CLI-Anything >-

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 "$T/inkscape/agent-harness/cli_anything/inkscape/skills" ~/.claude/skills/hkuds-cli-anything-de9791 && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: inkscape/agent-harness/cli_anything/inkscape/skills/SKILL.md
source content

cli-anything-inkscape

A stateful command-line interface for vector graphics editing, following the same patterns as the GIMP and Blender CLI harnesses. Directly manipulates SVG (XML) documents with a JSON project format for state tracking.

Installation

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

pip install cli-anything-inkscape

Prerequisites:

  • Python 3.10+
  • inkscape must be installed on your system

Usage

Basic Commands

# Show help
cli-anything-inkscape --help

# Start interactive REPL mode
cli-anything-inkscape

# Create a new document
cli-anything-inkscape document new -o project.json

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

REPL Mode

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

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

You can also start the REPL with a nonexistent project path. The CLI now seeds a new in-memory document instead of failing immediately:

cli-anything-inkscape --project /abs/path/new-title.inkscape-cli.json

Command Groups

Document

Document management commands.

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

Shape

Shape management commands.

CommandDescription
add-rect
Add a rectangle
add-circle
Add a circle
add-ellipse
Add an ellipse
add-line
Add a line
add-polygon
Add a polygon
add-path
Add a path
add-star
Add a star
remove
Remove a shape by index
duplicate
Duplicate a shape
list
List all shapes/objects
get
Get detailed info about a shape

Text

Text management commands.

CommandDescription
add
Add a text element; supports
--box-width
,
--box-height
, and
--line-height
for wrapped layouts
set
Set a text property (text, font-family, font-size, fill, box-width, box-height, line-height, etc.)
list
List all text objects

Style

Style management commands.

CommandDescription
set-fill
Set the fill color of an object
set-stroke
Set the stroke color (and optionally width) of an object
set-opacity
Set the opacity of an object (0.0-1.0)
set
Set an arbitrary style property on an object
get
Get the style properties of an object
list-properties
List all available style properties

Transform

Transform operations (translate, rotate, scale, skew).

CommandDescription
translate
Translate (move) an object
rotate
Rotate an object
scale
Scale an object
skew-x
Skew an object horizontally
skew-y
Skew an object vertically
get
Get the current transform of an object
clear
Clear all transforms from an object

Layer

Layer management commands.

CommandDescription
add
Add a new layer
remove
Remove a layer by index
move-object
Move an object to a different layer
set
Set a layer property (name, visible, locked, opacity)
list
List all layers
reorder
Move a layer from one position to another
get
Get detailed info about a layer

Path Group

Path boolean operations.

CommandDescription
union
Union of two objects
intersection
Intersection of two objects
difference
Difference of two objects (A minus B)
exclusion
Exclusion (XOR) of two objects
convert
Convert a shape to a path
list-operations
List available path boolean operations

Gradient

Gradient management commands.

CommandDescription
add-linear
Add a linear gradient
add-radial
Add a radial gradient
apply
Apply a gradient to an object
list
List all gradients

Export Group

Export/render commands.

CommandDescription
png
Render the document to PNG
svg
Export the document as SVG
pdf
Export the document as PDF (requires Inkscape)
presets
List export presets

Session

Session management commands.

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

Examples

Create a New Project

Create a new inkscape project file.

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

Interactive REPL Session

Start an interactive session with undo/redo support.

cli-anything-inkscape
# 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-inkscape --project myproject.json export pdf output.pdf --overwrite

Wrapped Text Layout

For title cards, chips, and portrait-safe panels, prefer wrapped text boxes instead of manually inserting line breaks:

cli-anything-inkscape --project title.json text add \
  --text "Real capture + Veo cold open + Gemini score + thumbnail plate" \
  --x 180 --y 470 --font-size 118 \
  --box-width 1180 --box-height 260 --line-height 1.05

cli-anything-inkscape --project title.json text set 0 box-width 980
cli-anything-inkscape --project title.json text set 0 line-height 1.15

Notes:

  • box-width
    wraps long copy into multiple exported SVG
    tspan
    lines.
  • box-height
    lets long copy fail safely instead of running off-canvas.
  • Use wrapped text boxes for long-copy graphics before resorting to manual line breaking.

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-inkscape project info -p project.json

# JSON output for agents
cli-anything-inkscape --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. Prefer wrapped text boxes for headlines and variable-length copy so layouts remain stable across edits

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