4ed25b63a6
# Release-Notes Short Description * Nushell now always loads its internal `default_env.nu` before the user `env.nu` is loaded, then loads the internal `default_config.nu` before the user's `config.nu` is loaded. This allows for a simpler user-configuration experience. The Configuration Chapter of the Book will be updated soon with the new behavior. # Description Implements the main ideas in #13671 and a few more: * Users can now specify only the environment and config options they want to override in *their* `env.nu` and `config.nu`and yet still have access to all of the defaults: * `default_env.nu` (internally defined) will be loaded whenever (and before) the user's `env.nu` is loaded. * `default_config.nu` (internally defined) will be loaded whenever (and before) the user's `config.nu` is loaded. * No more 900+ line config out-of-the-box. * Faster startup (again): ~40-45% improvement in launch time with a default configuration. * New keys that are added to the defaults in the future will automatically be available to all users after updating Nushell. No need to regenerate config to get the new defaults. * It is now possible to have different internal defaults (which will be used with `-c` and scripts) vs. REPL defaults. This would have solved many of the user complaints about the [`display_errors` implementation](https://www.nushell.sh/blog/2024-09-17-nushell_0_98_0.html#non-zero-exit-codes-are-now-errors-toc). * A basic "scaffold" `config.nu` and `env.nu` are created on first launch (if the config directory isn't present). * Improved "out-of-the-box" experience (OOBE) - No longer asks to create the files; the minimal scaffolding will be automatically created. If deleted, they will not be regenerated. This provides a better "out-of-the-box" experience for the user as they no longer have to make this decision (without much info on the pros or cons) when first launching. * <s>(New: 2024-11-07) Runs the env_conversions process after the `default_env.nu` is loaded so that users can treat `Path`/`PATH` as lists in their own config.</s> * (New: 2024-11-08) Given the changes in #13802, `default_config.nu` will be a minimal file to minimize load-times. This shaves another (on my system) ~3ms off the base launch time. * Related: Keybindings, menus, and hooks that are already internal defaults are no longer duplicated in `$env.config`. The documentation will be updated to cover these scenarios. * (New: 2024-11-08) Move existing "full" `default_config.nu` to `sample_config.nu` for short-term "documentation" purposes. * (New: 2024-11-18) Move the `dark-theme` and `light-theme` to Standard Library and demonstrate their use - Also improves startup times, but we're reaching the limit of optimization. * (New: 2024-11-18) Extensively documented/commented `sample_env.nu` and `sample_config.nu`. These can be displayed in-shell using (for example) `config nu --sample | nu-highlight | less -R`. Note: Much of this will eventually be moved to or (some) duplicated in the Doc. But for now, this some nice in-shell doc that replaces the older "commented/documented default". * (New: 2024-11-20) Runs the `ENV_CONVERSIONS` process (1) after the `default_env.nu` (allows `PATH` to be used as a list in user's `env.nu`) and (2) before `default_config.nu` is loaded (allows user's `ENV_CONVERSIONS` from their `env.nu` to be used in their `config.nu`). * <s>(New: 2024-11-20) The default `ENV_CONVERSIONS` is now an empty record. The internal Rust code handles `PATH` (and variants) conversions regardless of the `ENV_CONVERSIONS` variable. This shaves a *very* small amount of time off the startup.</s> Reset - Looks like there might be a bug in `nu-enginer::env::ensure_path()` on Windows that would need to be fixed in order for this to work. # User-Facing Changes By default, you shouldn't see much, if any, change when running this with your existing configuration. To see the greatest benefit from these changes, you'll probably want to start with a "fresh" config. This can be easily tested using something like: ```nushell let temp_home = (mktemp -d) $env.XDG_CONFIG_HOME = $temp_home $env.XDG_DATA_HOME = $temp_home ./target/release/nu ``` You should see a message where the (mostly empty) `env.nu` and `config.nu` are created on first start. Defaults should be the same (or similar to) those before the PR. Please let me know if you notice any differences. --- Users should now specify configuration in terms of overrides of each setting. For instance, rather than modifying `history` settings in the monolithic `config.nu`, the following is recommended in an updated `config.nu`: ```nu $env.config.history = { file_format: sqlite, sync_on_enter: true isolation: true max_size: 1_000_000 } ``` or even just: ```nu $env.config.history.file_format = sqlite $env.config.history.isolation: true $env.config.history.max_size = 1_000_000 ``` Note: It seems many users are already appending a `source my_config.nu` (or similar pattern) to the end of the existing `config.nu` to make updates easier. In this case, they will likely want to remove all of the previous defaults and just move their `my_config.nu` to `config.nu`. Note: It should be unlikely that there are any breaking changes here, but there's a slim chance that some code, somewhere, *expects* an absence of certain config values. Otherwise, all config values are available before and after this change. # Tests + Formatting - 🟢 `toolkit fmt` - 🟢 `toolkit clippy` - 🟢 `toolkit test` - 🟢 `toolkit test stdlib` # After Submitting Configuration Chapter (and related) of the doc is currently WIP and will be finished in time for 0.101 release. |
||
|---|---|---|
| .cargo | ||
| .githooks | ||
| .github | ||
| assets | ||
| benches | ||
| crates | ||
| devdocs | ||
| docker | ||
| scripts | ||
| src | ||
| tests | ||
| wix | ||
| .gitattributes | ||
| .gitignore | ||
| Cargo.lock | ||
| Cargo.toml | ||
| CITATION.cff | ||
| CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md | ||
| CONTRIBUTING.md | ||
| Cross.toml | ||
| LICENSE | ||
| README.md | ||
| rust-toolchain.toml | ||
| SECURITY.md | ||
| toolkit.nu | ||
| typos.toml | ||
Nushell
A new type of shell.
Table of Contents
- Status
- Learning About Nu
- Installation
- Configuration
- Philosophy
- Goals
- Officially Supported By
- Contributing
- License
Status
This project has reached a minimum-viable-product level of quality. Many people use it as their daily driver, but it may be unstable for some commands. Nu's design is subject to change as it matures.
Learning About Nu
The Nushell book is the primary source of Nushell documentation. You can find a full list of Nu commands in the book, and we have many examples of using Nu in our cookbook.
We're also active on Discord and Twitter; come and chat with us!
Installation
To quickly install Nu:
# Linux and macOS
brew install nushell
# Windows
winget install nushell
To use Nu in GitHub Action, check setup-nu for more detail.
Detailed installation instructions can be found in the installation chapter of the book. Nu is available via many package managers:
For details about which platforms the Nushell team actively supports, see our platform support policy.
Configuration
The default configurations can be found at sample_config which are the configuration files one gets when they startup Nushell for the first time.
It sets all of the default configuration to run Nushell. From here one can then customize this file for their specific needs.
To see where config.nu is located on your system simply type this command.
$nu.config-path
Please see our book for all of the Nushell documentation.
Philosophy
Nu draws inspiration from projects like PowerShell, functional programming languages, and modern CLI tools. Rather than thinking of files and data as raw streams of text, Nu looks at each input as something with structure. For example, when you list the contents of a directory what you get back is a table of rows, where each row represents an item in that directory. These values can be piped through a series of steps, in a series of commands called a 'pipeline'.
Pipelines
In Unix, it's common to pipe between commands to split up a sophisticated command over multiple steps. Nu takes this a step further and builds heavily on the idea of pipelines. As in the Unix philosophy, Nu allows commands to output to stdout and read from stdin. Additionally, commands can output structured data (you can think of this as a third kind of stream). Commands that work in the pipeline fit into one of three categories:
- Commands that produce a stream (e.g.,
ls) - Commands that filter a stream (e.g.,
where type == "dir") - Commands that consume the output of the pipeline (e.g.,
table)
Commands are separated by the pipe symbol (|) to denote a pipeline flowing left to right.
> ls | where type == "dir" | table
╭────┬──────────┬──────┬─────────┬───────────────╮
│ # │ name │ type │ size │ modified │
├────┼──────────┼──────┼─────────┼───────────────┤
│ 0 │ .cargo │ dir │ 0 B │ 9 minutes ago │
│ 1 │ assets │ dir │ 0 B │ 2 weeks ago │
│ 2 │ crates │ dir │ 4.0 KiB │ 2 weeks ago │
│ 3 │ docker │ dir │ 0 B │ 2 weeks ago │
│ 4 │ docs │ dir │ 0 B │ 2 weeks ago │
│ 5 │ images │ dir │ 0 B │ 2 weeks ago │
│ 6 │ pkg_mgrs │ dir │ 0 B │ 2 weeks ago │
│ 7 │ samples │ dir │ 0 B │ 2 weeks ago │
│ 8 │ src │ dir │ 4.0 KiB │ 2 weeks ago │
│ 9 │ target │ dir │ 0 B │ a day ago │
│ 10 │ tests │ dir │ 4.0 KiB │ 2 weeks ago │
│ 11 │ wix │ dir │ 0 B │ 2 weeks ago │
╰────┴──────────┴──────┴─────────┴───────────────╯
Because most of the time you'll want to see the output of a pipeline, table is assumed.
