how

A command-line tool that uses Claude AI to help you figure out shell commands. Just describe what you want to do, and how will give you the exact command to run.

Demo

❯ how find all files larger than 100MB
[thinking...]

❯ find . -type f -size +100M

The command appears directly in your terminal input, ready for you to review and execute.

Tip: You can quote your prompt to preserve proper shell syntax:

❯ how "find process that uses port 9000"
[thinking...]

❯ lsof -i :9000

Installation

1. Install Claude CLI

Install Claude Code by following the official installation guide.

Make sure that claude cli works:

claude setup-token

2. Install how

Clone or download this repository:

git clone git@github.com:againagainst/how.git
cd how

3. Set up the shell function

Add the following to your shell configuration file:

For zsh (add to ~/.zshrc):

source /home/username/path/how/how.sh

For bash (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile):

source /home/username/path/how/how.sh

4. Reload your shell

# For zsh
source ~/.zshrc

# For bash
source ~/.bashrc

Usage

Simply type how followed by what you want to do:

how find all files larger than 100MB
how "compress this directory to a tar.gz"
how show my public IP address
how kill process on port 3000
how "list all docker containers including stopped ones"

The tool will place it in your terminal input buffer (zsh) or print it for you to copy (bash)

Error Handling

If your request is unclear, impossible, or requires more information, how will display an error message:

❯ how to go to bed early
ERROR: This is not a technical task that can be accomplished with a shell command. 
Going to bed early is a personal action that requires you to physically stop what you're 
doing and go to sleep.

Requirements

• Node.js (for Claude CLI)
• Anthropic Claude subscription (for API access)
• zsh or bash shell
• macOS, Linux, or WSL on Windows

Limitations

This feature works best with zsh. In bash, the command will be printed to the terminal for you to copy and paste.