arnie-cli

arnie

A portable IT troubleshooting companion for the terminal. Like Claude Code, but specialized for diagnosing and fixing technical issues — networking, AD, Windows Update, package managers, log triage, hardware checks, dev environments — with a tool surface tuned for that work.

Built on the Anthropic SDK with claude-opus-4-7, adaptive thinking, server-side compaction, and prompt caching.

Install

Requires Node.js 20+.

From npm:

npm install -g arnie-cli    # exposes `arnie` globally

From source:

git clone <this repo> arnie
cd arnie
npm install
npm run build
npm link    # exposes `arnie` globally

Or run from the source tree without linking:

npm start

Configure

Set your Anthropic API key:

# Windows (PowerShell)
$env:ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = "sk-ant-..."

# macOS / Linux
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

Use

arnie

Talk to it like a colleague. It will use its tools to investigate the actual machine before guessing.

you> the printer queue is jammed and i can't restart spooler
arnie> [investigates with shell + Get-Service, finds stuck job, proposes the fix]

See docs/EXAMPLES.md for five worked troubleshooting flows — printer spooler hung, "disk full but du disagrees", AD trust break, mis-routed TCP, CrashLoopBackOff with empty logs.

Multi-line input

Triple-quote (""") on its own line starts and ends a multi-line block. Use this for pasting logs or stack traces:

you> """
[2026-04-27T18:42:01] ERROR: socket connect ECONNREFUSED 10.0.0.5:445
[2026-04-27T18:42:02] ERROR: tree connect failed: STATUS_BAD_NETWORK_NAME
"""
arnie> [reads the SMB error, investigates...]

Slash commands

Command	Purpose
/help	Show REPL help
/usage	Session token totals + estimated cost. /usage tools for per-tool call counts and durations.
/clear	Reset the conversation. /clear --summary replaces history with a model-written summary instead of wiping it.
/tools	List registered tools
/jobs	List background shell jobs. /jobs --watch blocks until they all finish.
/skills	List discovered skills
/memory	Show loaded memory files
/remember <fact>	Append a dated line to .arnie/memory.md
/cd <path>	Change cwd mid-session
/save <name>	Save the current conversation
/load <name>	Replace the current conversation with a saved one
/list	List saved sessions
/find <query>	Search across saved sessions for a substring; shows session, message index, snippet
/export <name>	Export the current conversation as Markdown to ~/.arnie/exports/<name>.md
/replay <transcript.jsonl>	Reconstruct the conversation from a transcript file
/init	Bootstrap a .arnie/memory.md for this machine — model probes the box and proposes one
/settings	Show effective settings. /settings <key> <value> sets and persists to ~/.arnie/settings.json.
/profile	Show effective model + thinking/effort/budget profile
/feedback "note"	Append a dated note to ~/.arnie/feedback.md (loaded into the system prompt next session). /feedback --clear empties it.
/plan	Toggle plan mode — model proposes a plan first and awaits approval before mutating tools
/exit (or /quit)	Quit (or Ctrl+C twice)

Tools the model can use

Tool	Purpose
shell	Foreground shell command (PowerShell on Windows, /bin/sh elsewhere). Destructive commands require confirmation; commands matching .arnie/permissions.json allow rules can skip the prompt.
shell_background	Start a long-running command in the background; returns a job_id immediately. Use for chkdsk, sfc /scannow, package builds, log tails.
shell_status	Poll a background job's state and recent output.
shell_kill	Force-kill a background job.
read_file	Read a file (with optional line range, 200KB cap).
write_file	Write a file (always confirms; shows a content preview).
edit_file	String-replacement edit (always confirms; shows a diff preview). Prefer over write_file for partial changes.
list_dir	List directory contents with type + size.
grep	Regex search across files (skips node_modules/.git/dist; supports glob, context lines, literal mode).
network_check	Ping + optional TCP port probe. Cross-platform wrapper.
service_check	List Windows services / Linux systemd units with status.
tail_log	Last N lines of a file with optional regex filter — cheaper than read_file for large logs.
process_check	Cross-platform process listing (PID, name, CPU, memory) with name/pid filter and sort.
disk_check	Per-drive total/used/free GB and percent used (Get-PSDrive / df).
apply_patch	Apply a unified-diff patch (with @@ hunk headers) to a file. Better than edit_file for 4+ changes in one file. Confirms with colored preview.
monitor	Run a shell command N times on an interval; only iterations where output changed are returned. Bounded (max 30 iters, max 60s apart).
event_log	Recent system events (Windows: Get-WinEvent; Linux: journalctl). Filter by level / source / time window.
registry_read	Windows registry inspection. Path must start with HKLM/HKCU/HKCR/HKU/HKCC. Reads values + immediate subkeys (or recursive).
firewall_check	Inspect host firewall state. Windows: Get-NetFirewallProfile + optional Get-NetFirewallRule. Linux: ufw → firewalld → iptables. macOS: socketfilterfw. Default returns just profile state; pass rules=true for the rule list (capped at 200).
ssh_exec	Run a command on a remote host via the system ssh binary. Honors ~/.ssh/config aliases, agent keys, ProxyJump. BatchMode=yes (no password prompts). Same destructive-pattern + confirmation as local shell.
scp_get	Pull a remote file to a local temp path via scp, then return the local path so you can read_file / grep it without another round-trip.
ssh_hosts	List ssh hosts configured in ~/.ssh/config (and /etc/ssh/ssh_config on non-Windows). Read-only — the model uses this to discover what aliases are available.
subagent	Spawn a focused Haiku-backed read-only investigation. Delegate enumeration / summarization to keep the main loop cheap.
web_search	Server-side web search for KB articles, vendor docs, error string lookups.

