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Skillsagent-cli

agent-cli

Agents & models

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Updated 11-02 16:28

About this skill

Agent CLI

Give the app a command line, so an agent can do everything a person can do in the window: tasks items add --title "Call the dentist". A small console exe is the CLI. Each command goes to the running app over a private named pipe, runs there like a button press, and the window updates live.

Claude Code --shell--> tasks.exe items add ...  --named pipe--> Tasks.exe (runs the command, saves, redraws)
Claude Desktop --MCP--> tasks.exe mcp            --named pipe--> same commands, same app

A WinUI exe cannot be the CLI itself: it is a GUI program, so cmd and PowerShell do not wait for it, there is no exit code to read, and its stdout is not dependable. The CLI is a second project, <App>.Cli, that compiles the same command list as the app.

CLI, MCP, or URL protocol

Way in Who uses it Ship it
CLI Claude Code, Codex, scripts, people in a terminal Always. Agents learn it from --help, and it costs no context until used
MCP (tasks mcp) Claude Desktop and other clients with no shell Optional. The same commands, one tool each. One line to register
URL protocol (tasks://) Links, Stream Deck, PowerToys Run Separate work (os-integrations skill). It returns no result, so agents cannot use it

The CLI talks to the running app, never to the SQLite file. Then there is one writer, the app's checks and side effects run, and the window shows the change at once. If the app is closed, the CLI starts it without taking the focus. Rules and reasons: rules.md.

1. List the commands

Read the user stories (docs/stories/). Write each thing a person does as a command, <noun> <verb>, and mark it:

  • read: items list, items show, status. Safe to run any time.
  • write: items add, items update, open. Changes data, can be undone.
  • destructive: items delete, mail send. Only reports what it would do until --yes is given.

Add status (is it running, what is open, counts) and open <page> (show a page in the window), so an agent can see and steer the app.

Check: every M1 story has its commands, and each command is marked.

2. Add the files

& "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/add-agent-cli.ps1" <app-folder> <cli-name>

It copies src\<App>\Agent\ (core, pipe, command list, handlers, host) and the console project src\<App>.Cli\ (CLI and MCP server), adds that project to the .slnx, starts the pipe in App.xaml.cs, and makes build.ps1 install %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin\<cli-name>.exe. Apps not made from the template: do the same by hand, following the script.

Check: the script printed "added the agent CLI", and ./build.ps1 finishes with no errors or warnings.

3. Write the commands

Each command lives in two files under src\<App>\Agent\:

  • AgentCommands.cs: the name, a one-line summary, the params, a full example, and the mark (ReadOnly or Destructive). The CLI project compiles this file too, so it holds no app types.
  • AgentHandlers.cs: what the command does, under the same name. It runs on the UI thread with the app's AppModel and MainWindow, and calls the same model code as the window's buttons. Never copy logic: call the function the button calls.

Replace the examples with the app's own commands.

  • Every model an agent touches has a Guid Id. Commands show the first 8 hex characters as id, and accept any unique start of it.
  • Results are small JsonObjects: the fields an agent needs, not the whole model. Lists take --limit and --offset, and return total and nextOffset.
  • Errors throw AgentError with a message that says how to fix it: "no item with id 3f2a. Run tasks items list".

All the rules: rules.md.

Check: <cli-name> help lists every command from step 1, <cli-name> help <command> shows its params and example, and tools/selftest.ps1 prints no AGENT no handler line.

4. Build and install

./build.ps1
<cli-name> help

build.ps1 installs the app and publishes the CLI as one exe to %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin\<cli-name>.exe, so the CLI always matches the app. Claude Code's native installer uses the same folder, so it is often on PATH already. If the shell cannot find the CLI, build.ps1 says so; ask the user before you add the folder to their user Path, then open a new terminal.

Check: <cli-name> version prints one build number for the CLI and the running app.

5. Test

& "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/check-agent-cli.ps1" <cli-name>

It starts a test copy of the app on a %TEMP% database, checks help, JSON output, error codes, --no-launch, every read command, the version match, and the MCP tool list and one tool call, then closes the test copy. Then run each write command once by hand on a test store and look at the window: the change shows without a reload.

$env:APP_STORE = "$env:TEMP\<App>-test.db"
<cli-name> items add --title "Test" --json
Remove-Item Env:APP_STORE

Check: the script prints PASS agent CLI.

6. Teach agents

Write .claude/skills/<cli-name>/SKILL.md in the app's repo from teach-agents.md: what the app is, the safety rules, the main commands, and "run <cli-name> help for the rest". To use the app from any folder, also copy it to %USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\<cli-name>\. Add one line to the app's CLAUDE.md: "Drive the app with <cli-name>. See .claude/skills/<cli-name>/SKILL.md."

Check: a fresh claude -p "List my starred items with <cli-name>" finds the CLI and answers from real data.

7. MCP, when the user wants it

For Claude Desktop, or to get one approval prompt per tool:

claude mcp add --scope user <cli-name> -- "$HOME\.local\bin\<cli-name>.exe" mcp
codex mcp add <cli-name> -- "$HOME\.local\bin\<cli-name>.exe" mcp

Claude Desktop: add it to its config file (Settings > Developer > Edit Config) under mcpServers, with the full path to the exe and "args": ["mcp"]. More in teach-agents.md.

Check: claude mcp list shows the server as connected.

Done when every command from step 1 runs through the CLI against the running app, check-agent-cli.ps1 prints PASS agent CLI, the app's repo has the agent skill from step 6, and a fresh Claude Code session can do a real task with it.