name: shell description: Efficient shell command handling license: MIT

Shell Handling Skill

Execute shell commands with performance monitoring and timeout protection.

When to Use

• •Long-running commands (builds, tests, deployments)
• •Commands that might hang indefinitely
• •Performance optimization and debugging

Core Patterns

Measure Execution Time

Prefix commands with time for duration visibility:

time command
time npm run build

Limit Execution Time

Use timeout to prevent indefinite hangs:

timeout 30s command
timeout 60s npm test || echo "Failed or timed out"

Combined Usage

time timeout 300s build_script.sh

Key Points

• •Use time for all long operations to track performance
• •Set timeout based on expected runtime plus buffer
• •Combine with || for error handling fallbacks
• •timeout --kill-after=5s 30s for forceful termination if needed