auto-yes 0.3.0

Automatically respond 'yes' to interactive CLI prompts via PTY proxy

auto-yes

Automatically respond yes to interactive CLI prompts.

auto-yes wraps your shell or a single command inside a PTY proxy, watches the output for common interactive prompts ([y/n], Continue?, etc.) and injects the appropriate response — all without stealing your stdin or breaking colours, progress bars or tab-completion.

Installation

pip install auto-yes

On Windows the tool falls back to a basic pipe-based mode. For full PTY support install the optional extra:

pip install auto-yes[windows]

Quick start

Shell session mode

Start a new shell where every interactive prompt is answered automatically:

auto-yes --on
# you are now inside an auto-yes shell
apt install nginx          # [y/n] → y  (auto)
pip install flask          # Proceed? → y  (auto)
exit                       # leave the session

Single command mode

Wrap one command without entering a persistent session:

auto-yes run -- apt install nginx
auto-yes run -- pip install flask

Check status

auto-yes status        # → "active" or "inactive"

How it works

User terminal  ←→  PTY proxy (auto-yes)  ←→  Child process
                    │
                    ├─ reads child stdout
                    ├─ strips ANSI escapes
                    ├─ matches prompt patterns
                    ├─ injects "y\n" / "yes\n" / "\n"
                    └─ forwards everything to user

1. A pseudo-terminal pair (master/slave) is created. The child process (your shell or command) is spawned on the slave side, so it believes it is running in a real terminal.

2. The parent process sits on the master side, using select() to multiplex user input and child output in real time.

3. Each chunk of child output is appended to a rolling buffer. The buffer is cleaned (ANSI stripped, carriage-returns resolved) and checked against a set of regex patterns.

4. When a match is found on the last visible line (i.e. the process is actually waiting for input), the configured response is written into the master fd — the child sees it as if the user typed it.

5. A cooldown timer prevents responding twice to the same prompt.

6. SIGWINCH is forwarded so terminal resizes propagate correctly.

CLI reference

auto-yes --on [OPTIONS]            start an auto-yes shell session
auto-yes --off                     exit info
auto-yes status                    check if auto-yes is active
auto-yes run [OPTIONS] -- CMD...   run a single command with auto-yes
auto-yes patterns [CATEGORY...]    list prompt patterns (optionally filtered)
auto-yes add-pattern PATTERN       persist a custom regex pattern
auto-yes del-pattern PATTERN       remove a custom pattern

Options (for --on and run)

Flag	Description	Default
--response TEXT	Text to send when a prompt is detected	y
--cooldown FLOAT	Seconds between auto-responses	0.5
--verbose, -v	Print a notice each time auto-yes responds	off
--pattern REGEX	Extra prompt pattern (repeatable)	—
--cli NAME	AI CLI profile to load (repeatable, or all)	—

Pattern categories

Patterns are organized by category for maintainability. The generic category is always loaded. AI CLI profiles are opt-in via --cli.

generic (always loaded)

Type	Examples
Bracket choices	[y/n], [Y/n], (y/N), [yes/no], ([y]/n), (y)
Styled choices	[Y]es / [N]o, bare y/n:
Question sentences	Continue?, Proceed?, Are you sure?, Would you like to…?
Safe action prompts	Allow?, Approve?, Accept?, Download?, Enable?, Create?
Excluded (dangerous)	Overwrite?, Delete?, Remove?, Upgrade?, Update?, Merge?, Restart?, Reboot?, Install? (use --pattern to add manually)
Agreement prompts	Do you agree?, Do you accept?, Accept the license, Agree to the terms
Need/require prompts	Need to install?, Required?, Necessary?
Package managers	Is this ok [y/d/N] (pip excluded to avoid accidental uninstall)
SSH fingerprint	continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? → responds yes
Terraform	Only 'yes' will be accepted → responds yes
Full-word yes	Type 'yes' to continue, Type 'YES' to confirm, Enter 'yes' to proceed
Press enter/key	Press Enter to continue, Press any key to continue → responds with empty
Default value	(default: Y), [default=yes] → responds with empty (accept default)

AI CLI profiles

Profile	Tool	Key patterns
claude	Anthropic Claude Code	1. Yes, I trust this folder, Yes, allow, API key prompt
gemini	Google Gemini CLI	1. Allow once, 2. Allow for this session, 3. Always allow
codex	OpenAI Codex CLI	1. Approve and run now, 1. Yes, allow Codex to work
copilot	GitHub Copilot CLI	1. Yes, proceed, Allow Copilot to run
cursor	Cursor Agent CLI	→ Run (once) (y), → Run (always) (a), Skip (esc or n), Trust this workspace
grok	xAI Grok CLI	1. Yes
auggie	Augment Code CLI	[Y] Enable indexing
amp	Sourcegraph Amp CLI	Approve
aider	Aider AI Coding	(Y)es/(N)o, Run shell command?, Add … to the chat?, Apply edit to …?
openhands	OpenHands AI Agent	Do you want to execute this action?, Approve
windsurf	Codeium Windsurf	Accept changes?, Run this command?
qwen	Alibaba Qwen Code	1. Yes, Approve execution?
amazonq	Amazon Q Developer	Do you approve this action?, Accept suggestion?

# use with a specific AI CLI
auto-yes run --cli claude -- claude "fix the tests"
auto-yes --on --cli codex

# load all AI CLI profiles at once
auto-yes --on --cli all

# inspect patterns for a specific profile
auto-yes patterns claude codex

Custom patterns

# persist a pattern across sessions
auto-yes add-pattern 'accept license\?'

# one-off extra pattern
auto-yes run --pattern 'custom_prompt\?' -- ./my-script.sh

Adding a new AI CLI profile

Add a new entry to REGISTRY in src/auto_yes/patterns.py:

_MY_TOOL = {
    "description": "My AI Tool CLI",
    "patterns": [
        (r"pattern_regex_here", None),    # respond with default
        (r"another_pattern", "yes"),      # respond with "yes"
    ],
}

REGISTRY["my-tool"] = _MY_TOOL

No other file needs to change.

Configuration

Stored at ~/.config/auto-yes/config.json (Linux/macOS) or %APPDATA%\auto-yes\config.json (Windows):

{
  "custom_patterns": [],
  "response": "y",
  "cooldown": 0.5,
  "verbose": false
}

Platform support

Platform	Method	Notes
Linux	pty + select	Full PTY, zero external deps
macOS	pty + select	Full PTY, zero external deps
Windows	pywinpty	Install auto-yes[windows]
Windows (fallback)	subprocess pipes	Works but no true PTY

Comparison with yes(1)

	yes | cmd	auto-yes run -- cmd
Prompt detection	None (floods stdin)	Smart regex matching
User interaction	Impossible	Preserved
PTY	No (pipe)	Yes
Colours / progress bars	Often broken	Preserved
Cross-platform	Unix only	Unix + Windows

Python API

from auto_yes.runner import Runner

# generic patterns only
runner = Runner(response="y", cooldown=0.5, verbose=True)
exit_code = runner.run_command(["apt", "install", "nginx"])

# with AI CLI profile
runner = Runner(categories=["generic", "claude"], verbose=True)
exit_code = runner.run_command(["claude", "fix the tests"])

Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest

License

MIT