Smart shell mode

[rnett]

What would you like to be added?

A "shell mode" where we write the commands in natural language or "pseudo-shell" (i.e. as a prompt) and Gemini figures out how to run them.

Why is this needed?

The built-in shell mode is super handy, but I often find myself in the middle ground where I want to run a simple command but don't know quite what it is.

• Shell mode doesn't work because I don't know the precise command
• Non-shell mode isn't great, because it's a whole conversation with the agent, sometimes leading to it trying out its own stuff beyond just the command I wanted.

Additional context

No response

[rnett]

Could be integrated with #21192, too.

[migarci2]

Yes this could be great. We could add something in shell mode like a prefix ? <command in natural language>, so the shell detects the prefix, it queries the prompt to gemini, gemini returns the command and you are able to edit the command inline as if you had typed it. Something like this:

? delete all .log files older than 7 days

The CLI would:

1. Detect the ? prefix at the start of the line
2. Send the input to Gemini as a constrained prompt (generate a shell command only)
3. Replace the current input with the generated command

Let the user review/edit it before execution

find . -name "*.log" -mtime +7 -delete

Key properties:

• no automatic execution (user must still press Enter)
• output is a single editable command (we could add a little explanation as Summarize what a shell command did #21192 states)
• minimal UX overhead (no new mode, just a prefix)

Would something along these lines fit with the intended direction?