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santinic/how2

★ 5,774JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

TLDR

A command-line tool that finds shell commands by typing plain English questions in your terminal, with an AI suggestion mode and a StackOverflow search mode so you never need to leave the terminal.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((how2))
    What it does
      Natural language search
      Shell command finder
      Terminal-native
    Modes
      AI suggestions
      StackOverflow search
      Interactive browser
    Install Options
      npm global
      Homebrew macOS
      deb package
      npx
    Audience
      Developers
      Terminal users
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Code map

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Look up the right shell command by describing what you want to do in plain English without leaving the terminal

USE CASE 2

Browse StackOverflow answers for terminal commands interactively using the -s flag and spacebar navigation

USE CASE 3

Replace searching Google and clicking through Stack Overflow pages with a single terminal command

Tech stack

JavaScriptNode.jsnpmHomebrew

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Free AI mode is limited to 5 queries per day, a paid plan is available at the project website for professional use.

In plain English

how2 is a command-line tool that helps you find the right shell command without leaving your terminal. Instead of opening a browser, searching Google, and clicking through to a StackOverflow answer, you type something like how2 compress a file with tar and it shows you the command. It is designed as a natural-language alternative to man pages, the built-in Unix help system. By default, how2 sends your query to an AI server that has been trained on Bash and PowerShell commands and returns a suggestion. The AI mode is free for up to five queries per day. Adding the -s flag switches to StackOverflow search mode instead, where it fetches the top answers for your question directly. After seeing an initial result, pressing the spacebar enters interactive mode, letting you browse through multiple StackOverflow questions and answers and select the most relevant one. Installation options include Homebrew on macOS, npm (as a global install), a .deb package for Ubuntu and Debian, and prebuilt binaries for direct download. If you install via npm without administrator access, you can run it with npx how2 or set up a manual alias. Proxy environments are supported through standard HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY environment variables. The tool works well for common shell tasks but may produce unexpected output for unusual or very specific queries. The README suggests rewording the query if the first attempt does not return a useful result, and falling back to the StackOverflow mode when the AI result is not helpful. A paid subscription tier is available at the project's website for professional users who need more than five daily queries.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
How do I install how2 globally via npm and use it to find the shell command for compressing a folder with tar?
Prompt 2
Show me how to use how2 in StackOverflow mode with the -s flag to browse multiple answers and pick the best command.
Prompt 3
How do I configure how2 to work behind an HTTP proxy in a corporate network using the HTTPS_PROXY environment variable?
Prompt 4
What is the difference between how2 AI mode and StackOverflow mode, and when should I use each one?
Prompt 5
How do I create a shell alias for npx how2 so I can run it without a global npm install?
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