chordee/houdini-tools/houdini-locator

Houdini Locator

This skill provides a reliable way to find all Houdini installation paths without depending on Houdini itself.

Lookup priority

1. `HFS` environment variable — if set and bin/hython(.exe) exists under it, that install is reported first under the [Source: HFS env var] header. If HFS is set but invalid, a one-line warning is printed and the scan continues.
2. Standard install directory scan — Windows: C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini *; Linux: /opt/hfs*. Installs already reported via HFS are de-duplicated out of this section.
3. PATH search (Linux only) — which -a hython and which -a houdinifx are appended for visibility.

Workflow

1. Run the Detection Script

The detection script lives in the scripts/ subdirectory next to this SKILL.md. Resolve its absolute path from wherever you loaded this skill from on disk, then invoke the file appropriate for the current OS:

• Windows — scripts/find-houdini.ps1, invoked with PowerShell:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "<skill-dir>/scripts/find-houdini.ps1"

• Linux — scripts/find-houdini.sh, invoked with bash:

bash <skill-dir>/scripts/find-houdini.sh

Replace <skill-dir> with the absolute filesystem path of the directory holding this SKILL.md.

2. Parse the Results

Analyze the output to identify:

• Source marker: an entry prefixed with [Source: HFS env var] is the user's explicitly chosen install and should win over scan results when picking a default.
• Version number: parsed from the folder basename (Houdini 20.5.332 → 20.5.332, hfs20.5.332 → 20.5.332). For an HFS pointing at a non-standard folder name, version may be reported as (unknown version) — the install path and hython path are still authoritative.
• Install root: the full installation path for each version.
• Main executables: full paths to hython, houdini (Windows) or houdinifx (Linux).

3. Usage Recommendations

• Direct execution: Prefer using the full path to hython to avoid environment conflicts.
• Multiple versions: Prefer the HFS-sourced entry if present; otherwise pick the latest or by requirement.

Example Requests

• "Find all Houdini installations on my machine"
• "I need the full path to hython"
• "Which Houdini versions are available on this machine?"