Cheat sheet for the xonsh shell with copy-pastable examples. This is a good level of knowledge to start being productive.

If you like the cheatsheet click ⭐ on the repo and tweet about it.

What is xonsh?

Xonsh is a Python-powered, cross-platform, Unix-gazing shell language and command prompt. The language is a superset of Python 3.6+ with additional shell primitives that you are used to from Bash and IPython. It works on all Python-compatible systems, including Linux, macOS, and Windows. Try right off the bat examples.

What does xonsh mean?

The "xonsh" word sounds like conch [kɑːntʃ] - a common name of a number of different sea snails or shells (🐚). Thus xonsh is the reference to the shell word that is commonly used to name command shells.

You will also face with "xontrib" word. The xontrib is short version of "(contrib)ution" word and points to extensions, community articles and other materials around xonsh.

Install xonsh

There are three ways to use xonsh:

Simple xonsh install. You can use the system installed Python to install xonsh and dependencies. This is a good option if you don't plan to manage Python versions or virtual environments.
Install xonsh with package and environment management system. In this way you can flexibly manage the Python version, dependencies, and virtual environments, but because xonsh is a Python-based shell you have to understand what you're doing and the section below will provide some guidance.
Try xonsh without installation. Use Docker or the Linux AppImage to run and try xonsh.

Simple xonsh install

Most modern operating systems have Python and PyPi (pip) that are preinstalled or that can be installed easily. By installing from PyPi you will get the latest version of the xonsh shell. We highly recommend using the full version of the xonsh PyPi-package with prompt-toolkit on board:

python -m pip install 'xonsh[full]'

Another way is to install xonsh from the package manager that is supplied by the operating system. This way is not recommended because in operating systems without the rolling release concept the xonsh shell version may be very old (check latest xonsh release or versions of xonsh across platforms) because the average release cycle for the xonsh shell is quarter.

# Not recommended but possible
apt install xonsh     # Debian/Ubuntu
pacman -S xonsh       # Arch Linux
dnf install xonsh     # Fedora
brew install xonsh    # OSX

On any system you can install python and then install xonsh from pip i.e., any_pkg_manager install python && python -m pip install 'xonsh[full]' This is the preferable way.

Install xonsh with package and environment management system

Xonsh is a Python-based shell, and to run xonsh you must have Python installed. The Python version and its packages can be installed and located anywhere: in the operating system directories, as part of a virtual environment, as part of the user directory, or as a virtual drive created temporarily behind the scenes by the Linux AppImage.

The first thing you have to remember is that when you execute import or any other Python code during a xonsh session it will be executed in the Python environment that was used to run current instance of xonsh.

In other words, you can activate a virtual environment during a xonsh session (using conda, pyenv, pipx) but the current session will continue to use packages from the environment that was used to run xonsh. And if you want to run xonsh with the packages from the currently activated virtual environment you have to install xonsh in that environment and run it directly.

Thus the second thing you should remember is that when you run xonsh in virtual environment it will try to load xonsh RC files (i.e. ~/.xonshrc) and because the virtual environment is different from the environement you ordinarily use, the loading of the RC file will tend to fail because of the lack of the appropriate set of packages. When you write your ~/.xonshrc it's good practice to check the existing external dependencies before loading them. See also xontrib-rc-awesome.

Install xonsh on macOS or Linux using conda

You can use Conda with Conda-forge to install and use xonsh.

#
# Install python using brew
#
zsh  # Default macOS shell
# Install brew from https://brew.sh/
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
brew install python  # or `[email protected]`

#
# Install Miniconda from https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html 
# (example for Mac, use the link for your platform)
#
cd /tmp
wget https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-MacOSX-arm64.sh
chmod +x Miniconda3-latest-MacOSX-arm64.sh
./Miniconda3-latest-MacOSX-arm64.sh
# Add conda init code that was printed to `~/.zshrc` and restart zsh.
# Or run `/Users/username/miniconda3/bin/conda init zsh` to add init to ~/.zshrc and restart zsh.

# After restarting zsh you will see `(base)` in prompt.
# This means that you're in the conda `base` environment.

# Switch to Conda-forge channel
conda config --add channels conda-forge
conda config --set channel_priority strict 
conda update --all --yes

# Install xonsh to the `base` environment
conda install xonsh
conda init xonsh  # Add init to ~/.xonshrc. You can also add `$CONDA_AUTO_ACTIVATE_BASE='false'` to avoid conda loading at start

which xonsh
# /Users/username/miniconda3/bin/xonsh

# Run xonsh from the `base` environment
xonsh

How to work and understand the environments in conda:

# `xpip` is used to install packages to the current xonsh session location (now it's `base` environment)
xpip install ujson  

# Example of creating the environment with a certain version of Python
conda search python | grep 3.10
conda create -n "py310" python=3.10 xonsh

conda activate py310
# Now the environment is `py310` but current xonsh session is still in `base` environment

which xonsh
# /Users/username/miniconda3/envs/py310/bin/xonsh

which pip
# /Users/username/miniconda3/envs/py310/bin/pip  # pip from `py310`

which xpip
# /Users/username/miniconda3/bin/pip  # pip from `base` environment from where xonsh ran

# Run xonsh that installed in `py310` environment from xonsh runned in `base` environment
xonsh
conda activate py310
# Now xonsh session is in `py310` environment and the current environment is also `py310`

import ujson
# No module named 'ujson'   # YES because ujson was installed in `base` environment

