Codex CLI: Turn natural language commands into bash/ZShell/PowerShell equivalent
github.com
github.com
For example, here are some things I pulled from `.bash_history`, and what I think I was meaning to do.
# Get the IP address of running lxc container ${CONTAINER_NAME}
CONTAINER_NAME=some-container; lxc-ls -f | grep ${CONTAINER_NAME} | awk '{print $5}' | sed -z 's|-.*\s||g;'
# Find the latest git tag version, excluding release candidates and development builds
git describe --tags `git rev-list --tags --exclude=*-rc* --max-count=100` | grep -vP '(\-rc|dev)' | head -1
# get the database name from parameters.yml
grep 'database_name:' parameters.yml | sed 's|.*:||g; s|\s||g;'
PowerShell has the advantage of a really consistent standard library, syntax, objects, and has the .NET type system behind it, so any answer is probably already in the format you want or requires minimal manipulation. I can see it working much better there, and that's also probably why the example video only shows PowerShell too. Granted, I am probably the opposite of the target audience.
All that being said, would you really trust running some random commands you don't understand enough to write, because some remote server told you to? It should tell you the commands first rather than just executing them.
From the videos, I believe you have to press Enter to actually execute the suggested command.
> why the example video only shows PowerShell too
The readme did say that it was inspired by a similar project targetting zsh[0], so I don't see why over time the model couldn't improve to suggest what you want.
Cool, that's good to hear if that's the case.
> The readme did say that it was inspired by a similar project targetting zsh[0], so I don't see why over time the model couldn't improve to suggest what you want.
Interesting, I know very little about all the cool stuff that zsh can do compared with bash, I suppose if it works well for zsh it could probably work for bash then, since zsh is more complex?
Personally I can't see myself ever using these kinds of tools, even if it fit my usecase. In part because I like to figure things out for myself, and also because I don't like outsourcing decisions to unaccountable ML models. I think these are cool ideas, but I think in the long run they will cause more problems than they solve, just like no-code development platforms. IMO all ML models need to be able to explain themselves before we can trust them with anything important.
You definitely do have to press enter to execute the command - as with Copilot, you - the developer - can, and should, retain control.
I also like figuring things out myself, but find myself using this tool to help me do so. If I'm using kubectl to run some esoteric command, I'd rather not leave the shell to figure it out - my usage pattern is usually to ask once or twice, and then use that knowledge to handle it on my own the next time
I should probably actually try it instead of trying to second guess it. Is there a way to have it just echo the output instead of having the input ready for you to press enter? Only asking since I'm a clumsy person at the keyboard sometimes :)
This is totally valid. We built it such that you are still in charge of whether or not you accept the command - what you see are just suggestions, not code that will automatically run. That said, there will be people who accept something they don't understand. We've been thinking about detecting dangerous commands and warning the user to proceed with caution - would this seem like a tenable approach for you?
While for most of my work I’ll shamelessly fall back to Python scripts, basic operations that don’t warrant a script but still require tools like awk, sed, etc that I never learned have greatly benefited from this little tool. I found it far faster than combing through 3-4 StackOverflow answers and hodgepodging my solution together
Why will it be different this time?
As someone who's worked on natural language interfaces for years this hits hard. The long tail of ways that people express themselves have always made it near impossible to truly build systems that understand our intent and can act on it. I don't think LLMs are a silver bullet that nullify this, but I do think they're exceptionally better than what we've had in the past and that with the right user interface can help us take strides in the right direction.
In the case of the Codex CLI - the goal isn't to eliminate PowerShell, Bash or zsh as computer interfaces, but to assist developers (new and old) as they're using them. The Codex CLI is using Codex off-the-shelf (no customization), and is already quite capable of helping me handle complex shell tasks that I would have taken me much longer to handle in the past. That it can rely on my NL->Code dialog history also gives it context about my task that StackOverflow could never have.
I think the key here will boil down to the user experience - a UX that eliminates shell languages and just takes natural language would be awful, but one that thoughtfully helps you express yourself in terse languages can be helpful.