aict reimplements 33 Unix tools with structured XML/JSON output, built for AI agents to consume directly. The problem is that agents run ls, grep, and cat, receive human‑readable plaintext, and then spend tokens parsing column positions, guessing field widths, and handling inconsistent formats.

A typical XML output from aict ls looks like:<br> <file name="main.go" path="src/main.go" absolute="/project/src/main.go" size_bytes="2048" size_human="2.0K" language="go" mime="text/x-go" binary="false" executable="false" modified="1746120000" modified_ago_s="3456"/>. Every field is labeled, paths are absolute, timestamps are Unix epoch integers, and language/MIME are detected automatically—no parsing required.

Installation is simple: brew tap synseqack/aict brew install aict, or install via Go. Quick‑start commands include aict ls src/ --json and aict grep "func" . All 33 tools support --xml (default), --json, and --plain, and the built‑in MCP server exposes them as native functions for Claude or other assistants.

Token cost is higher—1.1–7.8× more tokens per task—but aict reduces round‑trips and eliminates parsing ambiguity. Benchmarks show ~46% fewer output tokens and higher accuracy, with a startup cost of 3.6 ms per invocation. The tool is pure Go, sandbox‑safe, and works on Linux, macOS, and Windows.