On Mac we also recommend to install GNU coreutils to use the Linux default tools (i.e. ls, grep):

brew install coreutils
$PATH.append('/opt/homebrew/opt/coreutils/libexec/gnubin')  # add to ~/.xonshrc

How to understand the xonsh location

Which xonsh and which Python used to run the current xonsh session:

import sys
[sys.argv[0], sys.executable]
# ['/opt/homebrew/bin/xonsh', '/opt/homebrew/opt/[email protected]/bin/python3.11']


@(sys.executable) -m site
# Full info about paths

Which xonsh and which python that will be executed to run new instances depends on the list of directories in $PATH or virtual environment:

$PATH
# ['/home/user/miniconda3/bin', '/opt/homebrew/bin]

[$(ls -la @$(which xonsh)), $(ls -la @$(which python)), $(python -V)]
# ['/home/user/miniconda3/bin/xonsh', '/home/user/miniconda3/bin/python -> python3.11', 'Python 3.11.1']

python -m site
# Full info about paths

pipx and xonsh

The pipx tool is also good to install xonsh in case you need certain Python version:

# Install Python before continuing
pip install pipx
pipx install --python python3.8 xonsh
pipx run xonsh 
# or add /home/$USER/.local/bin to PATH (/etc/shells) to allow running just the `xonsh` command

Try xonsh without installation

Docker

# Docker with specific Python version and latest release of xonsh
docker run --rm -it python:3.11-slim /bin/bash \
 -c "pip install 'xonsh[full]' && xonsh"

# Docker with specific Python version and xonsh from the master branch
docker run --rm -it python:3.11-slim /bin/bash \
 -c "apt update && apt install -y git && pip install -U git+https://github.com/xonsh/xonsh && xonsh"

# Official xonsh docker image may has an old version
docker run --rm -it xonsh/xonsh:slim

Linux-portable AppImage contains both Python 3 and xonsh in one file

wget https://github.com/xonsh/xonsh/releases/latest/download/xonsh-x86_64.AppImage -O xonsh
chmod +x xonsh
./xonsh

# Then if you don’t have Python on your host, you can acccess it from the AppImage by running:
$PATH = [$APPDIR + '/usr/bin'] + $PATH
python -m pip install tqdm --user  # the `tqdm` package will be installed to ~/.local/
import tqdm

You can build your own xonsh AppImage with the packages you need in 15 minutes.

Xonsh basics

The xonsh language is a superset of Python 3 with additional shell support. As result you can mix shell commands and Python code as easily as possible. Right off the bat examples:

cd /tmp && ls                     # shell commands

21 + 21                           # python command

for i in range(0, 42):            # mix python 
    echo @(i+1)                   # and the shell

len($(curl https://xon.sh))       # mix python and the shell

$PATH.append('/tmp')              # using environment variables

p'/etc/passwd'.read_text().find('root')  # path-string returns Path 
                                         # (https://docs.python.org/3/library/pathlib.html)

for line in $(cat /etc/passwd).splitlines():  # read the lines from the output
    echo @(line.split(':')[0])                # prepare line on Python and echo

for file in gp`*.*`:              # reading the list of files as Path-objects
    if file.exists():             # using rich functionality of Path-objects
        du -sh @(file)            # and pass it to the shell command

import json                       # python libraries are always at hand
if docker_info := $(docker info --format '{{json .}}'):
    print('ContainersRunning:', json.loads(docker_info)['ContainersRunning'])

xpip install xontrib-prompt-bar   # xonsh has huge amount of powerful extensions
xontrib load prompt_bar           # follow the white rabbit - https://github.com/topics/xontrib

# Finally fork https://github.com/anki-code/xontrib-rc-awesome
# to convert your ~/.xonshrc into a pip-installable package 
# with the extensions you need on board.

Looks nice? Install xonsh!

Three most frequent things that newcomers overlook

1. Shell commands, also known as subprocess commands

The first thing you should remember is that the shell commands are not the calls of another shell (i.e. bash). Xonsh has its own parser implementation for subprocess commands, and this is why a command like echo {1..5} \; (brace expansion and escape characters in bash) won't work. Most sh-shell features can be replaced by sane Python alternatives. For example, the earlier command could be expressed as echo @(range(1,6)) ';'.

If you think that only xonsh has the sh-uncompatible elements in its parser, you are mistaken. If we compare Bash and Zsh we will find that pip install package[subpackage] command will work in Bash but in Zsh the error will be raised because Zsh has a special meaning for square braces. It's normal to have an evolution in the syntax and features.

Be calm and accept the sane and self-consistent Python-driven mindset.

Note:

Most of novice try to copy and paste sh-lang commands that contain special characters and get syntax errors in xonsh. If you want to run environment agnostic sh-lang's commands that you copy from the internet just use the macro call in xonsh bash -c! echo {123} or use xontrib-sh to run context-free bash commands in xonsh by adding ! at the beginning of the command.
We highly recommend to taking a look at the section Install xonsh with package and environment management system.

2. Strings and arguments in shell commands

The second potential misunderstanding comes from the first. To escape special charecters, the special meaning of braces, or pass a string as an argument, use quotes. When in doubt, use quotes!

