Atuin AI
Atuin AI is a subcommand that enables shell command generation and other information lookup via an LLM directly from your terminal.
Atuin AI requires an account on Atuin Hub, and you'll be prompted to login upon first use of the binary.
Getting Started
Atuin AI currently supports zsh, bash, and fish shells. Your shell's usual atuin init call will automatically bind the question mark key to the Atuin AI UI (only when the prompt is empty).
Disabling Atuin AI
You can disable the default question mark key binding by passing --disable-ai to your shell's atuin init call.
Settings
For a list of settings that control the behavior of Atuin AI, see its dedicated settings documentation.
Features
Command generation
Prompt the LLM to create a command, and get one back, no fuss. Press enter to run, or tab to insert.
┌Ask questions or generate a command:──────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ > Get a list of running docker containers │
│ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ $ docker ps │
│ │
└────[Enter]: Run [Tab]: Insert [f]: Follow-up [Esc]: Cancel┘
Follow-up
You can follow-up with f to specify a refinement prompt to update the command that will be inserted.
┌Ask questions or generate a command:──────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ > Get a list of running docker containers │
│ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ $ docker ps │
│ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ > Actually I want to get all docker containers │
│ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ $ docker ps -a │
│ │
└────[Enter]: Run [Tab]: Insert [f]: Follow-up [Esc]: Cancel┘
You can also follow-up with questions to get responses in natural language.
┌Ask questions or generate a command:──────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ > Get a list of running docker containers │
│ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ $ docker ps │
│ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ > Actually I want to get all docker containers │
│ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ $ docker ps -a │
│ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ > What other useful flags to `docker ps` should I know? │
│ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Here are some handy `docker ps` flags: │
│ │
│ - `-q` — Only show container IDs (great for piping to │
│ other commands) │
│ - `-s` — Show container sizes │
│ - `-n 5` — Show the last 5 created containers │
│ - `-l` — Show only the latest created container │
│ - `--no-trunc` — Don't truncate output (shows full IDs and │
│ commands) │
│ - `-f` or `--filter` — Filter by condition, e.g.: │
│ - `-f status=exited` — only exited containers │
│ - `-f name=myapp` — filter by name │
│ - `-f ancestor=nginx` — filter by image │
│ - `--format` — Custom output using Go templates, e.g.: │
│ `--format "table {{.Names}}\t{{.Status}}\t{{.Ports}}"` │
│ │
│ A common combo is `docker ps -aq` to get all container │
│ IDs, useful for bulk operations like `docker rm $(docker │
│ ps -aq)`. │
│ │
└────[Enter]: Run [Tab]: Insert [f]: Follow-up [Esc]: Cancel┘
You can use enter or tab at any time to run or insert the last suggested command, even if it was suggested in a previous turn.
Conversational and search usage
If you prompt the LLM with a question that doesn't imply you want to generate a command, it can respond in natural language, and use web search if necessary to fetch the data it needs.
┌Ask questions or generate a command:──────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ > What is the latest version of atuin? │
│ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ✓ Used 2 tools │
│ │
│ The latest version of Atuin is **v18.12.0**, available on │
│ the [GitHub releases │
│ page](https://github.com/atuinsh/atuin/releases). │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────[f]: Follow-up [Esc]: Cancel┘
Dangerous or low-confidence command detection
The LLM scores its confidence in the command, as well as how dangerous the command is. This information is shown if a threshold is exceeded, and requires an extra confirmation step before running automatically with enter.
The Atuin Hub server also monitors suggested commands for dangerous patterns the LLM didn't catch, and appends its own assessment at the end of the LLM's own assessment.
┌Ask questions or generate a command:──────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ > Delete all files from $HOME │
│ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ $ rm -rf $HOME/* │
│ │
│ ! This will PERMANENTLY delete ALL files and directories in │
│ your home directory, including documents, downloads, │
│ configurations, SSH keys, and everything else. This is │
│ irreversible and will likely break your system. Also note │
│ this won't delete hidden (dot) files — if you want those │
│ too, that's even more destructive.; [Server] Recursive │
│ delete of critical directory │
│ │
└────[Enter]: Run [Tab]: Insert [f]: Follow-up [Esc]: Cancel┘