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Overview

Shell tool allows you to execute shell commands from your AI agents. Use with caution! The user asks to run a command; the agent executes it in the shell and returns the output.

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Installation

pip install "praisonai[tools]"

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Quick Start

1

Simple Usage

from praisonai_tools import ShellTool

# Initialize
shell = ShellTool()

# Execute command
result = shell.execute("ls -la")
print(result)
2

With Configuration

Use the same tool with an agent — see Usage with Agent below, or pass env vars and options from the sections above.

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Usage with Agent

from praisonaiagents import Agent
from praisonai_tools import ShellTool

agent = Agent(
    name="SysAdmin",
    instructions="You help with system administration tasks.",
    tools=[ShellTool()]
)

response = agent.chat("List all Python processes")
print(response)

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Available Methods

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execute(command)

Execute a shell command. 
from praisonai_tools import ShellTool

shell = ShellTool()
result = shell.execute("echo 'Hello World'")

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Security Warning

⚠️ Use with caution! Shell commands can be dangerous. Consider:
  • Restricting allowed commands
  • Running in sandboxed environments
  • Validating user input

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Common Errors

ErrorCauseSolution
Command not foundInvalid commandCheck command exists
Permission deniedInsufficient permissionsCheck file permissions

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How It Works

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Best Practices

Restrict the agent to a known set of safe commands rather than arbitrary shell access.
Build commands from validated arguments to avoid injection.
Bound command execution so a hung process doesn’t stall the agent.

Python

Execute Python code

Docker

Container management