You should clearly understand the difference:

sh-lang shells	xonsh
1. Has an escape character: echo 123\ 456 # 123 456	1. Use quotes: echo "123 456" # 123 456 Escape character to wrap and so on: echo "123\ 456" # 123456
2. Open the quotes: echo --arg="val" # --arg=val # and: echo --arg "val" # --arg val	2. Save quotes: echo --arg="val" # --arg="val" # But if argument quoted entirely: echo --arg "val" # --arg val
3. Brackets have no meaning: echo {123} [456] # {123} [456]	3. Brackets have meaning: echo {123} [456] # SyntaxError echo "{123}" '[456]' # {123} [456]

sh-lang shells

xonsh

1. Has an escape character:

echo 123\ 456
# 123 456

1. Use quotes:

echo "123 456"
# 123 456

Escape character to wrap and so on:

echo "123\
456"
# 123456

2. Open the quotes:

echo --arg="val"
# --arg=val

# and:

echo --arg "val"
# --arg val

2. Save quotes:

echo --arg="val"
# --arg="val"

# But if argument quoted entirely:

echo --arg "val"
# --arg val

3. Brackets have no meaning:

echo {123} [456]
# {123} [456]

3. Brackets have meaning:

echo {123} [456]
# SyntaxError

echo "{123}" '[456]'
# {123} [456]

Note:

You can wrap any argument into Python string substitution:

name = 'snail'
echo @('--name=' + name.upper())
# --name=SNAIL

You can use the showcmd command to show the arguments list:

showcmd echo The @('arguments') @(['list', 'is']) $(echo here) "and" --say="hello" to you
# ['echo', 'The', 'arguments', 'list', 'is', 'here\n', 'and', '--say="hello"', 'to', 'you']]

3. The process substitution operator `$()` returns output with universal new lines

In sh-compatible shells, the process substitution operator $() executes the command and then splits the output and uses those parts as arguments. The command echo $(echo -e "1 2\n3") will have three distinct arguments, 1, 2 and 3 that will passed to the first echo.

In xonsh shell the $() operator returns the output of the command. The command echo $(echo -e "1 2\n3") will have one argument, 1 2\n3\n that will be passed to the first echo.

Note:

To do what sh-compatible shells are doing with the $() operator, the xonsh shell has the @$() operator that will be described in the next chapter.
```
showcmd echo @$(echo "1\n2 3\n4")
# ['echo', '1', '2', '3', '4']
```

To transform output to the lines for the arguments list you can use splitlines function and the python substitution:

showcmd echo @($(echo "1\n2 3\n4").splitlines())  # the first echo will get three arguments: "1", "2 3", "4"
# ['echo', '1', '2 3', '4']

Not all xonsh users like this behavior of $() operator, and in the future, this may be changed. There is a thread to discussing this and the Xonsh Enhancement Proposal #2.

Operators

`$()` - capture and return output without printing stdout and stderr

Captures stdout and returns output with universal new lines:

showcmd $(echo -e '1\n2\r3 4\r\n5')    # Subproc mode
# ['1\n2\n3 4\n5\n']

output = $(echo -e '1\n2\r3 4\r\n5')   # Python mode 
output
# '1\n2\n3 4\n5\n'

`!()` - capture all and return object without printing stdout and stderr

Captures stdout and returns CommandPipeline. Truthy if successful (returncode == 0), compares to, iterates over lines of stdout:

ret = !(echo 123)
ret
#CommandPipeline(
#  pid=404136,
#  returncode=0,
#  args=['echo', '123'],
#  alias=None,
#  timestamps=[1604742882.1826484, 1604742885.1393967],
#  executed_cmd=['echo', '123'],
#  input='',
#  output='123\n',
#  errors=None
#)   

if ret:
      print('Success')     
#Success

for l in ret:
      print(l)     
#123
#

Note! In some cases, to get the output you need to convert an object to a string or invoke .end() manually or use the .out:

r = !(ls /)
r.output
# ''

r.end()
r.output
# 'bin\netc\n...'

r = !(ls /)
r.out                # out is forcing ending
# 'bin\netc\n...'

r = !(ls /)
print(r)             # r will be converted to str and the ending will be forced
# bin
# etc
# ...

`$[]` - not capturing (return `None`), print stdout and stderr

Passes stdout to the screen and returns None:

ret = $[echo 123]
# 123
repr(ret)
# 'None'

This is the same as echo 123, but this syntax allows explicitly running a subprocess command.

`![]` - capture all and return hidden object, print stdout and stderr

Note! The behavior may be different if $XONSH_CAPTURE_ALWAYS is True or False (default).

Passes stdout to the screen and returns HiddenCommandPipeline:

with __xonsh__.env.swap(XONSH_CAPTURE_ALWAYS=True):
    ret = ![echo -e '1\n2\r3 4\r\n5']
    # 1               # Stream output of the command
    # 3 4
    # 5
    ret               # No return value because it's HiddenCommandPipeline object
    ret.out           # But it has the properties from CommandPipeline
    # '1\n2\r3 4\n5\n'

This operator is used under the hood for running commands at the interactive xonsh prompt.

`@()` - use Python code as an argument or a callable alias

Evaluates Python and passes the arguments:

showcmd 'Supported:' @('string') @(['list','of','strings']) 
#['Supported:', 'string', 'list', 'of', 'strings']

echo -n '!' | @(lambda args, stdin: 'Callable' + stdin.read())
#Callable!

`@$()` - split output of the command by white spaces for arguments list

showcmd @$(echo -e '1\n2\r3 4\r\n5')
#['1', '2\r3', '4', '5']

This is mostly what bash's $() operator does.

