howdo 0.1.0

A terminal app to query xAI's Grok API

How

how is a simple Linux terminal application that lets you query an AI chatbot (powered by xAI's Grok) and get plain text answers directly in your terminal. Ask anything—like how to find file sizes in a directory—and get a concise response.

Example:

how --q "find size of files in directory and list by file size"

Features

• Lightweight and dependency-minimal (only requires requests).
• Configurable via a local file (~/.how_config) for your xAI API key.
• Installable system-wide with a simple setup process.

Prerequisites

• Python 3: Available on most Linux systems (check with python3 --version).
• pip: For installing dependencies (install with sudo apt-get install python3-pip on Debian/Ubuntu or equivalent).
• xAI API Key: Sign up at xAI and generate a key from the xAI Console API Keys Page.

Installation

Clone or Download the Repository
bash
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git clone <repository-url>

1. cd how
   Or download and extract the zip file.

2. Install Dependencies Install setuptools if not already present:
   bash
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   pip3 install setuptools

3. Install the Application Run the setup script to install how for your user:
   bash
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   python3 setup.py install --user
   This installs how to ~/.local/bin, which should be in your PATH. If not, add it:
   bash
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   export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
   Make it permanent by adding that line to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc.

4. Set Your API Key Configure your xAI API key:
   bash
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   how --key "your-xai-api-key-here"
   This saves the key to ~/.how_config.

Usage

• Ask a Question
  bash
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  how --q "your question here"
  Example:
  bash
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  how --q "how do I list all running processes?"
  Output:
  text
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  "Use this command: ps aux"

• Set or Update API Key
  bash
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  how --key "new-xai-api-key"

• Check Help
  bash
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  how --help

Troubleshooting

• "No API key found" Error Run how --key "<your-api-key>" to set your key.
• 403 Forbidden Error Verify your API key is valid and has access to the grok-2-latest model in the xAI Console. Regenerate it if needed.
• Command Not Found Ensure ~/.local/bin is in your PATH (see installation step 3).
• ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'setuptools' Install it with pip3 install setuptools.

Uninstallation

Remove the application:

bash
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pip3 uninstall how

Delete the config file (optional):

bash
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rm ~/.how_config

Contributing

Feel free to fork this project, submit issues, or send pull requests. Ideas for improvements:

• Add response caching.
• Support additional AI models.
• Enhance error messages.

License

This project is open-source under the MIT License (or specify your preferred license).

Credits

Built with ❤️ by Gregory Ellis using xAI’s Grok API.