Cross-Platform Local Printer Skill

Operate local printers via the printer-ai CLI. Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux.

When to Use

✅ USE this skill when:

• User wants to print local files (PDF, images, Office documents, etc.)
• Query local printer list and status (查询本地打印机列表和状态)
• Manage print jobs: check status, cancel jobs (管理打印任务)
• Get detailed printer attributes / capabilities (获取打印机属性/能力)

When NOT to Use

❌ DON'T use this skill when:

• Operating cloud / remote print boxes (use lianke-print-box skill instead)
• The printer is not locally connected

Setup

# Install
uv tool install git+https://github.com/NullYing/printer-ai-skills.git

# Verify
printer-ai printers

Printing Workflow

1. List Printers

# Human-friendly format
printer-ai printers

# JSON format (recommended for parsing)
printer-ai printers --json

Get the printer index from output (needed for subsequent commands). ⭐ marks the default printer.

2. Check Printer Status

printer-ai status INDEX
# Or JSON format
printer-ai status INDEX --json

Status meanings:

• 🟢 idle = Ready (空闲可用)
• 🟡 processing = Busy (处理中)
• 🔴 stopped = Stopped (已停止)

3. Get Printer Attributes (optional, to discover capabilities)

printer-ai attrs INDEX

Returns all supported options (paper size, color mode, duplex, etc.).

4. Print a File

# Print with default printer
printer-ai print /path/to/file.pdf

# Specify printer by index
printer-ai print /path/to/file.pdf --index 2

# With print options — macOS/Linux (CUPS/IPP format)
printer-ai print /path/to/file.pdf --options '{"copies":"2","media":"A4","orientation_requested":"3","print_color_mode":"color"}'

# With print options — Windows (DEVMODE format)
printer-ai print /path/to/file.pdf --options '{"dmCopies":2,"dmPaperSize":9,"dmOrientation":1,"dmColor":2}'

5. Query Job Status

printer-ai job-status JOB_ID

6. List All Jobs

printer-ai jobs
printer-ai jobs --printer "Printer Name"
printer-ai jobs --json

7. Cancel a Job

printer-ai cancel-job JOB_ID

Print Options Quick Reference

macOS / Linux (CUPS/IPP format)

Option	Example Value	Description
copies	"2"	Number of copies (打印份数)
media	"A4", "Letter"	Paper size (纸张大小)
orientation_requested	"3"=portrait, "4"=landscape	Orientation (方向)
print_color_mode	"monochrome", "color"	Color mode (颜色模式)
sides	"one-sided", "two-sided-long-edge"	Duplex (双面打印)
print_quality	"3"=draft, "4"=normal, "5"=high	Quality (质量)
page_ranges	"1-5,10-15"	Page range (页面范围)
number_up	"2", "4"	Pages per sheet (每页合并页数)

Windows (DEVMODE format)

Option	Example Value	Description
dmCopies	2	Number of copies (打印份数)
dmPaperSize	9=A4, 1=Letter	Paper size (纸张大小)
dmOrientation	1=portrait, 2=landscape	Orientation (方向)
dmColor	1=mono, 2=color	Color mode (颜色模式)
dmDuplex	1=simplex, 2=long-edge, 3=short-edge	Duplex (双面打印)
dmPrintQuality	-4=default	Quality (质量)

Notes

• Check printer status with printer-ai status before printing to confirm it is online
• Print option formats differ by platform: macOS/Linux uses CUPS/IPP string format, Windows uses DEVMODE integer format
• Use printer-ai attrs to discover actual supported options for a specific printer
• The --json flag returns pure JSON output for easy programmatic parsing