✨gixt

Turn GitHub Gists into ephemeral command-line tools with gixt. Retrieve prompts and files by name, or run scripts on demand. Give Gists friendly aliases, and review unfamiliar revisions before running them.

gixt cat <gist-name> | agent
gixt run <gist-name> [-- <args>]

Features and highlights

• Retrieve any Gist by name, ID, URL, or owner/gist. No setup needed for one-offs.
• Run code explicitly with gixt run; bare targets retrieve content.
• Remember Gists you use with gixt add (or gixt run --add) so they get a friendly name.
• Pin a gist to a fixed revision with gixt pin; metadata updates and cache pruning preserve it.
• Trust-on-first-use per commit: changed revisions prompt again. gixt trust mine explicitly snapshots your current gists.
• Inspect metadata with gist show and preview execution with --dry-run without changing trust approvals.
• Content cache on by default (ETag/304, retaining latest and pinned revisions); --no-cache opts out.
• No gh dependency; public gists work without any token.
• Command-line friendly: gist output goes to stdout, gixt chatter to stderr, exit codes and signals are propagated.

Quick start

Option 1: Install without Go

Linux and macOS:

curl -fsSL https://gixt.leolaurindo.com/install.sh | sh

Windows PowerShell:

irm https://gixt.leolaurindo.com/install.ps1 | iex

The installer downloads the matching GitHub release, verifies its SHA-256 checksum, and installs it for the current user. Review the shell or PowerShell script before running it if preferred.

Option 2: Download a prebuilt binary

• Go to the releases page and download the appropriate binary for your OS.

Option 3: Install via go install

Requires Go 1.21 or newer:

go install github.com/leolaurindo/gixt/cmd/gixt@latest

Option 4: Homebrew

brew install leolaurindo/tap/gixt

Option 5: Build from source

go build -o bin/gixt ./cmd/gixt

For manual downloads and source builds, place gixt (macOS/Linux) or gixt.exe (Windows) somewhere on your PATH.

Updating

gixt self update-check
gixt self update

Standalone installations update to a checksum-verified release binary. This includes Go-installed and source-built copies; custom build settings are replaced. Homebrew installations receive brew upgrade gixt instructions instead. Other package managers are not automatically detected; update those through their manager. See the CLI usage guide for details.

First runs

# retrieve any gist by ID or URL (no setup)
gixt cat 1234567890abcdef
gixt cat https://gist.github.com/you/1234567890abcdef

# run code explicitly
gixt run https://gist.github.com/you/1234567890abcdef

# remember gists you use so they get a friendly name
gixt run 1234567890abcdef --add            # remembered as its file basename
gixt add hex23-git/ssh-helper.sh --as ssh  # remember with a custom name
gixt add owner <username>                  # remember all of a user's gists
gixt add mine                              # remember all of your gists

# see known or remote gists
gixt list
gixt list <username> --limit 30

# retrieve by friendly name
gixt cat ssh

# optional: log in for higher rate limits / private gists / mutations
gixt auth login

Other examples:

# one-off retrieval, never remembered
gixt cat leolaurindo/hello-world

# run offline from the cache
gixt run --offline ssh

# run a python gist with your project's venv
gixt run --python .venv/bin/python app.py

# inspect before running
gixt gist show leolaurindo/hello-world
gixt run --dry-run ssh

# create a secret gist or update its files (requires authentication)
gixt gist create prompt.md --description "Review prompt" ## --public should be explicit
gixt gist update <target> prompt.md

# permanently delete a remote gist (prompts; --yes confirms non-interactively)
gixt gist delete <target>
# only forget a local registration, without deleting anything on GitHub
gixt remove <target>

# pin a gist to its current revision so runs are stable
gixt pin ssh
gixt pin list

# approve all of your gists at their current commits
gixt trust mine
gixt trust list

Agent skill

The gixt skill teaches agents how to retrieve gist content and run scripts with gixt. Install the CLI first, then ask your agent:

Read https://github.com/leolaurindo/gixt/blob/main/skills/gixt/SKILL.md and install it in your skills directory.

Or install manually on the directory your agent discover skills from, such as~/.agents/skills:

mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills/gixt
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/leolaurindo/gixt/main/skills/gixt/SKILL.md \
  -o ~/.agents/skills/gixt/SKILL.md

Trust model

gixt uses trust-on-first-use keyed by commit:

• The first time you run a gist, you are prompted (owner, description, commit, files). On y, that exact commit is recorded as trusted.
• Running the currently approved commit again does not re-prompt.
• If the gist has a new commit, you are prompted again — even for your own gists. That way a changed gist can't run silently.
• gixt trust mine explicitly snapshots and approves the exact current commit of every gist you own. Later changes still prompt.
• Inspect approvals with gixt trust list; revoke them with gixt trust remove <target> or gixt trust clear.
• -y skips the prompt for one run; non-interactive runs refuse to prompt and tell you to pass -y.

Check the docs

• CLI usage, command tree, and resolution details
• Caching and index locations/modes
• Trust model and safety

Uninstall

• Delete the installed binary.
• Remove config/cache dirs to clear known gists, trust approvals, auth, and cached contents:
  • Windows: config %APPDATA%\gixt, cache %LOCALAPPDATA%\gixt
  • macOS: config ~/Library/Application Support/gixt, cache ~/Library/Caches/gixt
  • Linux: config ~/.config/gixt, cache ~/.cache/gixt

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! I will eventually write contribution guidelines, but for now, feel free to open issues or pull requests.

Related

Freely inspired by the user experience uvx and npx provide.