nl2cmd 1.1.0

Natural language to terminal command translation tool

nl2cmd

A natural language to terminal command translation tool that helps you convert plain English descriptions into appropriate terminal commands based on your operating system.

Features

• Multi-platform support: Automatically detects and adapts to Linux, macOS, and Windows
• Natural language processing: Understands common phrases and descriptions
• Smart intent detection: Maps your description to the most appropriate command
• Command explanations: Provides detailed breakdowns of generated commands
• Alternative suggestions: Offers multiple approaches when available
• CLI interface: Easy-to-use command-line tool

Installation

From PyPI (when published)

pip install nl2cmd

From source

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/nl2cmd.git
cd nl2cmd
pip install -e .

Usage

Command Line Interface

# Basic usage
nl2cmd "show current directory"
nl2cmd "list files in this folder"
nl2cmd "create a new directory called test"

# With options
nl2cmd --explain "remove all files in current directory"
nl2cmd --json "show running processes"
nl2cmd --os linux "list network connections"

Python API

from nl2cmd import NL2Cmd

# Initialize translator
translator = NL2Cmd()

# Translate natural language to command
result = translator.translate("show current directory")
print(f"Command: {result.command}")
print(f"Explanation: {result.explanation}")

# Override OS for testing
translator = NL2Cmd(forced_os="windows")
result = translator.translate("list files")
print(f"Windows command: {result.command}")

Supported Commands

The tool recognizes and translates various types of operations:

File Operations

• List files and directories (ls, dir)
• Change directories (cd)
• Create directories (mkdir)
• Remove files (rm, del)
• Copy files (cp, copy)
• Move/rename files (mv, move)

System Information

• Current working directory (pwd, cd)
• Process management (ps, tasklist)
• Network information (netstat, ss)
• Disk and memory usage (df, du)

Package Management

• Install packages (apt, brew, winget)
• Update packages (apt update, brew upgrade)

Git Operations

• Status, pull, push, clone
• Branch management
• Commit history

Docker Operations

• Container management
• Image operations
• Build and run commands

Examples

Natural Language	Linux/macOS	Windows	Explanation
"show current directory"	pwd	cd	Display current working directory
"list files"	ls	dir	List contents of current directory
"create folder test"	mkdir test	mkdir test	Create a new directory
"remove file.txt"	rm file.txt	del file.txt	Delete a file
"copy source to dest"	cp source dest	copy source dest	Copy files

Development

Setup Development Environment

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/nl2cmd.git
cd nl2cmd
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Run Tests

pytest

Code Formatting

black src/ tests/
flake8 src/ tests/
mypy src/

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by the need to make terminal commands more accessible
• Built with modern Python packaging standards
• Uses semantic matching for natural language understanding

Roadmap

• Expand command coverage
• Add interactive mode
• Support for command chaining
• Integration with shell history
• Machine learning improvements
• Plugin system for custom commands