A Bash command that answers questions about text

Pipe text in, read the answer out, and branch on the exit code.

Install

Channel	Note
`curl -fsSL https://thinkthen.dev/install.sh \| sh`	Download script.
`brew install botassembly/thinkthen/thinkthen`	Homebrew, an option on a Mac.

Set THINKTHEN_API_KEY in the environment.

A first call

The ticket asks for a refund. decide prints true and exits 0.

question="Does the customer ask for a refund?"

cat <<'EOF' |
I renewed once this morning, but my card shows two charges.
Please refund the duplicate.
EOF
thinkthen decide "$question"

Output

true

exit 0: yes

Not sure comes back as null, and exit code 3. Branch on it and send those cases to a person.

Run facts

--facts prints one line of run facts on standard error, after the answers.

Jev, Liquid d1 and Ollama from Bash

--backend NAME names the backend for one run. THINKTHEN_BACKEND names it for every run in the shell. Each backend page shows its runs.

TypeSafe Jev: --backend typesafe
Liquid d1: --backend liquid
Ollama: --backend ollama

The configuration file's backend names a default backend for every run. The Configuration page shows the file.

OpenAI Decisions API from Bash

OpenAI announced its Decisions API on 2026-09-29 in its DevDay 2026 recap. OpenAI has published no address, schema or price, so ThinkThen cannot call it. The OpenAI Decisions API page says what ThinkThen knows.

What is different in Bash

Standard input carries the evidence. Standard output carries the answer and nothing else.
On one piece of evidence, the exit code is the answer. if and case read it directly.
--jobs sets how many requests run at once.
--plan prints the plan and needs no key.

On GitHub: github.com/botassembly/thinkthen