gptdo-tool

A command-line tool which takes instructions in plain english and uses AI to suggest and run terminal commands based on the specified output

Configuration

1. Clone the repository to your desired location
2. Create a symlink to bin/gptdo somewhere on your path, e.g. ln -s ./bin/gptdo /usr/bin/gptdo
3. Create directory ~/.gptdo or run gptdo to have it created for you
4. Create ~/.gptdo/.env with the following contents:

OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-api-key
GPT_MODEL=gpt-4o

Limitations

The gptdo tool has a couple key limitations:

1. Non-persistent shell environment: If gptdo tried to run the commands cd ~/newdir then touch new_file in order, it will NOT touch new_file in newdir, but in whatever working directory you ran gptdo in, because each command is run in a new subshell. This also means that any changes gptdo makes to your current environment (such as PWD or any other environment variables) will be gone when gptdo is done running.
2. No stdin pipe: If a command that is run by gptdo requires user input, such as a y/n prompt, it will get stuck, as stdin is not currently forwarded to the user.

Usage

In-line prompt

Use the -p flag to ask a question directly in your command. This will immediately kick-off the processing of the response, and will apply special formatting to your conversation history like the default gptdo mode does.

Example:

$> gptdo -p "Give me an interesting fact in 5 words or less"
 > Honey never spoils over time. 

Auto-approve commands

Use the -y flag to automatically run any recommended commands without being asked for approval first. Use at your own risk.

Special context files

You can use gptdo -F file1 file2 file3 to add extra context to the chat. These files can contain anything - it could be a file you want to do some code analysis on, extra prompt instructions that you've saved to a file for ease of re-use, or environment configurations for prompts which require extra knowledge such as a database endpoint.

If a specified file does not exist relative to your current working directory, it will check to see if the file exists within ~/.gptdo/contexts. If you have some special context you will re-use frequently but don't need for every use of gptdo, it is recommended to create it as a file in ~/.gptdo/contexts.

Example:

1. nano ~/.gptdo/contexts/my_db
2. Contents:

MySQL Database Info:
 - host: db.myapp.com
 - user: remote
 - password: prompt for password
 - db_name: my_app_db
 - notes:
   - The remote user for this DB has read-only access

3. gptdo -F my_db -p "Open a connection to my database"
4. GPT will prompt you to run a mysql command which will connect you to the db as laid out in the my_db file.

Raw output

Use the -r flag in conjuction with -p to get gptdo's commands as raw output, and omit any other output. This makes it possible to run command directly in your shell using eval.

Example:

• $> eval $(gptdo -r -p "change my directory to my home directory")
• gptdo will print cd ~ and that will be evaluated, thus moving you to your home directory.