copa-cli 0.9.0

Command Palette — smart command tracking, ranking, and sharing for your shell

Copa — Command Palette for your shell

Copa tracks the commands you run, ranks them by frequency and recency, and gives you instant fuzzy search via fzf. Think of it as a smart, searchable, shareable upgrade to shell history.

Features

• Smart ranking — commands scored by 2*log(1+freq) + 8*0.5^(age/3d), so frequent and recent commands float to the top
• FTS search — full-text search across commands and their descriptions
• fzf integration — Ctrl+R opens a fuzzy-searchable command palette with preview pane; searches across commands and their descriptions
• Tab completion — Copa supplements zsh's tab completion for any command using your command history database
• Auto-evolution — copa evolve finds your most-used commands from zsh history and promotes them
• LLM descriptions — copa fix --auto uses Claude or ollama to generate descriptions for undescribed commands
• Script protocol — #@ Description: / #@ Usage: / #@ Purpose: / #@ Flag: headers in your scripts are auto-detected by copa scan across all $PATH directories
• Flag documentation — document command flags with descriptions; flags are searchable, visible in the preview pane, and preserved in .copa exports
• Inline suggestions — ghost text appears as you type; Tab accepts or opens a completion menu with the suggestion highlighted
• Groups & Ctrl+G — organize commands by project, device, or workflow; assign groups inline from the fzf palette with Ctrl+G
• Bulk operations — Ctrl+B enters select mode for batch group assignment, batch deletion, or batch LLM description
• Recipes — save multi-step command sequences as named recipes; copa recipe run deploy executes steps sequentially; share recipes via .copa files
• Directory-aware suggestions — commands used in the current directory are boosted in suggestions; automatic, configurable, zero-effort
• Sharing & copa create — export/import command sets as .copa JSON files; copa create scaffolds a .copa file from an existing group
• Set filtering — scope list, search, and fzf to a specific shared set with --set
• MCP server — expose your commands to Claude Code (or any MCP client)
• Zero latency — precmd hook records usage in the background

Note: Copa requires zsh. It is not compatible with bash, fish, or PowerShell.

Install

Prerequisites

• Python 3.12+
• zsh — Copa's shell integration (precmd hooks, ZLE widgets, inline suggestions) is zsh-only
• fzf — required for Ctrl+R command palette

# macOS
brew install fzf

# Linux (apt)
sudo apt install fzf

# or see https://github.com/junegunn/fzf#installation

Install Copa

pip install copa-cli
# or from source:
git clone https://github.com/MaStanford/copa.git
cd copa
pip install -e .

# Optional: ollama backend for LLM descriptions
pip install copa-cli[ollama]

Setup

Run the interactive setup wizard:

copa setup

This walks you through everything:

1. Checks that fzf is installed (tells you how to install if missing)
2. Creates the Copa database (~/.copa/copa.db)
3. Adds shell integration to your ~/.zshrc (prompts for confirmation)
4. Optionally imports your zsh history

Then activate Copa in your current terminal:

source ~/.zshrc

What shell integration does

The eval "$(copa init zsh)" line added to your .zshrc does three things:

1. Records every command you run — a precmd hook silently calls copa _record in the background after each command, building up frequency and recency data with zero latency impact.
2. Replaces Ctrl+R — the default zsh reverse-history-search is replaced with Copa's fzf-powered command palette (see below).
3. Supplements tab completion — Copa registers as a completer so that any command gets completion candidates from your Copa database. The behavior is configurable (fallback, hybrid, always, or never) — see Tab Completion.

Manual setup

If you prefer to set up manually instead of using copa setup:

# Add shell integration to ~/.zshrc
echo 'eval "$(copa init zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc

# Activate in current terminal
source ~/.zshrc

# Import your history (optional)
copa sync

Ctrl+R — fzf Command Palette

Once shell integration is sourced, pressing Ctrl+R opens an fzf-powered command palette instead of the default zsh reverse search. This is Copa's primary interface.

