tldr_skill

Overview

This skill provides concise, community-maintained summaries of command-line tools from the tldr-pages project. It gives short examples and common options so you can understand and use CLI commands quickly without reading full man pages. Use it to save time and tokens when interacting with terminal tools.

How this skill works

The skill fetches simplified tldr pages that contain a short description, common use cases, and example command lines for a given tool. It prioritizes tldr output over full manuals, and includes commands to update the local cache or list available pages. If a page is missing, you can update the cache or fall back to man/--help for edge cases.

When to use it

• You need a quick reminder of common flags or examples for a CLI command.
• You want concise, example-driven usage instead of reading lengthy man pages.
• You are constrained by token limits and need short, focused documentation.
• You are teaching or learning basic command usage with simple examples.
• You want to discover typical workflows and commands for a tool fast.

Best practices

• Always try tldr first for quick examples; fall back to man or --help for complete detail.
• Run the update command periodically if a requested command is missing or outdated.
• Use the --list option to discover pages available for your platform.
• Combine tldr examples with your own testing in a safe environment before production use.

Example use cases

• Get a quick example of how to extract specific files with tar: tldr tar
• Refresh local pages when a command appears missing: tldr --update
• Browse all available pages for your OS: tldr --list
• Teach students basic rsync usage with short, practical examples
• Compare short examples for similar tools to choose the right one quickly