Cross-session memory

Memory files are loaded into the system prompt at startup. Arnie checks three locations, in order, and merges them:

• ~/.arnie/memory.md — global, all projects
• .arnie/memory.md — project-scoped (current cwd)
• ARNIE.md — project-scoped, top-level alias if you don't want a hidden .arnie/ dir

Use it for stable, cross-session context — "this network uses 10.0.0.0/8, AD DC is at 10.0.0.5, all servers run Server 2022". Cheaper than re-explaining it every session.

Append new facts on the fly with /remember <fact> — appends a dated line to .arnie/memory.md. Or run /init and let the model probe the machine and write one for you.

Skills

Drop scoped expertise into .arnie/skills/<name>/SKILL.md (project) or ~/.arnie/skills/<name>/SKILL.md (global). Each SKILL.md should start with frontmatter:

---
name: active-directory
description: AD replication, group policy, FSMO roles. Use when the issue involves domain controllers or AD authentication.
---

# Active Directory playbook

...

The skill name and description are loaded into the system prompt at startup; the body is loaded on demand when the model decides it's relevant (it calls read_file with the skill path). This keeps the base system prompt small while making specialized knowledge discoverable.

Ready-made skills ship in skills/ at the repo root — copy whichever ones you want into ~/.arnie/skills/ and they'll load on startup. Current pack:

• active-directory — DC replication, GPO, Kerberos, secure-channel breaks
• windows-update — stuck installs, 0x80... error codes, WSUS misconfig
• systemd — failed units, restart loops, dependency cycles, timers
• kubernetes-pod-triage — CrashLoopBackOff, ImagePullBackOff, OOMKilled
• smb-shares — UNC failures, NTLM/Kerberos, SMB negotiation
• ssh-remote-triage — investigating a server you're not sitting at; pairs with the ssh_exec / scp_get / ssh_hosts tools

See skills/README.md for install + customization notes.

Permissions config

.arnie/permissions.json lets you pre-approve safe commands or block dangerous ones. Patterns are JS regexes matched against the full command string.

{
  "allow": [
    { "pattern": "^Get-Service\\b", "reason": "read-only PS" }
  ],
  "deny": [
    { "pattern": "\\bformat\\s+[a-zA-Z]:", "reason": "no formatting drives, ever" }
  ]
}

Deny is checked first and refuses outright. Allow takes effect after the destructive-pattern detector triggers — it lets you skip the [y/N] for commands you trust.

Resume a previous conversation

arnie --resume printer-issue   # picks up where /save printer-issue left off

Initialize a workspace

arnie --init    # scaffolds .arnie/ with memory.md, permissions.json, an example skill

Non-interactive single turn

arnie --print "diagnose disk i/o"     # one turn, prints response, exits

Useful for scripts, cron, or piping into other tools. All flags work the same — disable usage display, transcripts, etc., as needed.

Settings file

~/.arnie/settings.json provides defaults that CLI flags override:

{
  "model": "claude-opus-4-7",
  "effort": "xhigh",
  "maxTokens": 64000,
  "compact": true,
  "subagent": true,
  "memory": true,
  "skills": true,
  "permissions": true,
  "statusLine": true,
  "markdown": true
}

MCP servers

Connect remote MCP servers via ~/.arnie/mcp.json (or .arnie/mcp.json per project):

{
  "servers": [
    {
      "type": "url",
      "name": "github",
      "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/",
      "authorization_token": "ghp_..."
    }
  ]
}

Servers are passed through to the API's mcp_servers parameter; tool discovery, auth, and execution happen on Anthropic's side.

