Terminal Killer

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name: terminal-killer

description: Intelligent shell command detector and executor for OpenClaw. Automatically identifies terminal commands (system builtins, $PATH executables, history matches, command patterns) and executes directly without LLM overhead. Cross-platform support (macOS/Linux/Windows). Use when user input appears to be a shell command to skip AI processing and run immediately.

author: Cosper

contact: cosperypf@163.com

---

# Terminal Killer

🚀 Smart command router that executes shell commands directly, bypassing LLM for instant terminal operations.

Quick Start

Terminal Killer automatically activates when user input matches command patterns. No special syntax needed — just type commands naturally:

ls -la              # → Direct exec
git status          # → Direct exec  
npm install         # → Direct exec
"help me code"      # → LLM handles normally

How It Works

Detection Pipeline

User Input → Command Detector → Decision
                                      ├── Command → exec (direct)
                                      └── Task → LLM (normal)

Environment Loading

Terminal Killer automatically loads your shell environment before executing commands:

1. **Detects your shell** (zsh, bash, etc.)

2. **Sources init files** (`~/.zshrc`, `~/.bash_profile`, `~/.bashrc`, etc.)

3. **Inherits full PATH** - including custom paths like Android SDK, Homebrew, etc.

4. **Preserves environment variables** - all your `export VAR=value` settings

This ensures commands like `adb`, `kubectl`, `docker`, etc. work exactly as they do in your terminal!

Detection Rules (in order)

1. **System Builtins** - Check against OS-specific builtin commands

2. **PATH Executables** - Scan `$PATH` for matching executables

3. **History Match** - Compare against recent shell history

4. **Command Pattern** - Heuristic analysis (operators, paths, etc.)

5. **Confidence Score** - Combine signals for final decision

Detection Details

1. System Builtins

Checks input against known builtin commands for the current OS:

| macOS/Linux | Windows (PowerShell) | Windows (CMD) |

|-------------|---------------------|---------------|

| `cd`, `pwd`, `ls` | `cd`, `pwd`, `ls` | `cd`, `dir`, `cls` |

| `echo`, `cat` | `echo`, `cat` | `echo`, `type` |

| `mkdir`, `rm`, `cp` | `mkdir`, `rm`, `cp` | `mkdir`, `del`, `copy` |

| `grep`, `find` | `grep`, `find` | `findstr` |

| `git`, `npm`, `node` | `git`, `npm`, `node` | `git`, `npm`, `node` |

See `references/builtins/` for complete lists.

2. PATH Executable Check

Scans `$PATH` directories to verify if the first word is an executable:

# Uses `which` (Unix) or `Get-Command` (PowerShell)
which <command>    # Returns path if exists

3. History Matching

Compares input against recent shell history (`~/.zsh_history`, `~/.bash_history`, PowerShell history):

4. Command Pattern Analysis

Heuristic scoring based on command characteristics:

| Pattern | Score | Example |

|---------|-------|---------|

| Starts with known command | +3 | `git status` |

| Contains shell operators | +2 | `ls | grep` |

| Contains path references | +2 | `cd ~/projects` |

| Contains flags/args | +1 | `npm install --save` |

| Contains `$` variables | +2 | `echo $HOME` |

| Contains redirection | +2 | `cat file > out` |

| Looks like natural language | -3 | "please help me" |

| Contains question marks | -2 | "how do I...?" |

5. Confidence Threshold

Score >= 5  → EXECUTE (high confidence command)
Score 3-4   → ASK (uncertain, confirm with user)
Score < 3   → LLM (likely a task/request)

Usage

Automatic Activation

Terminal Killer triggers automatically when:

Interactive Commands

Terminal Killer automatically detects and handles interactive shell commands:

**Detected Patterns:**

**Behavior:**

Manual Override

Force command execution:

!ls -la          # Force exec even if uncertain

Force LLM handling:

?? explain git   # Force LLM even if looks like command

Safety Features

Dangerous Command Detection

Automatically flags potentially dangerous operations:

Approval Workflow

Dangerous command detected!

Command: rm -rf ./important-folder
Risk: HIGH - Recursive delete

[Approve] [Deny] [Edit]

Audit Logging

All executed commands are logged to:

~/.openclaw/logs/terminal-killer.log

Log format:

{
  "timestamp": "2026-02-28T12:00:00Z",
  "command": "ls -la",
  "confidence": 8,
  "execution_time_ms": 45,
  "output_lines": 12,
  "status": "success"
}

Configuration

Settings

Add to your OpenClaw config:

terminal-killer:
  enabled: true
  confidence_threshold: 5
  require_approval_for:
    - "rm -rf"
    - "sudo"
    - "dd"
    - "mkfs"
  log_executions: true
  max_history_check: 100  # How many history entries to check

Platform Detection

Automatically detects OS and adjusts detection rules:

# Auto-detected at runtime
uname -s  # Darwin, Linux, etc.

Implementation

Core Script

See `scripts/detect-command.js` for the main detection logic.

Helper Scripts

Testing

See `references/TESTING.md` for comprehensive test guide.

Quick test:

# Run the test suite
node scripts/test-detector.js

# Test specific commands
node scripts/detect-command.js "ls -la"
node scripts/detect-command.js "help me write code"

Limitations

Contributing

To add new builtin commands for your platform:

1. Edit `references/builtins/<platform>.txt`

2. Test with `scripts/test-detector.js`

3. Submit PR with platform verification

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👤 About the Creator

**Author:** Cosper

**Contact:** [cosperypf@163.com](mailto:cosperypf@163.com)

**License:** MIT

📬 Get in Touch

Interested in this skill? Have suggestions, bug reports, or want to collaborate?

🙏 Acknowledgments

Built for the OpenClaw community. Thanks to everyone contributing to the ecosystem!

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📝 Changelog

v1.1.0 (2026-02-28)

**🎯 Core Improvements:**

1. **✅ Faithful Command Execution**

- Commands are executed exactly as input

- No modifications, no optimizations, no additions

- Raw output preserved (including progress bars, special characters, etc.)

2. **🪟 Interactive Shell Detection**

- Automatically detects interactive commands (`adb shell`, `ssh`, `docker exec -it`, etc.)

- Opens new Terminal window for interactive sessions

- Keeps main session free for other tasks

- Loads full shell environment (~/.zshrc, etc.)

3. **📜 Long Output Handling**

- Detects output longer than 2000 bytes

- Shows 200-character preview

- Prompts user to open in new Terminal window

- Prevents interface rendering issues with long content

**📦 Files Updated:**

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v1.0.0 (2026-02-28)

**Initial Release:**

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**Version:** 1.1.0

**Created:** 2026-02-28

**Last Updated:** 2026-02-28