Cli Anything Gimp

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.

Layer

Layer management commands.

Canvas

Canvas operations.

Filter Group

Filter management commands.

Media

Media file operations.

Export Group

Export/render commands.

Session

Session management commands.

Draw

Drawing operations (applied at render time).

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