CLI Development Tools

File operations and code transformation toolkit for efficient development workflows.

Capabilities

• File Discovery - Fast, git-aware file finding with fd
• Interactive Filtering - Fuzzy selection from any line-based input with fzf
• Safe Deletion - Recoverable file removal with trash
• Text Replacement - Intuitive find & replace with sd (modern sed alternative)
• Structural Code Search - AST-aware code search and refactoring with ast-grep
• Pipeline Integration - Combine tools for powerful workflows (fd | fzf | xargs trash, fd | xargs sd, fd | xargs ast-grep)
• Prescriptive Bash Guidance - When/how to use tools via Claude Code Bash tool

When to Use

Trigger phrases:

• "fd", "fzf", "trash", "sd", "ast-grep"
• "file discovery", "find files", "search files"
• "fuzzy filter", "interactive selection", "select files"
• "safe delete", "safe removal", "recoverable deletion"
• "text replacement", "find and replace", "sed alternative"
• "structural search", "AST patterns", "code transformation", "systematic refactoring"
• "file operations", "batch file operations"

Actions:

1. Load cli-dev skill metadata (this file)
2. Reference quick reference for tool purposes and usage
3. Load specific tool resource for detailed guidance (resources/{tool}.md)
4. Apply prescriptive Bash patterns for Claude Code workflows

Quick Reference

Key workflows:

• File discovery: fd pattern (faster than find, git-aware)
• Interactive selection: fd | fzf (pick from list)
• Batch operations: fd pattern | fzf --multi | xargs trash (select + delete safely)
• Text replacement: sd 'old' 'new' file (simpler than sed, preview with -p)
• Code transformation: ast-grep -p 'pattern' --lang ts (AST-aware search/refactor)

Resources

Tool Documentation (resources/):

• fd.md - Modern find replacement (fast, git-aware, sensible defaults)

  • When to use vs find
  • Common Bash patterns for Claude Code
  • Prescriptive guidance (prefer fd over find)
  • Pipeline integration (fd | fzf, fd --exec)

• fzf.md - Interactive fuzzy finder for shell pipelines

  • When to use for filtering
  • Common Bash patterns (multi-select, preview)
  • Prescriptive guidance (always combine with fd)
  • Pipeline integration examples

• trash.md - Safe alternative to rm (recoverable deletion)

  • When to use vs rm
  • Common Bash patterns (batch deletion, interactive cleanup)
  • Prescriptive guidance (prefer trash over rm for user files)
  • Safety patterns for Claude Code workflows

• sd.md - Modern sed alternative (intuitive text replacement)

  • When to use vs sed
  • Common Bash patterns (in-place, preview, literal mode)
  • Prescriptive guidance (prefer sd over sed for interactive work)
  • Pipeline integration (fd | xargs sd)

• ast-grep.md - AST-based code search and refactoring

  • When to use vs text-based search (grep/sd)
  • Common Bash patterns (structural search, language-aware refactoring)
  • Prescriptive guidance (prefer ast-grep for code transformations)
  • Pipeline integration (fd | xargs ast-grep)
  • Pattern library (ast-grep-patterns.yaml)

Progressive Disclosure Strategy

Metadata (always loaded, ~100 words):

• Skill name, description with triggers
• Quick reference table (5 tools)
• Basic capabilities overview

SKILL.md (loaded when skill invoked, ~150 lines):

• Full capabilities description
• When to use (trigger phrases)
• Quick reference with common patterns
• Resources overview

Resources (loaded on-demand, ~50-80 lines each):

• Detailed tool documentation
• When to use (vs alternatives)
• Bash patterns for Claude Code
• Prescriptive guidance (prefer X over Y)
• Tips and workflow integration

Token efficiency:

• Metadata only: ~25 tokens (passive presence)
• With SKILL.md: ~500 tokens (skill invoked)
• With resource: ~700-900 tokens (specific tool guidance)
• vs framework baseline: ~2,150 tokens (55% savings for tool-specific queries)

Integration with Other Skills

framework skill:

• Framework references cli-dev for file operations
• No dependencies (cli-dev self-contained)
• Trigger separation: "workflow" → framework, "fd" → cli-dev

python skill:

• May reference fd for Python file discovery
• Independent loading (no coupling)

Other cli-* skills:

• cli-doc - Documentation tools (markitdown, mdformat, nl, ocrmypdf)
• No overlaps in tool coverage (git skill covers git workflows separately)

Usage Examples

Example 1: File discovery

User: "How do I find all TypeScript files in src/?"
→ cli-dev loads (metadata + SKILL.md)
→ Quick reference: fd -e ts src/
→ Link to resources/fd.md for detailed patterns

Example 2: Interactive file selection

User: "I want to select files interactively"
→ cli-dev loads
→ Quick reference: fd | fzf
→ Resources/fzf.md: Multi-select with --multi, preview with --preview

Example 3: Safe batch deletion

User: "How do I safely delete temporary files?"
→ cli-dev loads
→ Quick reference: fd '.tmp$' | fzf --multi | xargs trash
→ Resources/trash.md: Prescriptive guidance on trash vs rm

Example 4: Pipeline integration

User: "Find markdown files and preview them"
→ cli-dev loads
→ Combine fd + fzf: fd -e md | fzf --preview 'bat --color=always {}'
→ Resources/fd.md and fzf.md: Detailed pipeline patterns

Example 5: Bash tool guidance

User: "Use fd to find configuration files"
→ cli-dev loads resources/fd.md
→ Returns Bash pattern: fd -e json -e yaml config/
→ Prescriptive guidance: Prefer fd over find (faster, git-aware)

Success Metrics

Trigger accuracy:

• 95% auto-load when tool mentioned (fd, fzf, trash, sd, ast-grep)

• No collisions with other skills (framework, python)
• Specific tool names as primary triggers

Token efficiency:

• Metadata: ~25 tokens (always loaded)
• SKILL.md: ~500 tokens (skill invoked)
• Resources: ~700-900 tokens per tool (on-demand)
• vs framework: 55% savings for tool-specific queries

Prescriptive guidance quality:

• All 5 tool docs have "When to Use", "Bash Patterns", "Prescriptive Guidance"
• Clear preference statements (prefer fd over find, trash over rm, ast-grep for code)
• Pipeline integration examples (fd | fzf, fd | xargs trash, fd | xargs ast-grep)

Progressive disclosure effectiveness:

• Resources load only when tool specifically mentioned
• Quick reference sufficient for common queries
• Detailed guidance available on-demand

Usability:

• Claude Code can find tool quickly (quick reference table)
• Bash patterns ready for immediate use
• Prescriptive guidance clear (when to use, when NOT to use)

Notes

Type: Guidance-Only (no scripts, CLI tools external)

Portability: Self-contained .claude/skills/cli-dev/ folder (shareable)

Tool installation: fd, fzf, trash installed separately (not part of skill)

Pattern: Type 6 Guidance-Only (matching claude-md, agents-md pattern)

Quality target: 9.5/10 (DRY, token efficiency, accuracy, completeness, format)