Oracle (CLI) — Second-Model Review

Attribution: Sourced from steipete/agent-scripts by Peter Steinberger.

When to Use

• Getting a second-model review of code, architecture, or design
• Bundling prompts and files into a single request for another AI model
• Cross-validating agent output with an independent model

Oracle bundles your prompt + selected files into one "one-shot" request so another model can answer with real repo context (API or browser automation). Treat outputs as advisory: verify against the codebase + tests.

Main Use Case

Default workflow: --engine browser targeting GPT-5 Pro in ChatGPT. This is the "human in the loop" path.

Commands

# Show help
npx -y @steipete/oracle --help

# Preview (no tokens spent)
npx -y @steipete/oracle --dry-run summary -p "<task>" --file "src/**" --file "!**/*.test.*"

# Token/cost sanity
npx -y @steipete/oracle --dry-run summary --files-report -p "<task>" --file "src/**"

# Browser run (main path; long-running is normal)
npx -y @steipete/oracle --engine browser --model gpt-5-pro -p "<task>" --file "src/**"

# Manual paste fallback (assemble bundle, copy to clipboard)
npx -y @steipete/oracle --render --copy -p "<task>" --file "src/**"

Attaching Files (--file)

--file accepts files, directories, and globs. Pass it multiple times:

# Include directory glob
--file "src/**"

# Include specific file
--file src/index.ts

# Exclude (prefix with !)
--file "src/**" --file "!src/**/*.test.ts" --file "!**/*.snap"

Default-ignored dirs: node_modules, dist, coverage, .git, .turbo, .next, build, tmp.

Budget + Observability

• Target: keep total input under ~196k tokens.
• Use --files-report and/or --dry-run json to spot the token hogs before spending.

Sessions + Reattachment

Sessions stored under ~/.oracle/sessions. Runs may detach or take a long time.

# Don't re-run; reattach
oracle status --hours 72
oracle session <id> --render

Prompt Template (high signal)

Oracle starts with zero project knowledge. Always include:

• Project briefing (stack + build/test commands + platform constraints).
• "Where things live" (key directories, entrypoints, config files).
• Exact question + what you tried + the error text (verbatim).
• Constraints ("don't change X", "must keep public API", "perf budget").
• Desired output ("return patch plan + tests", "list risky assumptions", "give 3 options with tradeoffs").

Safety

• Don't attach secrets by default (.env, key files, auth tokens).
• Prefer "just enough context": fewer files + better prompt beats whole-repo dumps.
• API runs require explicit user consent before starting because they incur usage costs.