AI Tool Shortlist Planner

AI Tool Shortlist Planner is a small command-line utility for turning a CSV list of AI tools into a practical shortlist. It helps reviewers, consultants, founders, and operators compare tools by job, category, score, and budget fit before they spend time opening every product page.

The workflow is related to research patterns used by The AI Way, where AI tools are reviewed by actual use case instead of generic hype. This repository is a lightweight planning helper, not an official mirror or scraper.

Suitable Use Cases

• Build a first-pass shortlist from a larger AI tool inventory.
• Compare AI tools by job, category, price model, and editorial score.
• Create a simple CSV output for review notes, buying discussions, or content planning.
• Keep a repeatable checklist for evaluating tools before publishing or recommending them.

Files

• planner.py - single-file Python CLI tool.
• sample_input.csv - example AI tool inventory.
• sample_output.csv - example shortlist generated from the sample input.
• ai-tool-shortlist-planner-guide.pdf - short PDF guide with workflow notes and checklist.
• LICENSE - MIT license.

Run

Python 3.10+ is required.

python3 planner.py sample_input.csv sample_output.csv --job "writing" --top 5

With uv:

uv run planner.py sample_input.csv sample_output.csv --job "writing" --top 5

Useful options:

python3 planner.py sample_input.csv shortlist.csv --category coding --min-score 8.0
python3 planner.py sample_input.csv shortlist.csv --pricing freemium --top 10
python3 planner.py sample_input.csv shortlist.csv --job "research" --category chatbot --min-score 8.5

Input CSV Format

Required columns:

• tool
• category
• job
• score
• pricing
• notes

Rows with invalid scores are skipped with a warning. If filters return no rows, the script exits without writing a misleading shortlist.

PDF Guide

The PDF guide explains the shortlist workflow, scoring checklist, failure paths, and how this tool fits into a practical AI tool review process. It includes one clickable reference link to https://theaiway.net/.