Environment Variables

${...}            # Get the list of environment variables
__xonsh__.env     # Get the list of environment variables using Python syntax

$VAR = 'value'    # Set environment variable

ENV = ${...}                # short typing
ENV.get('VAR', 'novalue')   # the good practice to have a fallback for missing value
# 'value'
ENV.get('VAR2', 'novalue')  # the good practice to have a fallback for missing value
# 'novalue'

'VAR' in ${...}   # Check environment variable exists
#True

${'V' + 'AR'}     # Get environment variable value by name from expression
#'value'

print($VAR)
with ${...}.swap(VAR='another value', NEW_VAR='new value'):  # Change VAR for commands block
    print($VAR)
print($VAR)
#value
#another value
#value

$VAR='new value' xonsh -c r'echo $VAR'   # Change variable for subprocess command
#new value

__xonsh__.env.get('VAR', 'novalue')  # the way to call environment using the __xonsh__ builtin
# 'value'

Python and subprocess mode:

print("my home is $HOME")                        # Python mode
# my home is $HOME

print("my home is " + $HOME)                     # Python mode
# my home is /home/snail

echo "my home is $HOME" as well as '$HOME'       # Subprocess mode
# my home is /home/snail as well as /home/snail

Work with $PATH:

$PATH
# EnvPath(
# ['/usr/bin',
#  '/sbin',
#  '/bin']
# )

$PATH.add(p"~/bin", front=True, replace=True))   # Insert path '~/bin' at front of $PATH list and replace existing entries
$PATH.add(p"~/bin", front=True)                  # Insert path '~/bin' at front of $PATH list
$PATH.add(p"~/bin", front=False, replace=True))  # Insert path '~/bin' at end of $PATH list and replace existing entries
$PATH.insert(0, '/tmp')                          # Insert path '/tmp' at front of $PATH list
$PATH.append('/tmp')                             # Append path '/tmp' at end of $PATH list
$PATH.remove('/tmp')                             # Remove path '/tmp' (first match)

Setup local paths by prepending to path via a loop in .xonshrc:

import os.path
from os import path
$user_bins = [
    f'{$HOME}/.cargo/bin',
    f'{$HOME}/.pyenv/bin',
    f'{$HOME}/.poetry/bin',
    f'{$HOME}/bin',
    f'{$HOME}/local/bin',
    f'{$HOME}/.local/bin', 
]

for dir in $user_bins:
    if path.isdir(dir) and path.exists(dir):
        $PATH.add(dir,front=True, replace=True)

See also the list of xonsh default environment variables.

Aliases

Simple aliases

aliases['g'] = 'git status -sb'           # Add alias as string
aliases['e'] = 'echo @(2+2)'              # Add xonsh executable alias (ExecAlias)
aliases['gp'] = ['git', 'pull']           # Add alias as list of arguments
aliases['b'] = lambda: "Banana!\n"        # Add alias as simple callable lambda
aliases |= {'a': 'echo a', 'b':'echo b'}  # Add aliases from the dict
del aliases['b']                          # Delete alias

Easy wrapping a command by using ExecAlias with built-in $args (or $arg0, $arg1, etc) variable:

aliases['echo-new'] = "echo @($args) new"
$(echo-new hello)
# 'hello new\n'
$(echo-new -n hello)
# 'hello new'

Also with handy """-string to use " and ' without escaping:

aliases['scmd'] = """showcmd @([a for a in $args if a != "cutme"])"""

scmd
# usage: showcmd [-h|--help|cmd args]
# Displays the command and arguments as a list ...

scmd 1 2 cutme 3
#['1', '2', '3']

Callable aliases

def _myargs1(args):
#def _myargs2(args, stdin=None):
#def _myargs3(args, stdin=None, stdout=None):
#def _myargs4(args, stdin=None, stdout=None, stderr=None):
#def _myargs5(args, stdin=None, stdout=None, stderr=None, spec=None):
#def _myargs6(args, stdin=None, stdout=None, stderr=None, spec=None, stack=None):
    print(args)
    
aliases['args'] = _myargs1
del _myargs1

args 1 2 3
#['1', '2', '3']

Simple definition with decorator:

@aliases.register("hello")
def __hello():
    echo world
    
hello
# world

Read stdin and write to stdout (real-life example - xontrib-pipeliner):

# Add an exclamation point to each line
def _exc(args, stdin, stdout):
    for line in stdin.readlines():
        print(line.strip() + '!', file=stdout, flush=True)

aliases['exc'] = _exc

echo hello | exc
# hello!

# JSON to YAML
@aliases.register("j2y")
def __j2y(args, stdin, stdout):
    import json, yaml
    print(yaml.dump(json.loads(stdin.read())), file=stdout)

# YAML to JSON
@aliases.register("y2j")
def __y2j(args, stdin, stdout):
    import yaml, json
    json.dump(yaml.safe_load(stdin), stdout, indent=4)

echo '{"hello":{"world":"42"}}' | j2y
# hello:
#   world: 42

echo 'hello:\n  world: 42' | y2j
# {
#     "hello": {
#         "world": "42"
#     }
# }

Abbrevs

There is xontrib-abbrevs as alternative to aliases. You can create abbrev and set the position of editing:

xpip install xontrib-abbrevs
xontrib load abbrevs

abbrevs['gst'] = 'git status'
gst  # Once you hit <space> or <return> 'gst' gets expanded to 'git status'.

abbrevs['gp'] = "git push <edit> --force"  # Set the edit position.
abbrevs['@'] = "@(<edit>)"  # Make shortcut.
abbrevs['...'] = "cd ../.."  # Workaround for syntax intersections with Python i.e. `elepsis` object from Python here.