What you see

Copa pipes every tracked command into fzf with aligned columns:

 command text (padded)  ┃  [group]  freq×N

The left panel shows the command text. The right panel shows metadata: a pin indicator, group badge (dim magenta), and frequency count (dim). Descriptions and flag documentation are not shown in the list — they appear in the preview pane but are still included as a hidden field that fzf searches. This means typing "bluetooth" in fzf will find a command whose description mentions "bluetooth" even if the command text doesn't contain it.

fzf searches across all fields — the command text, group names, descriptions, and flag documentation. A hidden search field contains the full description and flag text so fzf's fuzzy matching covers everything even though only the command and metadata columns are displayed.

This is the key difference from plain zsh Ctrl+R: you're not just searching raw history text, you're searching annotated, described, ranked commands.

Modes

The header shows available modes. Press Ctrl+R again while fzf is open to cycle:

Mode	Sort order	Use case
all	Score (frequency + recency)	Default — best commands float to top
frequent	Frequency only	Find your most-used commands
recent	Last used time	Find commands you ran recently
recipes	Run count	Browse and run multi-step recipes

Keybindings

While the fzf palette is open, these keys are available:

Key	Action	Effect
Ctrl+R	Cycle mode	all → frequent → recent → recipes → all
Ctrl+X	Compose	Opens a numbered menu to append shell operators (|, &&, >, &, etc.)
Ctrl+S	Scope by group	Opens inline group list — Enter filters to that group, ESC returns to all
Ctrl+G	Assign group	Opens inline group list — Enter assigns the group to the highlighted command

Key	Action	Effect
Ctrl+N	Cycle group	Cycles through groups: (all) → group1 → group2 → ... → (all)
Ctrl+D	Describe	Generate/edit a description using LLM (with tty-aware input)
Ctrl+F	Edit flags	Add flag documentation to the highlighted command
Ctrl+B	Select mode	Enter multi-select for bulk operations (see below)
Ctrl+H	Toggle header	Show/hide the key hints for more screen space
ESC	Cancel/back	In scope/group mode: returns to command list. Otherwise: closes fzf

Keybindings are configurable via ~/.copa/config.toml. See Configuration.

Select mode (bulk operations)

Press Ctrl+B from the Ctrl+R palette to enter select mode. This opens a new fzf view with multi-select enabled:

• Tab toggles selection on individual commands
• Ctrl+R cycles modes (all → frequent → recent) just like the main palette
• Enter confirms your selection and shows the batch action menu
• ESC cancels and returns to your prompt

After selecting commands, Copa shows a batch action menu:

Selected 5 command(s).
  g = assign group
  d = delete
  a = auto-describe (LLM)
  q = cancel
Action:

Action	What it does
g	Assign all selected commands to a group (or clear their group)
d	Delete all selected commands (with confirmation)
a	Auto-generate descriptions for all selected commands using your configured LLM backend

This is useful for organizing large command sets — select 20 undescribed commands and batch-describe them, or move a set of related commands into a group in one step.

Preview pane

The right side shows a detail card for the highlighted command: full description, usage, purpose, flag documentation, score breakdown, frequency, last used, source, group, shared set, and tags.

Result

Selecting a command places it directly into your shell prompt (without executing it), so you can review or edit before pressing Enter.

Tab Completion

Copa supplements zsh's built-in tab completion for any command — not just Copa's own CLI. Once copa.zsh is sourced, Copa registers as a completer in zsh's completion system.

Completion modes

Copa supports four completion modes, configured via ~/.copa/config.toml:

Mode	Behavior
fallback	(default) Only show Copa completions when native completers found nothing
hybrid	Show Copa completions alongside native completions (in a separate group)
always	Copa completions replace native completions
never	Disable Copa tab completion entirely

# ~/.copa/config.toml
[completion]
mode = "fallback"    # fallback | hybrid | always | never
branding = true      # show "Copa history" group header

How it works

When you press Tab, Copa queries its database for commands matching what you've typed so far and suggests the next word(s):

$ adb shell dump<TAB>
→ dumpsys  dumpstate

Copa looks at your tracked commands starting with adb shell dump and extracts the next word from each match. Candidates are deduplicated and ordered by frequency.

Examples

# Complete subcommands for adb
adb <TAB>
→ shell  devices  logcat  push  pull  ...

# Complete arguments deeper in the command
adb shell cmd bluetooth_manager <TAB>
→ enable  disable  ...

This works automatically once copa.zsh is sourced — no extra setup needed. The more commands you use (and track with Copa), the better the completions get.

