Files

SKILL.mdagentsreferencesscripts

Install

Install the containing plugin

/plugin install shared-skills@llm-skills

Invoke this skill after installation

/shared-skills:hexdump

Download hexdump-skill.zip

This skill is bundled inside shared-skills. Install the plugin once, then Claude Code can use any of its included skills. Browse the full plugin repository at github.com/alisonaquinas/llm-shared-skills.

SKILL.md

name: hexdump description: Display file contents in hexadecimal and ASCII formats. Use when the agent needs to inspect, analyze, or extract information from binary files or data structures.

Hexdump

Display file contents in hexadecimal and ASCII formats

Prerequisite Check

Run this before proposing byte-level inspection:

command -v hexdump >/dev/null 2>&1 || hexdump --version

If hexdump is missing, surface that immediately and fall back to xxd or od for equivalent read-only inspection.

Quick Start

Verify hexdump is available: hexdump --version or man hexdump
Establish the command surface: man hexdump or hexdump --help
Start with a read-only probe: hexdump file

Intent Router

Load only the reference file needed for the active request.

references/install-and-setup.md — Installing hexdump on macOS, Linux, Windows
references/cheatsheet.md — Common options, output formats, usage patterns
references/advanced-usage.md — Advanced patterns, performance optimization
references/troubleshooting.md — Common errors, exit codes, platform differences

Core Workflow

Verify hexdump is available: hexdump --version
Start with safe, read-only operation: hexdump [options] file
Validate output on test data before processing at scale
Document exact command and flags for reproducibility

Quick Command Reference

hexdump --version                       # Check version
hexdump --help                          # Show help
hexdump file                            # Basic usage
hexdump file | head                     # Limit output
man hexdump                             # Full manual

# Canonical hex + ASCII view
hexdump -C firmware.bin | head

# Fallbacks on minimal systems
xxd -g 1 firmware.bin | head
od -An -tx1 -v firmware.bin | head

Safety Notes

Area	Guardrail
Untrusted input	Validate files from untrusted sources before processing.
Large files	May consume memory on large files. Test with smaller samples first.
Output handling	Pipe output safely. Binary output may corrupt terminal.
Symlinks	Tool may follow or skip symlinks. Check man page for behavior.

Recovery note: if hexdump is absent, prefer xxd for side-by-side hex plus ASCII and od -tx1 when only POSIX core tools are available.

Source Policy

Treat the installed hexdump behavior and man hexdump as runtime truth.
Use upstream documentation for semantics.

Resource Index

scripts/install.sh — Install hexdump on macOS or Linux.
scripts/install.ps1 — Install hexdump on Windows or any platform via PowerShell.