Image and file attachments

Inside a user message, you can attach files four ways:

• @path/to/file — bare-token reference, like Claude Code. Auto-attaches if the file exists.
• @path/with/*.glob — auto-attach every file matching the glob (e.g. @src/**/*.ts).
• attach <path> — explicit form, useful if the path contains spaces or unusual characters.
• @<url> — fetch a http:// or https:// URL and attach the body. Image content-types become image blocks; everything else is treated as text. Capped at 2MB and 15s.

Supported images: jpg/png/gif/webp (max 8MB). Other files are read as text (max 200KB).

you> what's this dialog box telling me? @C:\Users\me\Desktop\error.png
you> review @src/auth.ts and look for issues
you> any obvious smells in @src/**/*.ts ?

Output redactors

Secrets in shell output get scrubbed before the model ever sees them. Defaults catch Anthropic API keys, AWS keys, GitHub PATs, Bearer tokens, password/api_key assignments. Add your own in ~/.arnie/redactors.json:

{
  "defaults": true,
  "rules": [
    { "pattern": "internal-prod-token-[A-Z0-9]+", "replacement": "[REDACTED:internal]" },
    { "pattern": "(?i)pin\\s*[:=]\\s*\\d+", "replacement": "pin=[REDACTED]" }
  ]
}

Set "defaults": false to use only your custom rules. Patterns are JS regexes.

Persona override

~/.arnie/persona.md (or .arnie/persona.md per project) appends to the system prompt. Use this to flavor or specialize arnie — e.g., make it a database admin assistant for one project, a Windows-server SME for another.

Sandbox

.arnie/sandbox.json constrains which paths the file tools can touch. Empty or missing config = no restrictions.

{
  "allowed_read_paths": ["~/projects/foo", "/var/log"],
  "allowed_write_paths": ["~/projects/foo"]
}

read_file, list_dir, write_file, and edit_file all consult this. Paths outside the allowed dirs return a sandbox denied error to the model so it can adapt.

Dry-run mode

--dry-run flips the harness into investigation-only mode: read tools (read_file, list_dir, grep, network_check, service_check, tail_log, process_check, disk_check, web_search, subagent) work normally, but mutating tools (shell, shell_background, write_file, edit_file, apply_patch) refuse and return a message telling the model what they'd have done. The model then reports back to you in plain English instead of acting. The status line shows [dry-run].

arnie --dry-run

Cost budget

--budget 5.00 halts the session when the running cost exceeds $5.00. Useful for unattended runs.

In --print mode (one-shot), the request has already executed by the time the budget is checked, so it can't pre-empt the spend. Instead arnie warns to stderr and exits with a non-zero status, so cron/script wrappers can react:

arnie --budget 0.05 --print "diagnose disk i/o" || echo "spent more than 5¢"

Auto-checkpoint

--auto-checkpoint 10 saves the session every 10 user turns under a name like checkpoint-2026-04-27T21-25-13. Resume the most recent with arnie --resume.

Background-job notifications

When a shell_background job finishes between turns, the next user message is automatically prefixed with a <system-reminder> listing the finished jobs (id, command, exit code, elapsed). The model can then call shell_status to read the output.

Replay & feedback

• /replay <transcript.jsonl> reconstructs the conversation from a transcript file (handy for resuming a debugging session that wasn't /saved).
• /feedback "note" appends a dated note to ~/.arnie/feedback.md. On the next session start, that file's contents get loaded into the system prompt — durable lessons across runs. /feedback --clear empties it.

Use with dario (Claude Max subscription / multi-provider)

dario is a local LLM router that exposes one Anthropic-compatible endpoint at http://localhost:3456 and routes requests to your Claude Max subscription (via OAuth, no per-token API billing) or to any of OpenAI / Groq / OpenRouter / Ollama / LiteLLM as a backend.

arnie speaks to it directly — set the base URL and you're done:

# install + log in once
npm install -g @askalf/dario
dario login
dario proxy &

# point arnie at it
arnie --dario        # short form: sets http://localhost:3456 + dummy key
# or
arnie --base-url http://localhost:3456
# or
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:3456 ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=dario arnie

When --dario is on, the banner shows base url: http://localhost:3456 (via --dario). Everything else — tools, slash commands, sessions, memory — is unchanged. Switch backends in dario by changing the model name passed via --model.

Spillover output

When a shell command produces more than 100KB of output, the truncated portion goes to disk under the OS temp dir, and the path is returned in stdout_full_path/stderr_full_path. The model can read it back via read_file to inspect specific portions without flooding the context.

Hooks

~/.arnie/hooks.json (or .arnie/hooks.json in the project) runs shell commands when tools execute. Each hook list runs in parallel; per-command 5s timeout; failures are silent (best-effort).

