Getting Started

Under Construction

What PySH is, who it is for, and how to begin.

Note: PySH is Unix-like first. The supported Windows path today is WSL2 with full PySH semantics. Native Windows support is a future roadmap item.

What is PySH?

PySH (pysh-shell) is a Python-native automation platform designed for developers, system administrators, and DevOps engineers. It provides an interactive shell where Python is the primary automation language — not an afterthought.

PySH is not a Bash clone, not a POSIX shell, and not a PowerShell replacement. It is a new class of tool: an interactive Python runtime with shell ergonomics, a plugin system, and a TOML configuration model.

Who is PySH for?

✓System administrators migrating from shell scripts to Python automation
✓DevOps engineers who want Python-native scripting without switching tools
✓Python developers who want a REPL that feels like a shell
✓Educators and students learning Python through real operational problems
✓PySH Plugin developers building and distributing automation modules

Core concepts

Interactive shell

PySH provides a full interactive shell with a customizable prompt, command history, and tab completion. System commands run directly; Python objects are first-class values.

Python Command Execution Layer

Type #py to enter the Python Execution Layer — an embedded Python REPL with full access to the shell environment. Use #pyblock for multi-line blocks.

Plugin system

PySH is extensible via Python packages. Plugins register commands with a decorator and are configured via TOML. They can be installed from PyPI with pip or uv.

TOML configuration

All PySH settings live in .pysh.toml in the user home directory. No environment variables, no cryptic dotfiles.

Next steps

Continue to Installation to install PySH on your system, or read the Quick Start if you already have PySH installed.