vastai-host-mcp: Skill for Claude Code

Robust Command Execution Skill

This skill provides patterns for executing commands with automatic error recovery, fallback mechanisms, and installation of missing dependencies. Never give up when a command fails - try alternatives!

When to Use This Skill

• When a command might not be installed
• When working in different environments (containers, CI, local)
• When tool availability is uncertain
• When debugging command failures
• When you need to ensure commands succeed

Core Principle

If a command doesn't work, don't just report failure - fix it!

Process for handling command failures:

1. Check if the command exists
2. Try to install if missing
3. Try alternative commands
4. Verify prerequisites (permissions, paths)
5. Only report as blocked if all options exhausted

Command Existence Checking

Check if Command Exists

# Method 1: which
which command_name

# Method 2: command -v (POSIX-compliant, more reliable)
command -v command_name

# Method 3: type
type command_name

# Best practice - silent check
if command -v jq &> /dev/null; then
  echo "jq is available"
else
  echo "jq is not installed"
fi

Check Multiple Alternative Commands

# Find first available command from list
for cmd in jq python3 python; do
  if command -v "$cmd" &> /dev/null; then
    echo "Using $cmd"
    break
  fi
done

Installing Missing Commands

Debian/Ubuntu Systems

# Update package lists first
apt-get update

# Install single package
apt-get install -y package-name

# Search for package
apt-cache search keyword

# Install with error handling
if ! command -v jq &> /dev/null; then
  echo "Installing jq..."
  apt-get update && apt-get install -y jq
fi

Common Package Names

# JSON processing
apt-get install -y jq

# YAML processing
apt-get install -y yq

# HTTP requests
apt-get install -y curl wget

# Text processing
apt-get install -y sed gawk grep

# Build tools
apt-get install -y build-essential

# Python tools
apt-get install -y python3 python3-pip

# Node.js tools
apt-get install -y nodejs npm