# You can set a callback that receives current command buffer and word that triggered abbrev
abbrevs['*'] = lambda buffer, word: "asterisk" if buffer.text.startswith('echo') else word
ls *  # will stay
echo *  # will be transformed to `echo asterisk`

Path strings

The p-string returns Path object:

path = p'~/.xonshrc'
path
# Path('/home/snail/.xonshrc')

[path.name, path.exists(), path.parent]
# ['.xonshrc', True, Path('/home/snail')]

[f for f in path.parent.glob('*') if 'xonsh' in f.name]
# [Path('/home/snail/.xonshrc')]

dir1 = 'hello'
dir2 = 'world'
path = p'/tmp' / dir1 / dir2 / 'from/dir' / f'{dir1}'
path
# Path('/tmp/hello/world/from/dir/hello')

A simple way to read and write the file content using Path string:

text_len = p'/tmp/hello'.write_text('Hello world')
content = p'/tmp/hello'.read_text()
content
# 'Hello world'

Globbing - get the list of files from path by mask or regexp

To Normal globbing add g before back quotes:

ls *.*
ls g`*.*`

for f in gp`/tmp/*.*`:  # `p` is to return path objects
    print(f.name)
      
for f in gp`/tmp/*/**`:  # `**` is to glob subdirectories
    print(f)

To Regular Expression Globbing add r before back quotes:

ls `.*`
ls r`.*`

for f in rp`.*`:          # `p` is to return path instances
      print(f.exists())

To Custom function globbing add @ and the function name before back quotes:

def foo(s):
    return [i for i in os.listdir('.') if i.startswith(s)]
cd /
@foo`bi`
#['bin']

Macros

Simple macros

def m(x : str):
    return x

# No macro calls:
[m('me'), m(42), m(m)]
# ['me', 42, <function __main__.m>]

# Macro calls:
[m!('me'), m!(42), m!(identity), m!(42), m!(  42 ), m!(import os)]
# ["'me'", '42', 'identity', '42', '42', 'import os']

m!(if True:
    pass)
# 'if True:\n    pass'

Subprocess Macros

echo! "Hello!"
# "Hello!"

bash -c! echo "Hello!"
# Hello!

docker run -it --rm xonsh/xonsh:slim xonsh -c! 2+2
# 4

Inside of a macro, all additional munging is turned off:

echo $USER
# lou

echo! $USER
# $USER

Macro block

Builtin macro Block

from xonsh.contexts import Block
with! Block() as b:
    qwe
    asd
    zxc

b.macro_block
# 'qwe\nasd\nzxc\n\n'
b.lines
# ['qwe', 'asd', 'zxc', '']

Custom JSON block

import json

class JsonBlock:
    __xonsh_block__ = str

    def __enter__(self):
        return json.loads(self.macro_block)

    def __exit__(self, *exc):
        del self.macro_block, self.macro_globals, self.macro_locals


with! JsonBlock() as j:
    {
        "Hello": "world!"
    }
    
j['Hello']
# world!

Custom Docker block

The example is from xontrib-macro-lib:

from xonsh.contexts import Block

class Doxer(Block):
    """Run xonsh codeblock in docker container."""

    def __init__(self):
       self.docker_image = 'xonsh/xonsh:slim'

    def __exit__(self, *a, **kw):
        $[docker run -it --rm @(self.docker_image) /usr/local/bin/xonsh -c @(self.macro_block)]


with! Doxer() as d:
   pip install lolcat
   echo "We're in docker container now!" | lolcat

Macro blocks library

Tab-Completion

completer list  # List the active completers

Take a look into xontrib-fish-completer - it provides more rich completion than default bash completer.

Create your own completer:

def dummy_completer(prefix, line, begidx, endidx, ctx):
    '''
    Completes everything with options "lou" and "carcolh",
    regardless of the value of prefix.
    '''
    return {"lou", "carcolh"}
    
completer add dummy dummy_completer  # Add completer: `completer add <NAME> <FUNC>`
# Now press Tab key and you'll get {"lou", "carcolh"} in completions
completer remove dummy

Bind hotkeys in prompt toolkit shell

Uncover the power of prompt_toolkit by binding the hotkeys. Run this snippet or add it to ~/.xonshrc:

from prompt_toolkit.keys import Keys

@events.on_ptk_create
def custom_keybindings(bindings, **kw):

    # Press F1 and get the list of files
    @bindings.add(Keys.F1)  # or for Mac try `@bindings.add("c-k")  # control+k`
    def run_ls(event):
        ls -l
        event.cli.renderer.erase()
    
    # Press F3 to insert the grep command
    @bindings.add(Keys.F3)  # or for Mac try `@bindings.add("c-k")  # control+k`
    def say_hi(event):
        event.current_buffer.insert_text('| grep -i ')

Xontrib - extension or plugin for xonsh

Xontrib lists:

To install xontribs xonsh has xpip - a predefined alias pointing to the pip command associated with the Python executable running this xonsh. Using xpip is the right way to install xontrib to be confident that the xontrib will be installed in the right environment.

If you want to create your own xontrib using xontrib-template is the best way:

xpip install copier jinja2-time cookiecutter
copier gh:xonsh/xontrib-template .