Copa's own CLI completions (copa li<TAB> → list) continue to work as before via Click's built-in completion.

Inline Suggestions (Ghost Text)

Tab Mode 1 (direct accept)	Tab Mode 2 (menu select, default)

Copa shows grey ghost text after your cursor as you type — the best matching command from your database, ranked by frequency and recency. This works like fish shell's autosuggestions or zsh-autosuggestions, with zero plugin dependencies.

How it works

As you type, Copa queries its database for commands starting with your current input and displays the highest-scored match as dim grey text after the cursor. The suggestion updates on every keystroke.

$ git pu█sh origin main     ← grey ghost text

Keybindings

Key	Suggestion showing	No suggestion
Type chars	Insert char, re-fetch suggestion	Insert char, fetch suggestion
Backspace	Delete char, latch (suppress suggestions)	Delete char normally
Tab	tab_accept=1: accept full suggestion. tab_accept=2 (default): open completion menu with suggestion highlighted at top, native completions below	If latched: unlatch + re-fetch suggestion. Else: normal tab completion
Down	Open completion menu with suggestion highlighted at top	History navigation
Right arrow	Accept one word, re-fetch	Move cursor right
Cmd+Right / End	Accept full suggestion	Move to end of line
Enter	Clear suggestion, execute	Execute
Esc	Dismiss suggestion	Normal Esc
Up	Clear suggestion, navigate history	History navigation
Ctrl+R	Clear suggestion, open fzf	Open fzf

Tab accept mode

Copa supports two Tab behaviors when a suggestion is showing:

Menu select (tab_accept = 2, default):

1. Press Tab — ghost text clears, a completion menu opens with the Copa suggestion highlighted at the top, alongside native completions below
2. Press Tab to cycle through options, Shift+Tab to cycle backward
3. Press Enter or Space — accepts the highlighted item
4. Press Escape — cancels the menu, restores your original text
5. Use arrow keys to navigate if you want a different completion

This gives you a chance to see alternatives before committing. The Copa suggestion is always the first item in the menu.

Inline accept (tab_accept = 1):

• Press Tab — the suggestion is accepted directly into your command line. One keystroke, done.

Completion menu navigation

When the completion menu is open (from Tab in tab_accept = 2 mode or from normal tab completion):

Key	Action
Tab	Cycle forward through completions
Shift+Tab	Cycle backward through completions
Enter	Accept the highlighted completion (no trailing space added)
Space	Accept the highlighted completion and add a space
Escape	Cancel — dismiss menu, restore original text
Arrow keys	Navigate between completions

Backspace latch

Pressing Backspace clears the current suggestion and latches — suppresses further suggestions while you edit. This prevents suggestions from re-appearing as you retype after correcting a mistake. Ctrl+W (backward-kill-word) also latches.

Press Tab to unlatch and re-enable suggestions. The next new prompt (Enter) also resets the latch automatically.

Configuration

# ~/.copa/config.toml
[suggest]
enabled = true       # set to false to disable inline suggestions
min_length = 2       # minimum characters before querying (default: 2)
tab_accept = 2       # 1 = Tab accepts directly, 2 = Tab opens menu first (default)
color = 242          # ghost text color (256-color palette, default: 242 mid-grey)

The color value is a 256-color palette number. Some useful values: 240 (darker grey), 242 (default mid-grey), 245 (lighter grey), 8 (bright black), 244 (light grey).

Inline suggestions are enabled by default. Set enabled = false to disable them entirely (zero performance overhead when disabled).

