CLI-Anything cli-anything-gimp

install
source · Clone the upstream repo
git clone https://github.com/HKUDS/CLI-Anything
Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/HKUDS/CLI-Anything "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/cli-anything-gimp" ~/.claude/skills/hkuds-cli-anything-cli-anything-gimp && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: skills/cli-anything-gimp/SKILL.md
source content

cli-anything-gimp

A stateful command-line interface for image editing, built on Pillow. Designed for AI agents and power users who need to create and manipulate images without a GUI.

Installation

This CLI is installed as part of the cli-anything-gimp package:

pip install cli-anything-gimp

Prerequisites:

  • Python 3.10+
  • gimp is recommended for native batch rendering, but layered compositions can still render through the built-in Pillow path when GIMP is unavailable or when deferred
    draw
    operations are present

Usage

Basic Commands

# Show help
cli-anything-gimp --help

# Start interactive REPL mode
cli-anything-gimp

# Create a new project
cli-anything-gimp project new -o project.json

# Run with JSON output (for agent consumption)
cli-anything-gimp --json project info -p project.json

REPL Mode

When invoked without a subcommand, the CLI enters an interactive REPL session:

cli-anything-gimp
# Enter commands interactively with tab-completion and history

Command Groups

Project

Project management commands.

CommandDescription
new
Create a new project
open
Open an existing project
save
Save the current project
info
Show project information
profiles
List available canvas profiles
json
Print raw project JSON

Layer

Layer management commands.

CommandDescription
new
Create a new blank layer
add-from-file
Add a layer from an image file
list
List all layers
remove
Remove a layer by index
duplicate
Duplicate a layer
move
Move a layer to a new position
set
Set a layer property (name, opacity, visible, mode, offset_x, offset_y); negative offsets are accepted naturally
flatten
Flatten all visible layers
merge-down
Merge a layer with the one below it

Canvas

Canvas operations.

CommandDescription
info
Show canvas information
resize
Resize the canvas (without scaling content)
scale
Scale the canvas and all content proportionally
crop
Crop the canvas to a rectangle
mode
Set the canvas color mode
dpi
Set the canvas DPI

Filter Group

Filter management commands.

CommandDescription
list-available
List all available filters
info
Show details about a filter
add
Add a filter to a layer
remove
Remove a filter by index
set
Set a filter parameter
list
List filters on a layer

Media

Media file operations.

CommandDescription
probe
Analyze an image file
list
List media files referenced in the project
check
Check that all referenced media files exist
histogram
Show histogram analysis of an image

Export Group

Export/render commands.

CommandDescription
presets
List export presets
preset-info
Show preset details
render
Render the project to an image file; deferred draw ops are applied at render time

Session

Session management commands.

CommandDescription
status
Show session status
undo
Undo the last operation
redo
Redo the last undone operation
history
Show undo history

Draw

Drawing operations (applied at render time).

CommandDescription
text
Draw text on a layer (by converting it to a text layer)
rect
Draw a rectangle (stored as drawing operation)

Examples

Create a New Project

Create a new gimp project file.

cli-anything-gimp project new -o myproject.json
# Or with JSON output for programmatic use
cli-anything-gimp --json project new -o myproject.json

Interactive REPL Session

Start an interactive session with undo/redo support.

cli-anything-gimp
# Enter commands interactively
# Use 'help' to see available commands
# Use 'undo' and 'redo' for history navigation

Export Project

Export the project to a final output format.

cli-anything-gimp --project myproject.json export render output.png --overwrite

Layered Composition Workflow

For overlay-heavy compositions:

cli-anything-gimp --project poster.gimp-cli.json layer set 0 offset_x -48
cli-anything-gimp --project poster.gimp-cli.json layer set 0 offset_y 24
cli-anything-gimp --project poster.gimp-cli.json draw text --layer 0 --text "Launch Night" --x 96 --y 120 --size 72 --color "#f6f1e8"
cli-anything-gimp --project poster.gimp-cli.json export render output.png --overwrite

Notes:

  • layer set
    now accepts negative
    offset_x
    and
    offset_y
    values in both command mode and REPL mode.
  • draw text
    and
    draw rect
    are render-time operations. Treat the exported image, not only the project JSON, as the thing to review.
  • For projects with deferred draw ops, expect the Pillow render path to be the stable default even if GIMP is installed.

State Management

The CLI maintains session state with:

  • Undo/Redo: Up to 50 levels of history
  • Project persistence: Save/load project state as JSON
  • Session tracking: Track modifications and changes

Output Formats

All commands support dual output modes:

  • Human-readable (default): Tables, colors, formatted text
  • Machine-readable (
    --json
    flag): Structured JSON for agent consumption
# Human output
cli-anything-gimp project info -p project.json

# JSON output for agents
cli-anything-gimp --json project info -p project.json

For AI Agents

When using this CLI programmatically:

  1. Always use
    --json
    flag
    for parseable output
  2. Check return codes - 0 for success, non-zero for errors
  3. Parse stderr for error messages on failure
  4. Use absolute paths for all file operations
  5. Verify outputs exist after export operations
  6. Review rendered outputs after offset, draw, blend-mode, or filter changes instead of trusting saved project state alone

More Information

  • Full documentation: See README.md in the package
  • Test coverage: See TEST.md in the package
  • Methodology: See HARNESS.md in the cli-anything-plugin

Version

1.0.0