant powered by LiteLLM and OpenRouter. Get instant help with shell commands, log analysis, and file operations directly in your terminal.

Features

• 🤖 Smart Command Generation: Get exactly the commands you need, with explanations
• 📊 Log Analysis: Pipe logs, errors, or any text for instant analysis
• 🔄 Interactive Mode: Execute suggested commands with a single keypress
• 📁 File Support: Analyze files directly with -f flag
• 🎯 Minimal & Focused: Generates one command by default, up to 3 for complex tasks
• 🔒 Output Truncation: Automatically manages context to prevent token overflow

Installation

# Install from PyPI
pip install ai-input-output

# Or install from source
cd /path/to/ai-input-output
pip install -e .

Initialize configuration (recommended):

ai init
# Creates ~/.config/ai-input-output/config.yaml with defaults

Configuration

Quick Start

# 1. Initialize config file (creates ~/.ai-input-output)
ai init

# 2. Edit the config file to set your preferred model
# Examples:
#   model: ollama/llama3.2              # Local Ollama
#   model: openai/gpt-4                 # OpenAI
#   model: anthropic/claude-3-5-sonnet  # Anthropic

Configuration Priority

Settings are loaded in this order (highest priority first):

1. CLI arguments: ai -m ollama/mistral
2. Environment variables: export AIO_MODEL_NAME="ollama/llama3.2"
3. Config file: ~/.ai-input-output
4. Defaults: Built-in defaults from Pydantic model

Ollama Setup

Install Ollama:

# macOS/Linux
curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

# Pull a model
ollama pull llama3.2
ollama pull mistral

Configure ai to use Ollama:

# Option 1: Use config file (recommended)
ai init
# Then edit ~/.ai-input-output:
#   model: ollama/llama3.2

# Option 2: Environment variable
export AIO_MODEL_NAME="ollama/llama3.2"

# Option 3: CLI argument
ai -m ollama/mistral "your question"

Other Providers

Configure API keys according to your LLM provider. See LiteLLM documentation for provider-specific setup.

OpenRouter:

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-v1-..."
# In ~/.ai-input-output: model: openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5

OpenAI:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."
# In ~/.ai-input-output: model: openai/gpt-4

Anthropic:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."
# In ~/.ai-input-output: model: anthropic/claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022

Reasoning Models

Some models support extended thinking/reasoning (e.g., DeepSeek, Qwen). You can control the reasoning effort:

# In config file
reasoning_effort: medium  # Options: low, medium, high

# Or via environment variable
export AIO_REASONING_EFFORT="high"

# Or via CLI
ai -r high "complex problem requiring deep thinking"

Reasoning display:

• Thinking/reasoning content appears in dim gray as it streams
• Regular response content appears in normal color
• Helps distinguish internal reasoning from final answers

Supported models:

• deepseek/deepseek-reasoner
• openrouter/qwq-32b-preview
• Any model with reasoning capabilities via LiteLLM

Config File

Location: ~/.ai-input-output (YAML format)

Commands:

• ai init - Create config file with defaults
• ai init --force - Overwrite existing config file

Available settings: See config.example.yaml in the repository or run ai init to see defaults.

Usage

Basic Usage

# Interactive mode - generates commands for actionable tasks
ai "give me the biggest file in the current directory"

# With file input (stays interactive)
ai -f error.log "extract and count unique errors"

# Piped input (auto non-interactive) - provides direct analysis
cat error.log | ai "explain these errors to me"

# No question - auto-summarizes
ai -f config.yaml

Key difference: Piping automatically triggers non-interactive mode and exits after response. Use -f to maintain interactive session.

Interactive Mode

Safety: Commands are NEVER auto-executed. You must explicitly execute them.

Three ways to execute commands:

1. AI-suggested commands (type 1, 2, or 3):

ai "find python files modified today"
# AI responds with numbered commands:
#   1: find . -name "*.py" -mtime -1

> 1  # Type number to execute
# Output shown to you and sent back to AI for analysis

2. Direct shell commands (prefix with !):

> !ls -la *.py
# Executes immediately, output sent to AI for context

> !pwd
# Execute any shell command directly

3. LLM instructions (everything else):

> explain the last output
# Natural language sent to AI for processing

> what's the largest file?
# AI will generate new commands based on context

Other commands:

• /reset - Clear conversation history
• Ctrl+C twice (within 2 seconds) - Exit

Exit: Press Ctrl+C twice (within 2 seconds).

Options

• -m, --model MODEL: Specify model (overrides config/env)
• -f, --file FILE: Read input from file (preferred over piping - keeps interactive mode)
• -n, --lines N: Max lines for truncation (applies to input buffers and command outputs)
• -c, --chars N: Max chars for truncation (applies to input buffers and command outputs)
• -r, --reasoning-effort LEVEL: Reasoning effort: low, medium, high (for reasoning models)
• -e, --exec: Force exec mode (one-shot, non-interactive)
• -d, --dry-run: Show API call parameters without executing

Examples

Quick Reference: Command Types

Input	Action
1, 2, 3	Execute AI-suggested commands
!ls -la	Execute shell command directly
find large files	Send to AI (generates commands)
/reset	Clear conversation history

Tasks → Commands Generated

# System tasks - generates executable commands
ai "give me the biggest file in the current directory"
ai "find all python files modified today"
ai "show me disk usage by directory"

# File operations - generates processing commands
ai "find and compress all jpg files larger than 10MB from last week"
ai -f data.json "pretty print this json"

# Text processing - generates transformation commands
cat data.csv | ai "convert to JSON format"
ai -f error.log "extract and count unique errors"

Analysis → Direct Answers

# Explains provided content
cat error.log | ai "explain these errors to me"
git diff | ai "review this change"
docker logs app | ai "why did this crash?"

# Summarizes when no question provided
ai -f /var/log/app.log
cat config.yaml | ai

# Conceptual questions
ai "what is a race condition?"
ai "why might my application be slow?"

How It Works

1. Input: Text via stdin (piped), file (-f), or direct instruction
2. Mode: Piping auto-triggers non-interactive; -f stays interactive
3. Smart Response:
   • Actionable tasks (find, show, convert) → Generates bash commands
   • Analysis requests on provided content → Direct answers
   • No question → Summarizes content
4. Execution: You manually run commands by typing their number (interactive mode only)
5. Truncation: Inputs/outputs truncated for token efficiency (configurable via -n/-c)

Buffer Management

• Unified truncation: Single max_lines and max_chars setting applies to both:
  • Input buffers (stdin/file content)
  • Command output sent back to LLM
• Defaults: 100 lines / 4000 chars (configurable via -n/-c or config file)
• What you see: Full output is displayed to you
• What LLM sees: Truncated version to manage token usage
• Tip: Increase limits in config file for working with larger outputs

Command Format

# Explanation of what this does
command --with arguments

Commands include explanations and are executed exactly as shown when you type their number.

Best Practices

• Be specific: "find large files" → "find files larger than 100MB in /var"
• Use -f over piping: Keeps interactive mode for follow-up questions
• Action verbs for commands: "show", "find", "convert" → generates commands
• Analysis language for explanations: "explain", "why", "summarize" → direct answers
• Review before executing: Commands require your confirmation

Troubleshooting

Commands not generated? Use action verbs: "give me", "show me", "find", "convert"

Output too long? Adjust with -n and -c flags, or pipe through head/tail

API errors? Check your API key is set and has credits; try different model with -m

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Feel free to open issues or submit pull requests.