Quick Start

# Check your setup
copa doctor

# Import your shell history
copa sync

# Add a command manually
copa add "adb shell cmd bluetooth_manager enable" -d "Enable Bluetooth" -g bluetooth

# Add a command with flag documentation
copa add "flash_all" -d "Flash AOSP build" -f "--wipe: Wipe userdata" -f "-v: Verbose"

# Pin your most important commands to the top
copa pin 42

# Edit a command's metadata
copa edit 42 -d "New description" -g mygroup

# List top commands by score
copa list

# List as JSON (for scripting)
copa list --json

# Search by keyword
copa search bluetooth

# Create a .copa file from a group (or scaffold an empty one)
copa create -g bluetooth

# Auto-promote frequent commands from history
copa evolve -k 20

# Auto-promote and generate descriptions in one pass
copa evolve -k 20 --auto

# Generate descriptions with LLM
copa fix --auto

# Scan $PATH for scripts with metadata
copa scan

# Open fzf command palette (or press Ctrl+R)
copa fzf-list --mode all | fzf

LLM-Powered Descriptions

Copa can use an LLM to auto-generate descriptions for your undescribed commands. Two backends are supported:

Configure

copa configure

This prompts you to choose a backend:

• claude (default) — shells out to the claude CLI. No API key needed if Claude Code is already authenticated.
• ollama — calls a local ollama server at localhost:11434. Copa checks that ollama is installed and running, prompts for a model name, and offers to pull it if missing.

Settings are stored in the Copa database (meta table).

Bulk descriptions with copa fix --auto

# First, add undescribed commands
copa evolve -k 20

# Then generate descriptions with LLM suggestions
copa fix --auto

# Or do both in one step
copa evolve -k 20 --auto

With --auto, each command gets an LLM-generated suggestion:

  [42] adb shell dumpsys bluetooth_manager
  Suggestion: Dump Bluetooth manager state
  Description [Dump Bluetooth manager state]:

• Press Enter to accept the suggestion
• Type a replacement to override it
• Press q to quit

Without --auto, copa fix behaves as before (blank prompt, Enter to skip).

Single command description

copa describe 42

Generates a description for a specific command by ID. Same accept/edit flow as fix --auto.

Script Metadata Protocol

Copa recognizes #@ headers in script files (checked in the first 50 lines):

#!/bin/bash
#@ Description: Flash AOSP build to connected device
#@ Usage: flash_all.py <build-dir> -w [--skip firmware vendor_boot ...]
#@ Purpose: Streamline the device flashing workflow
#@ Flag: -w, --wipe: Wipe userdata before flashing
#@ Flag: --skip <parts>: Skip specific partitions
#@ Flag: -n, --dry-run: Show what would be done without flashing

When scanned, Description, Usage, Purpose, and Flags are stored and displayed in the Ctrl+R preview pane:

Description: Flash AOSP build to connected device
Usage:       flash_all.py <build-dir> -w [--skip firmware vendor_boot ...]
Purpose:     Streamline the device flashing workflow

Flags:
  -w, --wipe           Wipe userdata before flashing
  --skip <parts>       Skip specific partitions
  -n, --dry-run        Show what would be done without flashing

Supported headers

Header	Effect
#@ Description: <text>	Sets the command description (highest priority)
#@ Usage: <text>	Usage / invocation syntax
#@ Purpose: <text>	Why the script exists / when to use it
#@ Flag: <flag>: <description>	Document a flag/option (repeatable)

Scripts without #@ headers still work — Copa falls back to legacy patterns (# Description:, # Purpose:, Python docstrings, generic comments).

Scan scripts

copa scan               # scans all $PATH directories
copa scan --dir ~/bin   # scan a specific directory

Sharing

Export a group as a .copa file:

# Using copa create (recommended — creates a .copa file you can edit)
copa create -g bluetooth

# Or using share export (direct export)
copa share export bluetooth -o bluetooth.copa

Share it with your team (via git, Slack, or any file share):

copa share load bluetooth.copa
copa share load /path/to/team/commands.copa
copa share sync /path/to/team/copa-files/

Example shared sets

Copa ships with ready-to-use .copa files in the examples/ directory:

File	Description
git.copa	Essential Git commands
docker.copa	Docker container management
python-dev.copa	Python development workflow
npm.copa	Node.js package management
network.copa	Network diagnostics
curl-http.copa	HTTP requests and API testing
ssh-remote.copa	SSH, SCP, and remote server management
adb.copa	Android Debug Bridge
aws.copa	AWS CLI cloud infrastructure
terraform.copa	Terraform infrastructure-as-code
k8s.copa	Kubernetes cluster management
systemd.copa	Linux service management
sysadmin.copa	System administration
process-monitoring.copa	Process management and debugging
disk-files.copa	Disk usage and file management
tmux.copa	Terminal multiplexer sessions
homebrew.copa	Homebrew package manager (macOS)

