cmd-clink

Apps & Automation

Use when working with clink or cmd.exe shell internals — clink completion system, argmatcher Lua API, match generators, Readline integration, input line coloring, auto-suggestions, prompt filtering, DLL injection, cmd.exe integration, doskey aliases, or clink configuration. Triggers on: "clink", "cmd-clink", "cmd.exe completion", "clink argmatcher", "clink generator", "clink prompt", "clink suggester", "clink classifier", "match_builder", "line_state", "clink inject", "doskey", "clink-select-complete", "clink popup", ".inputrc clink", "clink settings".

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/carapace-sh/carapace/blob/HEAD/skills/cmd-clink/SKILL.md

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Clink (cmd-clink) In-Depth Reference

Comprehensive reference for clink — the tool that injects GNU Readline into Windows cmd.exe to provide rich completion, history, and line-editing capabilities. Emphasis on the completion system and how external tools hook into it.

Sub-Resources

Load the reference that matches your task. When in doubt, load multiple references.

Keywords	Reference
argmatcher, clink.argmatcher(), addarg, addflags, chaincommand, loop, setclassifier, setdelayinit, onarg, onadvance, onlink, onalias, linking parsers, loopchars, nowordbreakchars, hideflags, nofiles, adddescriptions, fromhistory, delayinit, user_data, shared_user_data, shorthand form, flag prefix, end of flags	references/argmatcher.md
generator, clink.generator(), generate, match_builder, addmatch, addmatches, setnosort, setvolatile, setsuppressappend, setappendcharacter, setforcequoting, setfullyqualify, line_state, getline, getword, getwordinfo, getcursor, getcommandoffset, getwordbreakinfo, onfiltermatches, ondisplaymatches, completion pipeline, match generation order, match filtering, match display	references/completion.md
Readline, .inputrc, key binding, editing mode, emacs, vi, bind, completion commands, clink-select-complete, old-menu-complete, menu-complete, popup, clink-show-help, clink-reload, clink-diagnostics, clink-copy-line, Readline variables, clink-specific commands, luafunc, keyseq, escape codes, keymap	references/line-editing.md
cmd.exe, injection, DLL, clink inject, autorun, clink.bat, profile directory, settings, clink set, environment variables, doskey, PROMPT, command separator, redirection, built-in commands, clink_start.cmd, startup order, CLINK_PROFILE, CLINK_NOAUTORUN, console, terminal, ANSI, prompt filter, promptfilter, right-side prompt, transient prompt, promptcoroutine, .clinkprompt, prompt theme	references/cmd-integration.md
classifier, word_classifications, classifyword, applycolor, color.arg, color.flag, color.cmd, color.doskey, color.argmatcher, color.executable, color.unrecognized, color.unexpected, color.cmdsep, color.cmdredir, color.suggestion, color.input, match.coloring_rules, LS_COLORS, color theme, .clinktheme, color settings	references/coloring.md
autosuggest, suggester, clink.suggester(), suggestion list, inline suggestion, F2, autosuggest.strategy, autosuggest.enable, autosuggest.inline, rl_buffer:hassuggestion, rl_buffer:insertsuggestion, match_prev_cmd, history suggestion, completion suggestion	references/suggestions.md
history, clink_history, history.save, history.shared, history.max_lines, history.dupe_mode, history.ignore_space, history.expand_mode, history.auto_expand, history.sticky_search, history.time_stamp, rl.gethistorycount, rl.gethistoryitems, clink.onhistory, history compact, history expansion, event designators, word designators, F7, clink-popup-history	references/history.md
Lua script, script directory, completions directory, lazy loading, clink.path, CLINK_PATH, installscripts, onbeginedit, onendedit, onfilterinput, oncommand, onaftercommand, oninputlinechanged, oninject, onprovideline, clink.reload, require, Lua 5.2, clink.info	references/scripting.md

Quick Guide

How do I write an argmatcher? → references/argmatcher.md
How do completions and match generators work? → references/completion.md
How do I configure key bindings and .inputrc? → references/line-editing.md
How does clink inject into cmd.exe? → references/cmd-integration.md
How do I color the input line? → references/coloring.md
How do auto-suggestions work? → references/suggestions.md
How does history work? → references/history.md
How do I write and load Lua scripts? → references/scripting.md
How do I create a custom prompt? → references/cmd-integration.md
What are the match_builder methods? → references/completion.md
How do I filter or modify completions? → references/completion.md
How does clink-select-complete work? → references/line-editing.md
How do I set up clink autorun? → references/cmd-integration.md
What color settings are available? → references/coloring.md

Cross-Project References

For carapace-specific cmd-clink integration (snippet, patch phase, value formatting), see the carapace-dev skill → references/shell.md (cmd-clink row in the supported shells table).