Command-Line Help for shelltool

This document contains the help content for the shelltool command-line program.

Installation

brew install swissarmyhammer/tap/shelltool-cli

Command Overview:

• shelltool↴
• shelltool serve↴
• shelltool init↴
• shelltool deinit↴
• shelltool doctor↴
• shelltool completion↴

shelltool

shelltool - A shell that saves tokens

Replaces Bash and exec CLI tools with a persistent, searchable shell. Instead of flooding the context window with raw command output, shelltool stores everything in history — the agent runs commands, then greps the results, retrieving only the lines that matter.

Usage: shelltool [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>

Subcommands:

• serve — Run MCP server over stdio, exposing the shell tool
• init — Install shelltool MCP server into Claude Code settings
• deinit — Remove shelltool from Claude Code settings
• doctor — Diagnose shelltool configuration and setup
• completion — Generate shell completion scripts

Options:

• -d, --debug — Enable debug output to stderr

shelltool serve

Run MCP server over stdio, exposing the shell tool

Usage: shelltool serve

shelltool init

Install shelltool MCP server into Claude Code settings

Usage: shelltool init [TARGET]

Arguments:

• <TARGET> — Where to install the server configuration

  Default value: project

  Possible values:

  • project: Project-level configuration (committed to the repo)
  • local: Local project configuration that is not committed
  • user: User-wide (global) configuration

shelltool deinit

Remove shelltool from Claude Code settings

Usage: shelltool deinit [TARGET]

Arguments:

• <TARGET> — Where to remove the server configuration from

  Default value: project

  Possible values:

  • project: Project-level configuration (committed to the repo)
  • local: Local project configuration that is not committed
  • user: User-wide (global) configuration

shelltool doctor

Diagnose shelltool configuration and setup

Usage: shelltool doctor [OPTIONS]

Options:

• -v, --verbose — Show detailed output including fix suggestions

shelltool completion

Generates shell completion scripts for various shells. Supports:

• bash
• zsh
• fish
• powershell

Examples:

Bash (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile)

shelltool completion bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/shelltool

Zsh (add to ~/.zshrc or a file in fpath)

shelltool completion zsh > ~/.zfunc/_shelltool

Fish

shelltool completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/shelltool.fish

PowerShell

shelltool completion powershell >> $PROFILE

Usage: shelltool completion <SHELL>

Arguments:

• <SHELL> — Shell to generate completion for

  Possible values: bash, elvish, fish, powershell, zsh