{
  "before_tool": [
    "echo \"$ARNIE_TOOL_NAME starting at $(date -Iseconds)\" >> /tmp/arnie-tools.log"
  ],
  "after_tool": [
    "echo \"$ARNIE_TOOL_NAME finished\" >> /tmp/arnie-tools.log"
  ],
  "on_error": [
    "logger -t arnie \"$ARNIE_TOOL_NAME failed: $ARNIE_TOOL_ERROR\""
  ]
}

Available env vars in hook commands: ARNIE_TOOL_NAME, ARNIE_TOOL_INPUT (JSON, capped at 4KB), ARNIE_TOOL_RESULT (JSON, capped at 4KB), ARNIE_TOOL_ERROR.

Flags

--model <id>            Claude model (default: claude-opus-4-7)
--effort <level>        low | medium | high | xhigh | max  (default: xhigh)
--max-tokens <n>        Max output tokens per turn (default: 64000)
--no-thinking           Disable adaptive thinking
--no-compact            Disable server-side context compaction
--no-context-edit       Disable automatic clearing of stale tool outputs
--no-web-search         Don't expose web_search tool
--no-subagent           Don't expose subagent tool
--no-skills             Don't load .arnie/skills/*
--no-memory             Don't load .arnie/memory.md or ARNIE.md
--no-permissions        Ignore .arnie/permissions.json
--no-hooks              Ignore .arnie/hooks.json
--no-mcp                Ignore .arnie/mcp.json (skip remote MCP servers)
--no-sandbox            Ignore .arnie/sandbox.json path restrictions
--no-status-line        Don't render the status line
--no-markdown           Don't render markdown (raw output)
--no-transcript         Don't write a session transcript
--transcript-dir <dir>  Transcript directory (default: ~/.arnie/transcripts)
--no-usage              Hide per-turn token/cost display
-q, --quiet             Suppress tool execution chatter; only show responses
--voice                 Speak assistant responses (espeak / `say` / PowerShell SAPI)
--system-extra <text>   Append text to the system prompt
--dry-run               Investigation only — mutating tools refuse
--budget <usd>          Halt the session after exceeding $N in tokens
                        (in --print mode: warn + exit non-zero, can't pre-empt)
--auto-checkpoint <n>   Auto-save the session every N user turns
--base-url <url>        Anthropic-compat endpoint (overrides ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL)
--dario                 Route through a local dario proxy at http://localhost:3456
                        (sets base URL + dummy API key if not already set)
--resume [name]         Resume a saved session (most recent if no name)
-p, --print <msg>       Run a single non-interactive turn and exit
--init                  Scaffold .arnie/ in current cwd and exit
--version               Print version and exit
-h, --help              Show help

What gets written to disk

What	Where	Why
Session transcripts	~/.arnie/transcripts/<timestamp>.jsonl	Debugging, audit trail, cost analysis
Saved conversations	~/.arnie/sessions/<name>.json	/save and --resume
Memory file	.arnie/memory.md (cwd) or ~/.arnie/memory.md	Cross-session context loaded into the system prompt

The .arnie/ directory in cwd is gitignored by default if you check this repo out fresh.

Safety

• Destructive shell commands (rm -rf, Remove-Item, format, Stop-Service, shutdown, registry edits, package removals, etc.) require explicit [y/N] confirmation before running. The same gating applies to background jobs.
• write_file always shows a preview and asks before overwriting.
• The model is told to call out risk before destructive steps and to ask for elevation when needed.
• First Ctrl+C cancels the in-flight model request; second Ctrl+C exits.

Notes

Paths on Windows under MSYS / Git Bash

If you're running arnie from MSYS bash, Cygwin, or Git Bash on Windows, paste Windows-shaped paths into prompts (C:/Users/you/... or C:\Users\you\...), not Unix-shaped ones. Bash's /tmp aliases to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp for the shell, but arnie runs as a Node process and resolves the literal string /tmp to C:\tmp — which doesn't exist. PowerShell, cmd.exe, and WSL are unaffected.

Development

npm run dev               # tsx watch
npm run typecheck         # tsc --noEmit
npm run build             # tsc → dist/
npm test                  # offline tool unit tests (no API key needed)
npm run test:integration  # full end-to-end against dario (skips if no backend)

npm run test:integration exercises the real arnie binary through every major tool, both file-mutation paths, mode flags, and the --budget regression. It looks for a dario proxy at http://localhost:3456 by default; pass --direct to use ANTHROPIC_API_KEY instead. If neither backend is reachable, it exits 0 with [SKIP] so it's safe in CI.

License

MIT.