nlsh - Natural Language Shell

Talk to your terminal in plain English.

Requirements: macOS or Linux (Windows not currently supported)

Install

Option 0: npm (global)

# from the repo (until published on npm)
cd TerminalGPT
npm install
npm link

# now you can run:
nlsh

Notes:

• Requires Python 3 (python3) and pip.
• Postinstall will run python3 -m pip install --user -r requirements.txt.
• To skip pip install: NLSH_SKIP_PIP=1 npm install.

Option 1: One-liner (curl)

bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PushDream/TerminalGPT/main/install.sh)

Option 2: Clone and setup

git clone https://github.com/PushDream/TerminalGPT.git
cd TerminalGPT
./setup.sh

Option 3: Download ZIP (no git needed)

wget https://github.com/PushDream/TerminalGPT/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
unzip main.zip
cd TerminalGPT-main
./setup.sh

Option 4: Manual (minimal)

git clone https://github.com/PushDream/TerminalGPT.git
cd TerminalGPT
pip install google-generativeai
python nlsh.py

Uninstall

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PushDream/TerminalGPT/main/uninstall.sh | bash

Usage

nlsh

Type naturally:

• list all python files → find . -name "*.py"
• git commit with message fixed bug → git commit -m "fixed bug"
• show me disk usage → df -h

Or use shell commands directly - nlsh automatically detects when you're typing a command vs. natural language.

Features

Core Features

• Natural language to shell commands - Powered by Google Gemini AI
• Smart command detection - Automatically distinguishes between natural language and direct shell commands
• Command history context - AI remembers recent commands for context-aware suggestions
• Editable AI suggestions - Modify suggested commands before execution

Enhanced Features (v2.0.0+)

• Persistent command history - History saved across sessions (~/.nlsh_history)
• Tab completion - Autocomplete file paths and commands
• Environment variable expansion - Support for $HOME, $USER, etc.
• Built-in commands - exit, quit, clear work as expected
• Improved command detection - 40+ additional shell commands recognized
• Interactive program support (v2.1.0) - Run nano, vim, htop, and other interactive programs directly
• Smart OS/shell detection (v2.2.0) - AI automatically adapts to your OS (Linux/macOS) and shell (bash/zsh/fish)

Commands

• !api - Change API key
• !version - Show version
• !history - Show command history
• !help - Show help
• !<cmd> - Run any command directly (e.g., !git status)
• exit or quit - Exit nlsh
• clear - Clear screen
• Ctrl+D - Exit
• Ctrl+C - Cancel current operation

Credits

Original author: Junaid Mahmood

Enhanced by: PushDream - v2.0.0+ improvements including:

• Persistent readline history with file storage
• Tab completion for paths and commands
• Exit/quit/clear built-in commands
• Environment variable expansion
• Editable AI command suggestions
• Version tracking
• Expanded shell command detection (40+ additional commands)
• Synchronized history between readline and AI context
• Interactive program support (v2.1.0) - nano, vim, htop, etc.
• Smart OS/shell detection (v2.2.0) - AI adapts to Linux/macOS and bash/zsh/fish