Shell

Run shell commands from an agent with ShellTools.run_shell_command().

ShellTools enable an Agent to interact with the shell to run commands.

Example

The following agent will run a shell command and show contents of the current directory.

Mention your OS to the agent to make sure it runs the correct command.

cookbook/91_tools/shell_tools.py

from agno.agent import Agent
from agno.tools.shell import ShellTools

agent = Agent(tools=[ShellTools()])
agent.print_response("Show me the contents of the current directory", markdown=True)

ShellTools runs any command the model constructs, with no allowlist or confirmation gate. Setting base_dir only sets the working directory for the command; it does not restrict what the command can access. Keep human supervision for untrusted prompts, and run inside a sandbox (container, VM, or Daytona) for untrusted code execution.

Toolkit Params

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
base_dir	Optional[Union[Path, str]]	None	Base directory for shell command execution
enable_run_shell_command	bool	True	Enables functionality to run shell commands
all	bool	False	Enables all functionality when set to True

Toolkit Functions

Function	Description
run_shell_command	Runs a shell command and returns the output or error.

Developer Resources

• Tools