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.

Command	Description
new	Create a new project
open	Open an existing project
save	Save the current project
info	Show project information
profiles	List available canvas profiles
json	Print raw project JSON

Layer

Layer management commands.

Command	Description
new	Create a new blank layer
add-from-file	Add a layer from an image file
list	List all layers
remove	Remove a layer by index
duplicate	Duplicate a layer
move	Move a layer to a new position
set	Set a layer property (name, opacity, visible, mode, offset_x, offset_y); negative offsets are accepted naturally
flatten	Flatten all visible layers
merge-down	Merge a layer with the one below it

Canvas

Canvas operations.

Command	Description
info	Show canvas information
resize	Resize the canvas (without scaling content)
scale	Scale the canvas and all content proportionally
crop	Crop the canvas to a rectangle
mode	Set the canvas color mode
dpi	Set the canvas DPI

Filter Group

Filter management commands.

Command	Description
list-available	List all available filters
info	Show details about a filter
add	Add a filter to a layer
remove	Remove a filter by index
set	Set a filter parameter
list	List filters on a layer

Media

Media file operations.

Command	Description
probe	Analyze an image file
list	List media files referenced in the project
check	Check that all referenced media files exist
histogram	Show histogram analysis of an image

Export Group

Export/render commands.

Command	Description
presets	List export presets
preset-info	Show preset details
render	Render the project to an image file; deferred draw ops are applied at render time

Session

Session management commands.

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

Draw

Drawing operations (applied at render time).

Command	Description
text	Draw text on a layer (by converting it to a text layer)
rect	Draw a rectangle (stored as drawing operation)

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