Xonsh Script (xsh)

Real-life example of xsh script that has: arguments, tab completion for arguments (using xontrib-argcomplete), subprocess calls with checking the result, colorizing the result and exit code:

#!/usr/bin/env xonsh
# PYTHON_ARGCOMPLETE_OK                                  
import argparse
import argcomplete  # Tab completion support with xontrib-argcomplete
from argcomplete.completers import ChoicesCompleter

$RAISE_SUBPROC_ERROR = True  # Raise an error if a subprocess returns a non-zero exit status.
                             # Read more: https://xon.sh/envvars.html#raise-subproc-error

argp = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=f"Get count of lines in HTML by site address.")
argp.add_argument('--host', required=True, help="Host").completer=ChoicesCompleter(('xon.sh', 'github.com'))
argcomplete.autocomplete(argp)
args = argp.parse_args()

if result := !(curl -s -L @(args.host)):  # Python + Subprocess = ♥
    lines_count = len(result.out.splitlines())
    printx(f'{{GREEN}}Count of lines on {{#00FF00}}{args.host}{{GREEN}}: {{YELLOW}}{lines_count}{{RESET}}')
else:
    printx(f'{{RED}}Error while reading {{YELLOW}}{args.host}{{RED}}! {{RESET}}') # Colorizing messages
    exit(1)  # Exit with code number 1

Try it in action:

xonsh
pip install argcomplete xontrib-argcomplete
xontrib load argcomplete
cd /tmp
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anki-code/xonsh-cheatsheet/main/examples/host_lines.xsh
chmod +x host_lines.xsh
./host_lines.xsh --ho<Tab>
./host_lines.xsh --host <Tab>
./host_lines.xsh --host xon.sh
# Count of lines on xon.sh: 568

To make the interaction with script more awesome use click, typer and rich:

"""Example of CLI application."""

import click

class OrderCommands(click.Group):
  def list_commands(self, ctx: click.Context) -> list[str]:
    return list(self.commands)


class CliCtx:
    """CLI application sharable context."""
    def __init__(self, debug):
        self.debug = debug

        if self.debug:
            # Show arguments in debug mode.
            from pprint import pprint
            pprint(vars(self))


@click.group(cls=OrderCommands)  # The list of commands in `--help` will be the same as the functions declarations order.
@click.option("--debug", default=False, is_flag=True, envvar='PROJECT_DEBUG', help="Debug mode.")
@click.pass_context
def cli(ctx, debug):
    """
    Description of the CLI app.
    """
    ctx.obj = CliCtx(debug)

    if debug:
        $XONSH_TRACE_SUBPROC = True


@cli.command()
@click.option("--use-print", default=False, is_flag=True, envvar='PROJECT_HELLO_PRINT', help="Use print() function.")
@click.pass_obj
def hello(ctx, use_print):
    if ctx.debug:
        print('debug: run hello')

    if use_print:
        print('world')
    else:
        echo world


if __name__ == "__main__":
    cli()

Save this to ./cli.xsh and run:

chdmo +x ./cli.xsh
./cli.xsh --debug hello --use-print
# {'debug': True}
# world

How to get the script path

Get the script path from $ARGS[0]:

echo @("""echo This script is in @(pf"{$ARGS[0]}".parent)""") > /tmp/getpath.xsh
chmod +x /tmp/getpath.xsh
/tmp/getpath.xsh
# This script is in /tmp

History

There are two history backends: json and sqlite which xonsh has by default. The json backend creates a json file with commands history on every xonsh session. The sqlite backend has one file with SQL-database.

We recommend using the sqlite backend because it saves the command on every execution, and querying of the history using SQL is very handy i.e. history-search, history-pull.

echo 123
# 123

__xonsh__.history[-1]
# HistoryEntry(cmd='echo 123', out='123\n', rtn=0, ts=[1614527550.2158427, 1614527550.2382812])

history info
# backend: sqlite
# sessionid: 637e577c-e5c3-4115-a3fd-99026f113464
# filename: /home/user/.local/share/xonsh/xonsh-history.sqlite
# session items: 2
# all items: 8533
# gc options: (100000, 'commands')

sqlite3 $XONSH_HISTORY_FILE  "SELECT inp FROM xonsh_history ORDER BY tsb LIMIT 1;"
# echo 123

aliases['history-search'] = """sqlite3 $XONSH_HISTORY_FILE @("SELECT inp FROM xonsh_history WHERE inp LIKE '%" + $arg0 + "%' AND inp NOT LIKE 'history-%' ORDER BY tsb DESC LIMIT 10");"""
cd /tmp
history-search "cd /"
# cd /tmp
history-search! cd /  # macro call
# cd /tmp

pip install sqlite_web
sqlite_web $XONSH_HISTORY_FILE  # Open the database in the browser

history pull  # Pull the history from parallel sessions and add to the current session. [xonsh -V > 0.13.4]

There is a third party history backend that's supplied in xontribs: xontrib-history-encrypt.

Interactive mode events

When you're in xonsh interactive mode you can register an event, i.e.:

@events.on_chdir
def mychdir(olddir, newdir, **kw):
    echo Jump from @(olddir) to @(newdir)
    
cd /tmp
# Jump from /home/snail to /tmp

Help

Add ? (regular help) or ?? (super help) to the command:

ls?
# man page for ls

import json
json?
# json module help
json??
# json module super help

Known issues and workarounds

ModuleNotFoundError

Sometimes when you're using PyPi, Conda, or virtual environments you can forget about the current version and location of Python and try to import packages in xonsh resulting in a ModuleNotFoundError error. Often this means you installed the package in another environment and didn't realise it. To avoid this read the section about xonsh installation above.

Intersection of console tools or shell syntax with Python builtins

In case of names or syntax intersection try to use aliases or abbrevs to resolve the conflict.

