busybox-on-windows
Allows running common UNIX command-line utilities natively on Windows via a single BusyBox executable.
Install
mkdir -p .claude/skills/busybox-on-windows && curl -L -o skill.zip "https://agentskills.codes/api/skills/download/4441" && unzip -o skill.zip -d .claude/skills/busybox-on-windows && rm skill.zipInstalls to .claude/skills/busybox-on-windows
Activation
This is the description your AI agent reads to decide when to run this skill — the better it matches your request, the more reliably it fires.
How to use a Win32 build of BusyBox to run many of the standard UNIX command line tools on Windows.Key capabilities
- →Execute standard UNIX commands (ls, grep, cat) in PowerShell
- →Map absolute file paths to BusyBox internal tools
- →Retrieve system hardware and OS build metadata
- →Install BusyBox binary via automated download
How it works
It provides a wrapper to download the BusyBox Win32 binary and prefixes commands with the executable, allowing it to interpret shell commands on Windows.
Inputs & outputs
When to use busybox-on-windows
- →Run UNIX commands on Windows
- →Access standard CLI utilities
- →Simplify cross-platform scripts
About this skill
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/
When not to use it
- →When running on native Linux or macOS environments
- →When native Windows PowerShell commands provide sufficient functionality
Limitations
- →Limited to the set of commands implemented in BusyBox
- →Commands behave according to BusyBox implementation, not full shell environments
How it compares
It brings UNIX tool parity to Windows without requiring a full WSL installation or heavy virtual machine.
Compared to similar skills
busybox-on-windows side by side with the closest alternatives in the catalog.
| Skill | Installs | Updated | Safety | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| busybox-on-windows (this skill) | 1 | 6mo | No flags | Beginner |
| pptx | 393 | 6mo | Review | Advanced |
| nano-pdf | 63 | 2mo | Review | Beginner |
| video-downloader | 101 | 7mo | Review | Beginner |
Try saying
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