1. zsh-ai – Simplest & Lightweight
Type # followed by your request, press Enter, and the command appears in your prompt. No extra dependencies—just Zsh, curl, and perl.
# find files larger than 100mb changed this week
# → find . -type f -size +100M -mtime -7
Install:
brew tap matheusml/zsh-ai
brew install zsh-ai
Add to ~/.zshrc:
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-key-here" # or use Ollama
source $(brew --prefix)/share/zsh-ai/zsh-ai.plugin.zsh
Supports Anthropic, OpenAI, and Ollama (local, free).
2. vibe-zsh – Feature-Rich Oh-My-Zsh Plugin
Press Ctrl+G to convert natural language to commands. Shows explanations inline and caches responses for speed.
Install (Oh-My-Zsh):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skymoore/vibe-zsh/main/install.sh | bash
Then add vibe to your plugins array in ~/.zshrc:
plugins=(... vibe)
Supports OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, OpenRouter, Ollama, LM Studio.
3. ShellOracle – Press Ctrl+F
A terminal widget activated by Ctrl+F. Type your description, press Enter, and the command appears in your prompt.
Install:
pipx install shelloracle
shor config init
Supports Ollama, OpenAI, Deepseek, LocalAI.
4. CommandAI – Zsh Plugin with Auto-Correction
Converts natural language to commands (prefix with # or ai), plus auto-fixes failed commands and provides smart Tab completion.
Install (Oh-My-Zsh):
git clone https://github.com/FengEternity/CommandAI $ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/command-ai
Add command-ai to your plugins array in ~/.zshrc.
5. nlsh – Zsh Plugin with Alt+Enter
Press Alt+Enter (Linux) to convert natural language to commands.
Install (Oh-My-Zsh with Zinit):
zinit light PsychArch/nlsh
Requires an OpenAI-compatible API key.
6. claude-shell – Oh-My-Zsh Plugin for Claude
Press Alt+G to convert natural language to shell commands.
Install:
git clone <repo> $ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/claude-shell
Add claude-shell to your plugins array in ~/.zshrc. Requires Claude CLI installed.
7. cpt (Terminal Copilot) – Press Ctrl+K
Uses GitHub Copilot. Press Ctrl+K, describe what you want, get a command back.
Install:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/burkeholland/cpt/main/install.sh | sh
Requires a GitHub Copilot subscription and gh CLI authenticated.
8. zsh-ai-cmd – Type # + Description
Type # followed by plain English, press Enter. Highlights dangerous commands in red.
Install (Oh-My-Zsh):
git clone https://github.com/TorinKS/zsh-ai-cmd ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/ai-cmd
Add ai-cmd to your plugins array. Supports Anthropic, OpenAI, and Ollama.
Recommendation
| If you want… | Choose this |
|---|---|
| Simplest setup | zsh-ai (type #) |
| Oh-My-Zsh + many AI providers | vibe-zsh (Ctrl+G) |
| Local/free (Ollama) | zsh-ai, vibe-zsh, ShellOracle, or zsh-ai-cmd |
| Command error fixing too | CommandAI |
| GitHub Copilot user | cpt (Ctrl+K) |
For a first try, zsh-ai or vibe-zsh are the easiest to get running. If you want to run everything locally for free, set up Ollama first, then use zsh-ai with export ZSH_AI_PROVIDER="ollama" or vibe-zsh with Ollama.