We could have also written the above:
> ls | where type == "dir"
Being able to use the same commands and compose them differently is an important philosophy in Nu.
For example, we could use the built-in ps command to get a list of the running processes, using the same where as above.
> ps | where cpu > 0
╭───┬───────┬───────────┬───────┬───────────┬───────────╮
│ # │ pid │ name │ cpu │ mem │ virtual │
├───┼───────┼───────────┼───────┼───────────┼───────────┤
│ 0 │ 2240 │ Slack.exe │ 16.40 │ 178.3 MiB │ 232.6 MiB │
│ 1 │ 16948 │ Slack.exe │ 16.32 │ 205.0 MiB │ 197.9 MiB │
│ 2 │ 17700 │ nu.exe │ 3.77 │ 26.1 MiB │ 8.8 MiB │
╰───┴───────┴───────────┴───────┴───────────┴───────────╯
Opening files
Nu can load file and URL contents as raw text or structured data (if it recognizes the format). For example, you can load a .toml file as structured data and explore it:
> open Cargo.toml
╭──────────────────┬────────────────────╮
│ bin │ [table 1 row] │
│ dependencies │ {record 25 fields} │
│ dev-dependencies │ {record 8 fields} │
│ features │ {record 10 fields} │
│ package │ {record 13 fields} │
│ patch │ {record 1 field} │
│ profile │ {record 3 fields} │
│ target │ {record 3 fields} │
│ workspace │ {record 1 field} │
╰──────────────────┴────────────────────╯
We can pipe this into a command that gets the contents of one of the columns:
> open Cargo.toml | get package
╭───────────────┬────────────────────────────────────╮
│ authors │ [list 1 item] │
│ default-run │ nu │
│ description │ A new type of shell │
│ documentation │ https://www.nushell.sh/book/ │
│ edition │ 2018 │
│ exclude │ [list 1 item] │
│ homepage │ https://www.nushell.sh │
│ license │ MIT │
│ metadata │ {record 1 field} │
│ name │ nu │
│ repository │ https://github.com/nushell/nushell │
│ rust-version │ 1.60 │
│ version │ 0.72.0 │
╰───────────────┴────────────────────────────────────╯
And if needed we can drill down further:
> open Cargo.toml | get package.version
0.72.0
Plugins
Nu supports plugins that offer additional functionality to the shell and follow the same structured data model that built-in commands use. There are a few examples in the crates/nu_plugins_* directories.
Plugins are binaries that are available in your path and follow a nu_plugin_* naming convention.
These binaries interact with nu via a simple JSON-RPC protocol where the command identifies itself and passes along its configuration, making it available for use.
If the plugin is a filter, data streams to it one element at a time, and it can stream data back in return via stdin/stdout.
If the plugin is a sink, it is given the full vector of final data and is given free reign over stdin/stdout to use as it pleases.
The awesome-nu repo lists a variety of nu-plugins while the showcase repo shows off informative blog posts that have been written about Nushell along with videos that highlight technical topics that have been presented.
Goals
Nu adheres closely to a set of goals that make up its design philosophy. As features are added, they are checked against these goals.
-
First and foremost, Nu is cross-platform. Commands and techniques should work across platforms and Nu has first-class support for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
-
Nu ensures compatibility with existing platform-specific executables.
-
Nu's workflow and tools should have the usability expected of modern software in 2022 (and beyond).
-
Nu views data as either structured or unstructured. It is a structured shell like PowerShell.
-
Finally, Nu views data functionally. Rather than using mutation, pipelines act as a means to load, change, and save data without mutable state.
Officially Supported By
Please submit an issue or PR to be added to this list.
Contributing
See Contributing for details. Thanks to all the people who already contributed!
License
The project is made available under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more information.