I built a similar tool called “lmsh” (LM shell) that uses Claude-code non-interactive mode (hence no API keys needed, since it uses your CC subscription): it presents the shell command on a REPL like line that you can edit first and hit enter to run it. Used Rust to make it a bit snappier:
https://github.com/pchalasani/claude-code-tools?tab=readme-o...
It’s pretty basic, and could be improved a lot. E.g make it use Haiku or codex-CLI with low thinking etc. Another thing is have it bypass reading CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md. (PRs anyone? ;)
>it presents the shell command on a REPL like line that you can edit first and hit enter to run it.
Oh genius, that's the best UX idea for the situation of asking an LLM to flesh out the CLI command without relying entirely on blind faith.
Even better if we can have that kind of behavior in the shell itself. For example if we started typing "cat list | grep foo | " and then suddenly realized we want help with the awk command so that it drops the first column.
This a pretty neat approach, indeed. Having to use the API might be an inconvenience for some people indeed. I guess having the Claude or ChatGPT subscription and using it with the CLI tools is what makes developers stick with these tools, instead of using what is out there.
Right, when we’re already paying $100 or $200 per month, leveraging that “almost-all-you-can eat buffet” is always going to be more attractive than spending more on per token API billing.