The case with elepsis:

aliases['...'] = 'cd ../..'  # looks nice, but
...
# Elepsis

del aliases['...']
abbrevs['...'] = 'cd ../..'
...  # becomes `cd ../..`

The case with import:

cd /tmp
$PATH.append('/tmp')
echo 'echo I am import' > import && chmod +x import

import  # Run subprocess `./import`
# I am import

import args  # Run Python import of `args` module
# ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'args'

aliases['imp'] = "import"
imp
# I am import

Frozen terminal in interactive tools

If you run a console tool and get a frozen terminal (Ctrl+c, Ctrl+d is not working) this can be that the tool was interpreted as threaded and capturable program but the tool actually has interactive elements that expect the input from the user. There are four workarounds now:

Disable THREAD_SUBPROCS:

with ${...}.swap(THREAD_SUBPROCS=False):
      ./tool.sh

Run the tool in uncaptured mode:
```
$[./tool.sh]
```

Set the unthreadable predictor:

__xonsh__.commands_cache.threadable_predictors['tool.sh'] = lambda *a, **kw: False  # use the pure name of the tool
./tool.sh

Finally, check $XONSH_CAPTURE_ALWAYS value.

Uncaptured output

If you want to capture the output of a tool but it's not captured, there are three workarounds:

Add the head tool at the end of the pipeline to force using the threadable mode:

!(echo 123 | head -n 1000)
#CommandPipeline(
#  returncode=0,
#  output='123\n',
#  errors=None
#)

Change threading prediction for this tool:

__xonsh__.commands_cache.threadable_predictors['ssh'] = lambda *a, **kw: True

!(ssh host -T "echo 1")
#CommandPipeline(
#  returncode=0,
#  output='1\n',
#  errors=None
#)

Wrap the tool into a bash subprocess:

!(bash -c "echo 123")
#CommandPipeline(
#  returncode=0,
#  output='123\n',
#  errors=None
#)

Bad file descriptor

Using callable aliases in a long loop can cause the Bad file descriptor error to be raised. The workaround is to avoid using callable aliases in the loop and moving the code from callable alias directly into the loop or marking the callable alias as unthreadable:

from xonsh.tools import unthreadable

@unthreadable
def _e():
    execx('echo -n 1')
aliases['e'] = _e

for i in range(100):
      e

Tips and tricks

Make your own installable xonsh RC file

Start by forking xontrib-rc-awesome.

Using a text block in the command line

The first way is to use multiline strings:

echo @("""
line 1
line 2
line 3
""".strip()) > file.txt

$(cat file.txt)
# 'line 1\nline 2\nline 3\n'

The second way is to use xonsh macro block via xontrib-macro:

xpip install xontrib-macro

from xontrib.macro.data import Write

with! Write('/tmp/t/hello.xsh', chmod=0o700, replace=True, makedir=True, verbose=True):
    echo world
    
/tmp/t/hello.xsh
# world

Run commands in docker:

docker run -it --rm xonsh/xonsh:slim xonsh -c @("""
pip install --disable-pip-version-check -q lolcat
echo "We're in docker container now!" | lolcat
""")

Don't forget that Alt+Enter can run the command from any place where cursor is.

Using the name of the alias in alias logic

@aliases.register(",")
@aliases.register(",,")
@aliases.register(",,,")
@aliases.register(",,,,")
def _superdot():
    cd @("../" * len($__ALIAS_NAME))
    
,    # cd ../
,,   # cd ../../
,,,  # cd ../../../

Ask to input argument and with autocomplete

Ask simple input:

echo @(input('Text: '))
# Text: hello
# hello

$ENV_NAME = input('Name: ')  # Use input to set and reuse env variable
echo Name is $ENV_NAME
# Name: Alex
# Name is Alex

Ask input with completion:

from prompt_toolkit import PromptSession
from prompt_toolkit.completion import WordCompleter

def ask(arg : str, completions : list = []):
    completer = WordCompleter(completions)
    session = PromptSession(completer=completer)
    user_input = session.prompt(f'{arg}: ')
    return user_input


echo I am saying @(ask('What to say'))
# What to say: hello
# I am saying hello

echo Give @(ask('Fruit', ['apple', 'banana', 'orange'])) to @(ask('To', [$(whoami).strip()]))
# Fruit: <Tab>
# Fruit: apple
# To: <Tab>
# To: user
# Give apple to user

$MY_DIR = ask('Dir', $(ls /).splitlines())
# Dir: <Tab>

From the shell to REST API for one step

If you want to run shell commands from REST API you can create a flask wrapper using xontrib-macro:

xpip install flask xontrib-macro

cd /tmp

from xontrib.macro.data import Write
with! Write('myapi.xsh', chmod=0o700):
    import json
    from flask import Flask
    app = Flask(__name__)
    @app.route('/echo')
    def index():
        result = $(echo -n hello from echo)  # run subprocess command
        return json.dumps({'result': result})
    app.run()

./myapi.xsh
# Running on http://127.0.0.1:5000

curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/echo
# {"result": "hello from echo"}

Don't forget about API security.

