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Task Command

The task command enables you to describe a task you want to accomplish, and the agent will generate and execute commands to complete it.

Usage

agent task [flags] <task description>

The agent will: 1. Interpret your task description 2. Generate appropriate commands to accomplish the task 3. Ask for your permission before executing any commands 4. Provide the results

Examples

# List files
agent task "List all files in the current directory sorted by size"

# Find specific files
agent task "Find all .go files modified in the last week"

# Process text
agent task "Count the number of lines in all .md files"

# System information
agent task "Show me information about my CPU and memory usage"

Python Automation (Native)

The task agent can draft and run Python scripts using native tools (no cat <<EOF), then execute them with python3, python, or uv run python.

Prerequisites

  • python3 or python available on your PATH
  • Optional: uv for fast, isolated execution

Example

# Write hello.py and run it
agent task "Create hello.py that prints Hello, run it with python3"

# Use uv when available
agent task "Create hello.py that prints Hello, run it with uv run python"

If you need PEP 723 script mode, ask for uv run --script explicitly.

You will be asked to confirm each execution step. File creation and edits are performed by the agent’s native tools.

Flags

Flag Short Default Description
--provider -p From config The LLM provider to use
--model -m From config The model ID to use
--print -x true Whether to print the response to stdout
--log -l false Whether to log the input and output to a file
--plain -k false Render the response as plain text (no markdown)
--allow [] Allow actions without confirmation (repeatable, regex-based)

Action strings use a function-style format, e.g. unix("aws login sso") or file_edit("README.md", operation="write"). All strings are treated as regex and must match the full value. To constrain keys, use allowKeys=["region", "profile"] (regex allowed), and key values can be regex too, e.g. region="us-.*".

Safety Features

The task command includes safety measures:

  1. Command Confirmation: Before executing any generated command, the agent will show you the command and ask for confirmation.
  2. Limited Command Set: Only certain safe commands are allowed to be executed automatically.
  3. Iterative Approach: The agent breaks down complex tasks into smaller steps, with visibility at each stage.

Limitations

Currently, the task command has some limitations:

  • Not all Unix commands are supported for automatic execution
  • Some advanced operations may require manual intervention
  • The task command is not supported by the Perplexity provider

History and Logging

Using the --log flag will save your task and the response to the history log:

agent task --log "Create a backup of all .json files"

You can query your history with the history command.