/cli-anything

name: cli-anything
description: Drive desktop apps (LibreOffice, GIMP, Blender, Inkscape, Audacity, Draw.io, Kdenlive, Shotcut, Krita, FreeCAD, MuseScore) headless through CLI-Anything harnesses with JSON output, instead of clicking through the app window with native_app.
version: "1.0.0"
metadata:
  author: CoWork OS Contributors <info@coworkosapp.com>
  source-author: "HKUDS"
  source: https://github.com/HKUDS/CLI-Anything
  pinned-commit: 34f519533bc175d2fe287ab8316b0dd99bb9cc43

CLI-Anything

CLI-Anything harnesses are Python command-line tools named `cli-anything-<app>`. Each one drives the app's real backend (headless LibreOffice, Blender's bpy, Pillow/GIMP batch, sox, melt) and prints JSON with `--json`. They make the same file edits as clicking through the app, but scripted, repeatable and verifiable.

When to use

• The user wants a file produced or edited with one of the apps below, or in that app's

format (ODF documents, layered GIMP images, `.blend` scenes, Inkscape SVG, Draw.io diagrams, audio/video edits).

• Prefer a harness over `native_app` UI control for that work. Use `native_app` only when

the user asks to operate or watch the app's window, or the harness lacks the operation.

• Do not use when the task forbids scripting, for Photoshop (use the local Photoshop

route), or when CoWork's built-in document tools already cover a plain DOCX/XLSX/PPTX request that does not name one of these apps.

1. Find installed harnesses

for d in ${PATH//:/ } "$HOME/.local/bin"; do ls "$d"/cli-anything-* 2>/dev/null; done | sort -u

2. Install a missing harness (ask first)

Installing runs third-party code from GitHub. Ask the user before installing, name the harness, and install the pinned commit with uv (falls back to `python3 -m pip install --user`):

uv tool install --python 3.11 \
  "git+https://github.com/HKUDS/CLI-Anything.git@34f519533bc175d2fe287ab8316b0dd99bb9cc43#subdirectory=<dir>/agent-harness"

| App | `<dir>` | Command | Also needs | |-----|---------|---------|------------| | LibreOffice Writer/Calc/Impress | `libreoffice` | `cli-anything-libreoffice` | LibreOffice (`soffice`) for PDF/DOCX/XLSX/PPTX export | | GIMP | `gimp` | `cli-anything-gimp` | add `--with Pillow` (not declared upstream); GIMP optional | | Blender | `blender` | `cli-anything-blender` | Blender | | Inkscape | `inkscape` | `cli-anything-inkscape` | Inkscape | | Audacity | `audacity` | `cli-anything-audacity` | sox | | Draw.io | `drawio` | `cli-anything-drawio` | draw.io desktop for export | | Kdenlive / Shotcut | `kdenlive` / `shotcut` | `cli-anything-kdenlive` / `cli-anything-shotcut` | melt | | Krita, FreeCAD, MuseScore, OBS Studio, Zotero, Calibre | same name (`obs-studio`) | `cli-anything-<dir>` | the app |

Keep uv's default bin directory (`~/.local/bin`). CoWork's sandboxed shell only puts standard locations on PATH (`~/.local/bin`, Homebrew, `bin` directories in your home folder). A harness installed anywhere else gives "command not found" in run_command.

On macOS, install a missing app with Homebrew only after the user agrees, for example `brew install --cask libreoffice`. Remove a harness with `uv tool uninstall <package>`.

3. Run commands

• Always pass `--json`, and run one subcommand per call. Never start the bare command or

`repl`: that opens an interactive REPL and hangs.

• Keep state in a project file in the workspace: create it with `-o <abs path>`, then pass

`--project <abs path>` to every later command. Each command saves the project.

• Read `cli-anything-<app> <group> <command> --help` before guessing flags.
• Do not use shell here-documents (`python3 - <<'PY'`): the sandboxed shell cannot create

their temp files. Use `python3 -c '...'` or write a script file into the workspace.

• Failure: exit code 1 with `{"error": ..., "type": ...}` on stdout, or a Python traceback.

Read the error, fix the arguments, and do not retry blindly.

LibreOffice example:

L=cli-anything-libreoffice; P="$PWD/memo.lo-cli.json"
$L --json document new --type writer -n memo -o "$P"
$L --json --project "$P" writer add-heading -t "Q4 Plan" -l 1
$L --json --project "$P" writer add-paragraph -t "Summary text"
$L --json --project "$P" export render "$PWD/memo.pdf" -p pdf --overwrite

GIMP example:

G=cli-anything-gimp; P="$PWD/banner.gimp-cli.json"
$G --json project new -w 1200 -h 630 -bg "#1e293b" -o "$P"
$G --json --project "$P" layer new -n accent --type solid -w 1200 -h 120 --fill "#f97316"
$G --json --project "$P" layer set 0 offset_y 510
$G --json --project "$P" layer new -n title --type image -w 1200 -h 630 --fill transparent
$G --json --project "$P" draw text -l 0 -t "Launch" --x 80 --y 240 --size 72 --color "#ffffff"
$G --json --project "$P" export render "$PWD/banner.png" -p png --overwrite

Known harness bugs (pinned commit)

• LibreOffice `export render` uses the `odt` preset unless you pass `-p`, whatever the file

extension says. Exporting a Calc project to `budget.ods` without `-p ods` silently writes an empty Writer file. Always pass `-p` matching the extension (`odt`, `ods`, `odp`, `pdf`, `docx`, `xlsx`, `pptx`, `csv`, `html`, `text`).

• LibreOffice Calc formulas from `calc set-cell --formula` evaluate to `Err:510`/`#VALUE!`

in LibreOffice and in XLSX. Compute values yourself and write them with `--type float`; mention that the cells hold values, not live formulas.

• GIMP `--type text` layers draw their `text` property at 24 px in the top-left corner,

and `layer set` cannot change it. For titles, use a transparent `--type image` layer plus `draw text` (as in the example) and leave text layers out.

• GIMP renders through Pillow when GIMP is absent; without Pillow it fails with

"Neither GIMP nor Pillow is available".

4. Verify the output

The JSON from a command acknowledges that it ran, not that the result is right. Check the saved file before reporting success:

• Images: `cli-anything-gimp