I Built a CLI Tool to Automate My Repetitive File Tasks (100% Local)
### How it works
Instead of googling bash commands, just tell it what you want:
```bash
floma new "compress PDFs in Downloads older than 30 days"
```
It uses AI to figure out the steps and runs them. You can schedule it to run automatically or just run it once.
### Why local-first?
Everything runs on your machine. Your files never leave your computer, no API keys needed, works offline. I just really didn't want another cloud service.
### What can it do?
- File stuff (find, move, copy, compress, remove duplicates)
- PDF work (merge, split, extract text)
- Image processing (resize, compress, convert formats)
- Send notifications (email, Slack)
- Schedule anything to run daily/weekly/monthly
### Real examples I use
```bash
# Clean up my downloads automatically
floma new "move files older than 7 days from Downloads to Archive"
# Daily backup
floma new "zip my Documents folder every day at 6pm"
# Batch resize screenshots
floma new "resize all PNGs in this folder to 800px width"
```
### Try it
It's free to start:
```bash
brew tap getfloma/floma && brew install floma
floma new "your task here"
```
Link: https://getfloma.com
---
What repetitive file tasks do you wish you could automate? I'm actively building this and would love to hear what would actually be useful.
This is great — love the local-first + natural language approach. Feels like Hazel + cron, but simple.
Tasks I’d use right away
```bash
# Clean Xcode junk
floma new "delete Xcode DerivedData older than 14 days"
# Tame Downloads
floma new "move .dmg and .pkg older than 30 days to Installers_Archive"
# Compress big screen recordings
floma new "compress .mov files > 200MB in ~/Movies to H.264"
# HEIC → JPG for sharing
floma new "convert HEICs in Downloads to JPG"
# Daily Dev backup
floma new "rsync ~/Dev to /Volumes/Backup/Dev at 23:00"
```
Nice-to-haves
*
--dry-run+ clear preview (“what will change”)* Easy undo/quarantine for deletes/renames
* Shareable “recipes” (export/import)
Questions
Can I see the *exact commands** before execution?
Any *undo/journal** for destructive tasks?
Plans for a *community recipes** hub?
Installing now via Brew — looks awesome!
You can see the exact commands with floma view <command>. There’s also an undo command for rollbacks (check the docs). A community recipes hub is planned, and AI templates are already in the paid plans (only $4.99). currently adding the dry run feature.
spread the word!
Super cool idea! ⚡ I love that it’s fully local — most automation tools today rely on cloud APIs, so this feels lightweight and privacy-friendly. The natural language interface makes it approachable even for non-devs. I can totally see myself using this to clean up media folders or automate backups. Great work, Aditya 👏
Floma’s a neat project. It feels practical and well thought out, just type what you want, and it handles the rest. The local-first idea is refreshing too; no cloud, no setup, just automation that actually respects your system.
Congrats on shipping this. The performance consistency you get from being fully local is fantastic for repetitive file tasks. You skip all the network latency and API dependency issues, which makes the process reliable every time.
For me, that consistency is just as important as the privacy aspect. Did you run into any major hurdles handling resource allocation on the client side? That's always the tricky part when you cut out the server entirely.