/managing-temp-scripts

name: managing-temp-scripts
description: Create and execute temporary scripts (Python, Node.js, shell) during workflow execution for API integrations, data processing, and custom tools. Use when user needs to interact with external APIs, process data with specific libraries, or create temporary executable code.

Managing Temporary Scripts

I help you create and execute temporary scripts during workflow execution. Perfect for API integrations, data processing with specialized libraries, and creating temporary tools that execute and return results.

When I Activate

I automatically activate when you:

• Need to interact with external APIs (Reddit, Twitter, GitHub, etc.)
• Want to use specific libraries not available in Claude Code
• Need to process data with custom code
• Ask "how do I call an API in a workflow?"
• Mention "temporary script", "execute code", "API client"
• Need credentials/API keys for external services

Key Concept

**Temporary scripts are code files that:** 1. Are created during workflow execution 2. Execute via Bash tool 3. Return results to workflow 4. Are automatically cleaned up after workflow completion

**Supported Languages:**

• Python (with pip packages)
• Node.js/JavaScript (with npm packages)
• Shell/Bash scripts
• Ruby, Go, or any executable language

Quick Example

# 1. Ask for API credentials
AskUserQuestion:"Reddit API key needed":api_key ->

# 2. Create Python script with embedded credentials
general-purpose:"Create Python script: reddit_client.py with {api_key}":script_path ->

# 3. Execute script and capture output
Bash:"python3 {script_path}":reddit_data ->

# 4. Process results in workflow
general-purpose:"Analyze {reddit_data} and create summary":analysis ->

# 5. Cleanup happens automatically

Script Lifecycle

See [script-lifecycle.md](script-lifecycle.md) for complete details.

**Overview:**

1. Creation
   ↓
   Write script to /tmp/workflow-scripts/

2. Preparation
   ↓
   Set permissions (chmod +x)
   Install dependencies if needed

3. Execution
   ↓
   Run via Bash tool
   Capture stdout/stderr

4. Data Return
   ↓
   Parse output (JSON, CSV, text)
   Pass to next workflow step

5. Cleanup
   ↓
   Remove script files
   Clean temp directories

Common Use Cases

1. API Integration

**Reddit API Client:**

# /tmp/workflow-scripts/reddit_client.py
import requests
import json
import sys

api_key = sys.argv[1]
subreddit = sys.argv[2]

headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {api_key}'}
response = requests.get(
    f'https://oauth.reddit.com/r/{subreddit}/hot.json',
    headers=headers
)

print(json.dumps(response.json(), indent=2))

**In workflow:**

$script-creator:"Create reddit_client.py":script ->
Bash:"python3 {script} {api_key} programming":posts ->
general-purpose:"Parse {posts} and extract top 10 titles"

2. Data Processing

**CSV Analysis:**

# /tmp/workflow-scripts/analyze_data.py
import pandas as pd
import sys

df = pd.read_csv(sys.argv[1])
summary = df.describe().to_json()
print(summary)

**In workflow:**

general-purpose:"Create analyze_data.py script":script ->
Bash:"pip install pandas && python3 {script} data.csv":analysis ->
general-purpose:"Interpret {analysis} and create report"

3. Web Scraping

**Article Scraper:**

// /tmp/workflow-scripts/scraper.js
const axios = require('axios');
const cheerio = require('cheerio');

async function scrapeArticles(url) {
  const {data} = await axios.get(url);
  const $ = cheerio.load(data);

  const articles = [];
  $('.article').each((i, el) => {
    articles.push({
      title: $(el).find('.title').text(),
      url: $(el).find('a').attr('href')
    });
  });

  console.log(JSON.stringify(articles));
}

scrapeArticles(process.argv[2]);

**In workflow:**

general-purpose:"Create scraper.js":script ->
Bash:"npm install axios cheerio && node {script} https://news.site":articles ->
general-purpose:"Process {articles}"

Script Templates

See [script-templates.md](script-templates.md) for complete library.

**Quick templates:**

• **API Client** (REST, GraphQL)
• **Data Processing** (CSV, JSON, XML)
• **Web Scraping** (HTML parsing)
• **File Processing** (PDF, images, documents)
• **Database Access** (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB)
• **Message Queues** (RabbitMQ, Kafka)
• **Cloud Services** (AWS S3, GCS, Azure)

Security Best Practices

See [security.md](security.md) for comprehensive guide.

**Quick checklist:**

✅ **Credentials Management:**

• Pass via command-line arguments (not hardcoded)
• Use environment variables for sensitive data
• Clean up after execution

✅ **File Permissions:**

chmod 700 /tmp/workflow-scripts/script.py  # Owner only

✅ **Output Sanitization:**

• Validate script output before using
• Escape special characters
• Limit output size

✅ **Dependency Management:**

• Use virtual environments for Python
• Specify exact package versions
• Avoid running arbitrary code

Integration with Workflows

See [integration-patterns.md](integration-patterns.md) for detailed patterns.

Pattern 1: Simple Script Execution

general-purpose:"Create script.py that fetches data":script ->
Bash:"python3 {script}":data ->
general-purpose:"Process {data}"

Pattern 2: Script with User Input

AskUserQuestion:"API credentials needed":creds ->
general-purpose:"Create api_client.py with {creds}":script ->
Bash:"python3 {script}":results ->
general-purpose:"Analyze {results}"

Pattern 3: Parallel Script Execution

general-purpose:"Create multiple API clients":scripts ->
[
  Bash:"python3 {scripts.reddit}":reddit_data ||
  Bash:"python3 {scripts.twitter}":twitter_data ||
  Bash:"python3 {scripts.github}":github_data
] ->
general-purpose:"Merge all data sources"

Pattern 4: Iterative Processing

@process_batch ->
general-purpose:"Create batch_processor.py":script ->
Bash:"python3 {script} batch_{n}":results