Sling Assist
Get AI help locally to build, run and debug replications, pipelines, API Specs, etc.
sling assist installs Sling skills and MCP into your local AI agent. After setup, it launches your preffered local AI to help you build, run and debug replications, pipelines, API Specs, etc, by automatically providing useful context.
Quick start
sling assist # first run: setup; after: greet with choices
sling assist "backfill orders" # positional ask (skip the card, launch)
sling assist --id <id> # investigate a failed run
sling assist --resume # pick a past session
sling assist --resume <id> # resume that session
sling assist setup # re-run setup / change agent
sling assist setup --doctor # health report
sling assist error <sig> # look up an error signature
sling assist report --id <id> # review a redacted failure report
sling assist --out - # print the prompt, do not launch
sling assist --agent claude # one-run agent override
sling assist --model sonnet # pass --model to the agentFirst run
If no profile exists, sling assist runs setup.
Detect CLI agents on
$PATH(claude,codex,gemini,cursor,opencode,pi,grok). VS Code is an install target, not a launchable agent.Rank the detected agents. Sling prefers the one that is signed in.
Write the profile to
~/.sling/env.yamlunderenv.SLING_ASSIST.Write skills to
~/.agents/skills/and wire each detected client.
sling assist setup --doctor lists only agents on $PATH. A missing binary is not a failure.
You need at least one CLI agent on $PATH, or you can let Sling install OpenCode.
After setup, verify:
To change the agent or scope later, run sling assist setup.
Each sling assist call refreshes the skill bundle for wired clients. The refresh also removes retired skills. If no skills are installed, the refresh does not install them. Run sling assist setup first.
Daily use
After setup, sling assist with no ask prints a card and waits. It does not launch an agent until you pick an option or type an ask.
Ask
Pass an ask to skip the card and launch:
The ask is a trailing argument. --name sets the history slug. Default is a slug from the ask, or assist.
Investigate a failed run
After a failure, Sling prints a hint line with the short exec id:
--id accepts any unique id prefix. It loads that failure snapshot, adds the error signature, the sanitized error excerpt, and the run log tail to the prompt, then launches the agent.
Set SLING_ASSIST_HINT=false to suppress the hint line, or set hint_in_errors: false in the profile.
Failure snapshots live under ~/.sling/assist/errors/executions/. Sling keeps at most 100.
Agent and model
--agent and --model apply to this run only. An empty --model uses the agent default. Sling does not rewrite aliases. The agent validates the name.
Cursor uses the agent binary, not cursor.
Print the prompt
--out - prints to stdout. Any other value is a file path.
If you already run inside Claude Code, Cursor, or OpenCode, Sling prints the prompt. It does not launch a nested agent. The same applies off a TTY. Those paths do not show the open screen.
--non-interactive skips interactive forms and launches in headless mode. You must pass an ask or --id. With neither, Sling exits with an error.
Flags on sling assist
--id
Investigate a failure by its id. An id prefix works.
--resume [id]
Resume a past session. Omit the id to pick.
--agent
Override the profile agent for this run only.
--model
Pass --model to the agent for this run only.
--name
History slug override.
--out, -o
Emit the prompt instead of launching: a file path, or - for stdout.
--non-interactive
Skip forms. Launch headless. Requires an ask or --id.
Pass the ask as a trailing argument.
Subcommands
sling assist setup
Install skills and MCP, or reconfigure / uninstall
sling assist error <sig>
Look up guidance for an error signature
sling assist report --id <id>
Compose a redacted issue report from a failed run
Supported agents
claude
claude
Claude Code CLI
codex
codex
OpenAI Codex CLI
gemini
gemini
Gemini CLI
cursor
agent
Cursor CLI (agent, not cursor)
opencode
opencode
OpenCode. Sling can install this as a fallback
pi
pi
Pi agent
grok
grok
Grok CLI
vscode
—
Skills + MCP only. Not a launchable CLI agent
Skills
Setup writes these skills to ~/.agents/skills/:
sling
Sling CLI overview and routing
sling-replications
Replication configs
sling-pipelines
Pipeline configs and hooks
sling-build
SQL models and sling build
sling-api-specs
API spec authoring
sling-platform
Platform commands and the platform MCP
sling-python
The Python wrapper
agent-browser
Browser control for API research
Each client gets a redirect file that points into ~/.agents/skills/.
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