Load any of them:

copa share load examples/git.copa
copa share load examples/docker.copa

Filtering by shared set

Once you've loaded shared sets, you can scope commands to just that set:

# List only commands from the bluetooth shared set
copa list --set bluetooth

# Search within a shared set
copa search "enable" --set bluetooth

# fzf filtered to a shared set
copa fzf-list --mode set --set bluetooth | fzf

You can also filter by source type:

copa search "adb" --source shared
copa list --source scan

Create an alias for quick set-scoped search:

alias copa-bt='copa fzf-list --set bluetooth | fzf'

.copa file format

{
  "copa_version": "1.0",
  "name": "bluetooth",
  "description": "Bluetooth commands for Android devices",
  "author": "markstanford",
  "commands": [
    {
      "command": "adb shell cmd bluetooth_manager enable",
      "description": "Enable Bluetooth",
      "tags": ["bt", "android"]
    },
    {
      "command": "flash_all",
      "description": "Flash AOSP build to device",
      "tags": ["aosp"],
      "flags": {
        "-w, --wipe": "Wipe userdata before flashing",
        "--skip <parts>": "Skip specific partitions"
      }
    }
  ],
  "recipes": [
    {
      "name": "bt-debug",
      "description": "Enable BT and start logging",
      "steps": [
        {"command": "adb shell cmd bluetooth_manager enable", "description": "Enable BT"},
        {"command": "adb logcat -s bt_btif | tee bt.log", "description": "Start BT logging"}
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Recipes

Recipes are named, ordered sequences of commands — like a script, but tracked and shareable through Copa.

Creating recipes

# Simple recipe
copa recipe add deploy \
  -s 'npm run build' \
  -s 'docker build -t app .' \
  -s 'docker push app'

# With descriptions (use :: separator)
copa recipe add deploy \
  -d "Full production deploy" \
  -g devops \
  -s 'npm run build :: Build the project' \
  -s 'npm run test :: Run test suite' \
  -s 'docker push app :: Push to registry'

Running recipes

# Run all steps sequentially
copa recipe run deploy

# Preview without executing
copa recipe run deploy --dry-run

# Continue past failures
copa recipe run deploy --no-stop-on-error

Managing recipes

copa recipe list              # List all recipes
copa recipe list --json       # JSON output
copa recipe show deploy       # Show steps
copa recipe remove deploy     # Delete a recipe

Sharing recipes

Recipes are included in .copa files automatically — when you export a group, its recipes come along:

copa share export devops -o devops.copa    # includes recipes in that group
copa share load devops.copa                # imports commands AND recipes

See examples/docker.copa and examples/deploy.copa for recipe examples.

MCP Server (Claude Code integration)

Copa includes an MCP server so Claude Code can search and add commands.

Install the MCP dependency:

pip install copa-cli[mcp]

Add to your Claude Code MCP config (.mcp.json in your project or home dir):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "copa": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": ["-m", "copa.mcp_server"]
    }
  }
}

Available MCP tools:

• copa_search — search commands by keyword
• copa_list_commands — list commands ranked by score
• copa_list_groups — list all groups
• copa_get_stats — usage statistics
• copa_add_command — add a command
• copa_update_description — update a description
• copa_delete_command — delete a command by ID
• copa_set_group — set or change a command's group
• copa_update_flags — update flag documentation for a command
• copa_pin_command — pin or unpin a command
• copa_create_group — create a group with commands
• copa_bulk_add — bulk add commands
• copa_share_load — load a .copa file as a shared set
• copa_share_list — list all loaded shared sets
• copa_share_remove — remove a shared set
• copa_export_group — export a group as a .copa file
• copa_recipe_list — list all recipes
• copa_recipe_show — show a recipe's steps
• copa_recipe_add — create a recipe from ordered steps
• copa_recipe_remove — remove a recipe

Configuration

Copa is configured via ~/.copa/config.toml. All settings are optional — Copa uses sensible defaults.

