How to use a Win32 build of BusyBox to run many of the standard UNIX command line tools on Windows.
Add this skill
npx mdskills install sickn33/busybox-on-windowsProvides clear instructions for installing and using BusyBox on Windows with good platform detection
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.
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Processor | Select-Object Name, NumberOfCores, MaxClockSpeedGet-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" | Select-Object ProductName, DisplayVersion, CurrentBuild$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://frippery.org/files/busybox/busybox.exe -OutFile busybox.exe$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://frippery.org/files/busybox/busybox64.exe -OutFile busybox.exe$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://frippery.org/files/busybox/busybox64u.exe -OutFile busybox.exe$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://frippery.org/files/busybox/busybox64a.exe -OutFile busybox.exeUseful commands:
busybox.exe --listbusybox.exe --listUsage: 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/
Install via CLI
npx mdskills install sickn33/busybox-on-windowsBusybox On Windows is a free, open-source AI agent skill. How to use a Win32 build of BusyBox to run many of the standard UNIX command line tools on Windows.
Install Busybox On Windows with a single command:
npx mdskills install sickn33/busybox-on-windowsThis downloads the skill files into your project and your AI agent picks them up automatically.
Busybox On Windows works with Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Vscode Copilot, Windsurf, Continue Dev, Codex, Gemini Cli, Amp, Roo Code, Goose, Opencode, Trae, Qodo, Command Code. Skills use the open SKILL.md format which is compatible with any AI coding agent that reads markdown instructions.