natural language in, shell command out

bai keeps the command line sharp.

Describe what you want in plain language. bai returns a proposed shell command, copies it to your clipboard, and leaves the final decision to you. No auto-run. No chat sprawl. Just a fast path from intent to command.

Install Learn

Scope single-shot CLI helper

Safety you approve every command

Providers Anthropic or OpenAI

~/Projects/bai

copied to clipboard, ready to paste or edit

Small tool. Hard edge.

bai does one job: turn a natural-language shell request into a command shaped for your environment. It includes lightweight context such as shell, OS, and current directory so the output fits your machine instead of a generic tutorial example.

Command-first output The default path prints the command to stdout and gets out of the way.

Config without shell-file clutter Use environment variables or drop files in ~/.config/bai/.

Composability JSON mode, clipboard integration, shell overrides, and API docs all stay available without bloating the core UX.

Built for real shells.

Use --shell when editor launchers or wrappers obscure the parent process. Use --strict when guessing is the wrong move. Use --show-config when you need to see exactly what runtime state bai resolved.

--explain Sends a short reason to stderr while keeping stdout pipeline-safe.

--json Returns machine-readable output for wrappers, editors, and tooling.

prompt.md Append your own command preferences without touching the source tree.

Install it the direct way.

Pull a release package if you just want the binary. Build from source if you want to hack on it, read the Crystal code, or generate the API docs. BYOK for Anthropic or OpenAI. Releases are available on GitHub.

Arch Linux

Download the .pkg.tar.zst asset from the latest release.

sudo pacman -U ./bai-*.pkg.tar.zst

Debian / Ubuntu

Download the .deb asset, then install the package.

sudo dpkg -i ./bai_*.deb
sudo apt-get install -f

Fedora / RPM

Download the .rpm asset. Use DNF on Fedora, or allow the unsigned local package on openSUSE.

sudo dnf install ./bai-*.rpm
sudo zypper install --allow-unsigned-rpm ./bai-*.rpm

From source

Requires Crystal and just.

git clone https://github.com/trans/bai
cd bai
just install

Try it fast

bai count lines of Crystal code in src
bai find files modified in the last day
bai show the largest 10 files under home

Config lives here

~/.config/bai/provider
~/.config/bai/anthropic_api_key
~/.config/bai/openai_api_key
~/.config/bai/shell
~/.config/bai/prompt.md

Alt-Enter trick

Bind bai to Alt-Enter and rewrite your current prompt buffer in place. Type the request, hit the keybinding, edit if needed, then run it.

fish: bind \e\r bai-replace
bash: bind -x '"\e\r": _bai_replace'
zsh:  bindkey '^[^M' _bai_replace

Need the internals? Public Crystal docs are generated into docs/api/ and ship with the site.

Open API docs

About AI and vibe coding

bai uses AI as a command-generation assistant, not as an operator. It proposes one command, shows it to you, and leaves review, editing, and execution in human hands.

bai was vibe coded, but it is intentionally small, with a narrow surface area and tests around the user-facing behavior. Any bugs are my responsibility: design, review, and release judgment still live on the human side of the equation.