# ~/.copa/config.toml

# Keybindings for the Ctrl+R fzf palette
# Values are fzf key names: ctrl-<letter>, alt-<letter>, ctrl-/
# ctrl-r and enter are reserved and cannot be reassigned
[keys]
compose = "ctrl-x"          # open compose submenu (|, &&, >, &, 2>&1, 2>/dev/null)
describe = "ctrl-d"         # LLM describe
group = "ctrl-g"            # assign group (inline modal)
flags = "ctrl-f"            # edit flags
filter_group = "ctrl-s"     # scope by group (inline modal)
cycle_group = "ctrl-n"      # cycle through groups
select = "ctrl-b"           # enter select mode (bulk operations)
toggle_header = "ctrl-h"    # show/hide key hints

# Tab completion behavior
[completion]
mode = "fallback"           # fallback | hybrid | always | never
branding = true             # show "Copa history" group header

# Inline suggestions (ghost text)
[suggest]
enabled = true              # set to false to disable
min_length = 2              # minimum chars before querying
tab_accept = 2              # 1 = accept directly, 2 = open menu first
color = 242                 # ghost text color (256-color palette)
directory_aware = true      # boost suggestions from the current directory

# Fzf layout
[layout]
height = "80%"              # fzf height (default: 80%)
preview_size = "40%"        # preview pane width (default: 40%)

Compose submenu

Press Ctrl+X while a command is highlighted to open the compose submenu — a numbered menu of shell operators:

Compose: 1)| 2)&& 3)> 4)& 5)2>&1 6)2>/dev/null
Select [1-6]:

#	Operator	Behavior	What happens
1	|	continue	Appends | and re-opens fzf to select the next command
2	&&	continue	Appends && and re-opens fzf to chain another command
3	>	continue	Appends > and re-opens fzf for the target
4	&	close	Appends & and closes — run in background
5	2>&1	close	Appends 2>&1 and closes — merge stderr
6	2>/dev/null	close	Appends 2>/dev/null and closes — suppress stderr

"Continue" operators re-open fzf so you can build multi-command pipelines. "Close" operators place the final command in your prompt.

When chaining, the prompt shows your accumulated command: copa [git pull && ]>.

End-to-End Workflow

CLI Reference

Command	Purpose
copa setup	Interactive setup wizard
copa add "cmd" -d "desc" -g group -f "flag: desc"	Save a command (with optional flags)
copa edit ID [-d desc] [-g group] [-f flags] [--pin]	Edit a command's metadata
copa remove ID	Remove a command
copa pin ID	Pin a command to the top
copa unpin ID	Unpin a command
copa list [-g group] [-s source] [--set name] [--json]	List by score
copa search "query" [-g group] [--set name] [--json]	FTS search
copa create -g group [-o file]	Create a .copa file from a group
copa stats	Usage statistics
copa doctor	Check setup and diagnose issues
copa sync	Import from zsh history
copa scan [--dir path]	Import script metadata from $PATH
copa evolve [-k 20] [--auto]	Auto-add frequent commands (with optional LLM descriptions)
copa fix [--auto]	Add missing descriptions (with optional LLM)
copa describe ID	Generate description for one command
copa configure	Set LLM backend (claude/ollama)
copa share export GROUP -o file	Export group
copa share load SOURCE	Load shared set
copa share list	List shared sets
copa share sync DIR	Sync .copa files from dir
copa import FILE [-g group]	Import commands from markdown
copa recipe add NAME -s 'cmd' [-s 'cmd' ...]	Create a multi-step recipe
copa recipe list [--json]	List all recipes
copa recipe show NAME	Show a recipe's steps
copa recipe run NAME [--dry-run]	Run a recipe's steps sequentially
copa recipe remove NAME	Remove a recipe
copa reset	Wipe database and start fresh (keeps config)
copa uninstall	Remove Copa data and show cleanup steps

How Scoring Works

score = 2.0 * log(1 + frequency) + 8.0 * 0.5^(age_seconds / 3_days)

Pinned commands get a +1000 bonus. The 3-day half-life means commands used in the last few days are strongly favored — a command used today scores ~8.0 recency, after 3 days ~4.0, after a week ~1.6.

When directory_aware = true (default), commands get a bonus based on where you are: +5.0 for the same directory, +2.0 for a parent or child directory. This means git push suggests your project's branch, not another repo's.

License

MIT