Commands Skill

A simple OVOS skill for running shell scripts and other commands. The commands execute quietly without requiring confirmation from OVOS.

Features

• Run shell scripts or commands by speaking human-readable phrases.
• Configure aliases for easy-to-remember commands.
• Optionally run commands under a specific user's privileges.

Usage

Trigger commands using phrases like:

• "Hey Mycroft, launch command echo TEST"
• "Hey Mycroft, run script generate report"

Configuration

The skill can be configured to map spoken phrases to scripts or commands in the settings.json file. For example:

{
  "alias": {
    "generate report": "/home/forslund/scripts/generate_report.sh"
  }
}

Example:

• User says: "Run script generate report"
• The skill executes: /home/forslund/scripts/generate_report.sh

Additional Settings:

• user (optional): Specify a username to run commands under their privileges. Example:

  {
    "user": "ovos"
  }

• shell (optional): Determines whether commands are executed via a shell. Defaults to true. Example:

  {
    "shell": false
  }

Full Configuration Example:

{
  "user": "ovos",
  "alias": {
    "generate report": "/home/forslund/scripts/generate_report.sh",
    "update system": "sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y",
    "reboot device": "sudo reboot"
  },
  "shell": true
}

Security Notes

1. Shell Commands:

   • By default, commands are executed via the shell, which allows complex operations but may expose security risks. If your commands don’t require shell features, set shell to false.

2. User Permissions:

   • Commands can run under a specific user by configuring the user field. Ensure that the user has appropriate permissions to execute the commands.

3. Validation:

   • Avoid configuring dangerous commands like rm -rf without additional safeguards.

Note for using the skill in Docker containers:

All commands run exclusively within the Docker container. If the commands/scripts are also supposed to have an effect outside the container, additional solutions are required. Here is an example for steering kodi (outsight the container) with ovos-skill-cmd:

{
    "alias": {
        "kodi restart": "echo \"systemctl restart kodi\" > /home/ovos/.config/mycroft/joespipe",
        "kodi mute": "echo \"kodi-send --action=\\\"Mute\\\"\" > /home/ovos/.config/mycroft/joespipe",
        "kodi unmute": "echo \"kodi-send --action=\\\"Mute\\\"\"  > /home/ovos/.config/mycroft/joespipe",
        "kodi louder": "echo \"kodi-send --action=\\\"VolumeUp\\\"\" > /home/ovos/.config/mycroft/joespipe",
        "kodi lower": "echo \"kodi-send --action=\\\"VolumeDown\\\"\" > /home/ovos/.config/mycroft/joespipe",
        "kodi pause": "echo \"kodi-send --action=\\\"PlayerControl(Play)\\\"\" > /home/ovos/.config/mycroft/joespipe",
        "kodi resume": "echo \"kodi-send --action=\\\"PlayerControl(Play)\\\"\" > /home/ovos/.config/mycroft/joespipe",
        "kodi stop": "echo \"kodi-send --action=\\\"PlayerControl(Stop)\\\"\" > /home/ovos/.config/mycroft/joespipe"
    },
    "shell": true,
    "__mycroft_skill_firstrun": false
}

"/home/ovos/.config/mycroft/joespipe" is a named pipe placed in the shared volume of the ovos config folder. Outside of the container is a mini script watching for commands in the pipe:

#!/bin/bash
while true; do eval "$(cat /storage/ovos/config/joespipe)"; done

A description for the named pipe solution you can find here