busybox-on-windows
SkillAI & modelsbusybox-on-windows is a skill that teaches an AI agent how to run standard Unix command-line tools on Windows using a Win32 build of BusyBox. BusyBox is a single executable that implements many common Unix tools, so the agent can run commands like grep, sed, and ls natively on Windows by prefixing them with busybox.exe. The skill covers detecting the CPU and Windows version, downloading the right build, and using it correctly.
Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.
No other account needed.
Have a Windows machine; the skill is only for Windows and stops on Unix systems.
Then ask your AI: use the busybox-on-windows skill
What your AI can do with it
- Detect the machine's CPU type and Windows version with PowerShell commands
- Download the correct BusyBox build for 32-bit x86, 64-bit x86, or 64-bit ARM
- List the available Unix commands with busybox.exe --list
- Run Unix tools like ls, grep, and sed by prefixing them with busybox.exe
- Run Unix commands under another working directory using the absolute path to busybox.exe
Getting started
- Have a Windows machine; the skill is only for Windows and stops on Unix systems.
- Check whether a busybox.exe file already exists in the same directory as the skill document.
- If not, use PowerShell to print the CPU type and the Windows OS version.
- Download the suitable BusyBox build (32-bit x86, 64-bit x86 ANSI, 64-bit x86 Unicode, or 64-bit ARM Unicode) with Invoke-WebRequest.
- Run Unix commands by prefixing them with busybox.exe, for example: busybox.exe ls -1.
What this skill tells your AI
The instructions your AI receives, as published by davila7/claude-code-templates in cli-tool/components/skills/utilities/busybox-on-windows/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.
BusyBox is a single binary that implements many common Unix tools.
Use this skill only on Windows. If you are on UNIX, then stop here.
Run the following steps only if you cannot find a busybox.exe file in the same directory as this document is.
These are PowerShell commands, if you have a classic cmd.exe terminal, then you must use powershell -Command "..." to run them.
- Print the type of CPU:
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Processor | Select-Object Name, NumberOfCores, MaxClockSpeed - Print the OS versions:
Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" | Select-Object ProductName, DisplayVersion, CurrentBuild - Download a suitable build of BusyBox by running one of these PowerShell commands:
- 32-bit x86 (ANSI):
$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://frippery.org/files/busybox/busybox.exe -OutFile busybox.exe - 64-bit x86 (ANSI):
$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://frippery.org/files/busybox/busybox64.exe -OutFile busybox.exe - 64-bit x86 (Unicode):
$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://frippery.org/files/busybox/busybox64u.exe -OutFile busybox.exe - 64-bit ARM (Unicode):
$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://frippery.org/files/busybox/busybox64a.exe -OutFile busybox.exe
- 32-bit x86 (ANSI):
Useful commands:
- Help:
busybox.exe --list - Available UNIX commands:
busybox.exe --list
Usage: Prefix the UNIX command with busybox.exe, for example: busybox.exe ls -1
If you need to run a UNIX command under another CWD, then use the absolute path to busybox.exe.
Documentation: https://frippery.org/busybox/ Original BusyBox: https://busybox.net/
Signals
- GitHub stars
- 32k
- Forks
- 4k
- Last commit
- Sep 2026
Others that do the same job
Questions
- Does it work on Unix or Linux?
- No. The skill is only for Windows; it instructs the agent to stop if the machine is running Unix.
- How do I see which commands are available?
- Run busybox.exe --list to print the available Unix commands.
- What if the terminal is cmd.exe instead of PowerShell?
- Wrap the PowerShell commands with powershell -Command "..." to run them from a classic cmd.exe terminal.
Advanced
- Item type
- skill
- Key
busybox-on-windows-davila7- Source
- github.com/davila7/claude-code-templates