create-adaptater

Create an Adaptater

Define, register, and verify an adaptater — a JS data-transformation step that workflows run between actions and agents (normalize CLI args, reshape the shared context, prepare prompt for agent steps).

Workflow

1. Ensure a registered features directory (first time only) — edit the conf file to add your features/ root path, then run lm conf. Adaptaters are discovered from the adaptaters/ subdirectory of each registered path (same mechanism as agents/actions/workflows).
2. Write the adaptater file — create <name>.js in features/adaptaters/; the filename without extension becomes the adaptater name. .js is the only supported extension. The file must be an ESM module exporting an async action(args, options) function (see Format).
3. Register — run lm update. Feature discovery upserts the adaptater into the adaptater table. No ToolSpec is created: unlike actions, adaptaters have no # tool docblock and cannot be called directly by agents.
4. (Optional) Wire it into a workflow — add - adaptater: <name> to steps: in a workflow YAML (typically step 1, or between two steps whose data formats don't match), then run lm update again.
5. Verify:
   • lm update output shows + [adaptater] <name> <path> for the new file.
   • Run the workflow: lm <workflow> [args...] --debug — each step prints as it runs; if the adaptater is the final step, its result is printed to stdout.

Format

ESM module exporting an async action(args, options) function:

// features/adaptaters/prequery.js
async function action(params, options) {
    const prompt = Array.isArray(params) ? params.join(" ") : params.prompt;
    return { prompt };
}

export { action };

• args (first param): string array when the adaptater is step 1 of a workflow (raw CLI args; piped/clipboard/file input may be appended to the array), or the tool arguments object when the workflow is called as an agent tool; for later steps it is the whole accumulated context object. Handle both shapes.
• options: run flags — debug, verbose, isToolCall when called through an agent tool call.
• Return value: an object has its keys merged into the shared workflow context (existing context keys win); a string/array lands in context.args.

Example

Goal: a workflow that takes CLI args and feeds them as prompt to an agent.

# features/workflows/q.yml
steps:
  - adaptater: prequery   # ["list", "planets"] -> { prompt: "list planets" }
  - agent: infer          # picks up prompt from context

// features/adaptaters/prequery.js
async function action(params, options) {
    const prompt = Array.isArray(params) ? params.join(" ") : params.prompt;
    return { prompt };
}

export { action };

lm q list the planets of the solar system ≡ lm infer "list the planets of the solar system".

Gotchas

• Only .js files are discovered — .py/.yml in adaptaters/ are silently ignored (unlike actions, which support .yml/.js/.py).
• The module must export exactly action — the executor dynamically imports the file and calls the exported action; a different export name fails only at run time with a wrapped "executing js action: ..." error, not at registration.
• No # tool docblock, no ToolSpec — adaptaters cannot be called directly by agents; they exist only as workflow steps. Do not copy the action docblock pattern from the create-action skill.
• No CLI alias — lm <adaptater-name> does not work (aliases are created only for agents/actions/workflows); verify through a workflow step or programmatically.
• Context keys cannot be overwritten — object results merge as { ...result, ...context }, so returned keys that already exist in the context are dropped; choose distinct key names (prompt to feed an agent step).
• Step 1 sees raw CLI args as an array, not an object — normalize in the adaptater (e.g. params.join(" ")); later steps see the accumulated context object.
• Fail loudly — throw on bad input, or return { error: ... }; the executor throws a returned error and wraps thrown exceptions as adaptater <name>: <e>.
• Every change requires lm update — new/edited adaptaters or workflow step lists are not picked up until re-registration.

References (load when needed)

• Adaptater executor (dynamic import, action call, error wrapping): agent-smith/packages/core/src/adaptaters/cmd.ts
• Workflow step dispatch + context merge (how an adaptater result flows to the next step): agent-smith/packages/core/src/workflows/cmd.ts
• Feature discovery (adaptaters/ dir scan, .js only, adaptater table, no CLI alias): agent-smith/docsite/public/doc/libraries/core/3.feature-discovery.md
• User-facing doc with the prequery example: agent-smith/docsite/public/doc/terminal_client/7.workflows.md