Interactively debugging a script

If you want to have a breakpoint to debug a script, use the standard Python pdb:

xpip install xontrib-macro
from xontrib.macro.data import Write
with! Write('/tmp/run.xsh', chmod=0o700, replace=True, makedir=True):
    echo hello
    $VAR = 1
    var = 2

    import pdb
    pdb.set_trace()   # interactive debug

    echo finish


xonsh /tmp/run.xsh
# hello
# > /tmp/run.xsh(9)<module>()
# -> echo finish
# (Pdb)

var
# 2

__xonsh__.env['VAR']
# 1

exit
# bdb.BdbQuit

Using xonsh wherever you go through the SSH

You've stuffed your command shell with aliases, tools, and colors but you lose it all when using ssh. The mission of the xxh project is to bring your favorite shell wherever you go through ssh without root access or system installations.

How to modify a command before execution?

To change the command between pressing enter and execution there is the on_transform_command event:

xpip install lolcat

@events.on_transform_command
def _(cmd, **kw):
    if cmd.startswith('echo') and 'lolcat' not in cmd:  
        # Be careful with the condition! The modified command will be passed 
        # to `on_transform_command` event again and again until the event 
        # returns the same command. Newbies can make a mistake here and
        # end up with unintended looping.
        return cmd.rstrip() + ' | lolcat'
    else:
        return cmd
        
echo 123456789 # <Enter>
# Execution: echo 123456789 | lolcat

Comma separated thousands in output (custom formatter)

Here is a snippet from @maxwellfire:

50000+50000
# 100000

500+500.123
# 1000.123

import xonsh.pretty
xonsh.pretty.for_type(type(1), lambda int, printer, cycle: printer.text(f'{int:,}'))
xonsh.pretty.for_type(type(1.0), lambda float, printer, cycle: printer.text(f'{float:,}'))

50000+50000
# 100,000

500+500.123
# 1,000.123

`chdir` context manager for scripting

from xonsh.tools import chdir

cd /tmp
mkdir -p dir1

pwd
with chdir("./dir1"):
    pwd
pwd

# /tmp
# /tmp/dir1
# /tmp

Juggling of exit code using python substitution

cd-ing into directory and if count of files less then 100 run ls:

aliases['cdls'] = "cd @($arg0) && @(lambda: 1 if len(g`./*`) > 100 else 0) && ls"
cdls / && pwd
# bin dev etc ...
# /
cdls /usr/sbin && pwd
# /usr/sbin

How to paste and edit multiple lines of code while in interactive mode

In some terminals (Konsole in Linux or Windows Terminal for WSL) you can press ctrl-x ctrl-e to open up an editor (nano in Linux) in the terminal session, paste the code there, edit and then quit out. Your multiple line code will be pasted and executed.

Waiting for the job done

sleep 100 &  # job 1
sleep 100 &  # job 2
sleep 100 &  # job 3

while $(jobs):
    time.sleep(1)

print('Job done!')

How to trace xonsh code?

Trace with hunter:

pip install hunter
$PYTHONHUNTER='depth_lt=10,stdlib=False' $XONSH_DEBUG=1 xonsh -c 'echo 1'

Or try xunter for tracing and profiling.

From Bash to Xonsh

Read Bash to Xonsh Translation Guide, run bash -c! echo 123 or install xontrib-sh.

Xonsh and Windows

First of all we recommend using WSL 2 with Manjaro (that maintains a rolling release) on Windows. Don't forget to fix PATH.

But if you want to use xonsh in Windows environment:

Install Windows Terminal - the modern terminal emulator for Windows.
Install xontrib coreutils, cmdix, pycoreutils - a pure Python implementation of the UNIX coreutils i.e. echo, cat, pwd,ls, etc.
Read Windows-specific tips and tricks.

Recipes

Using many profiles with AWS CLI and xonsh aliases

aws configure --profile p1
aws configure --profile p2

aliases['aws-p1'] = "$AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE='p1' @('aws') @($args)"
aliases['aws-p2'] = "$AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE='p2' @('aws') @($args)"

aws-p2 s3 ls s3://my-profile1-bucket/  # The same as `aws s3 ls --profile p2 s3://my-profile1-bucket/`

Answers to the holy war questions

Bash is everywhere! Why xonsh?

Python is everywhere as well ;)

Xonsh is slower! Why xonsh?

You can spend significantly more time Googling and debugging sh-based solutions as well as significantly more time to make the payload work after running a command. Yeah, xonsh is a bit slower but you will not notice that in real life tasks :)

Also take a look:

Python 3.12: A Game-Changer in Performance and Efficiency
Python 3.11 is up to 10-60% faster than Python 3.10
Making Python 5x FASTER with Guido van Rossum.
RustPython (performance of Ruff - Python linter on Rust)

My fancy prompt in another shell is super duper! Why xonsh?

The fancy prompt is the tip of the iceberg. Xonsh shell brings other important features to love: sane language, powerful aliases, agile extensions, history backends, fully customisable tab completion, magic macro blocks, behaviour customisation via environment variables, and more, and more, and more :)

Xonsh has issues! Why xonsh?

Compared to 15-20 year old shells, yeah, xonsh is a 5 year old youngster. But we've used it over these 5 years day by day to solve our tasks with success and happiness :)

Thank you!

Thank you for reading! This cheatsheet is the tip of the iceberg of the xonsh shell and you can find more in the official documentation.

Also you can install the cheatsheet xontrib:

xpip install xontrib-cheatsheet
xontrib load cheatsheet
cheatsheet
# Opening: https://github.com/anki-code/xonsh-cheatsheet/blob/main/README.md

If you like the cheatsheet, click ⭐ on the repo and tweet.

Credits

Xonsh Tutorial
Most copy-pastable examples prepared by xontrib-hist-format
The cheat sheet xontrib was created with xontrib cookiecutter template.

Reviews

Repository Details

What is xonsh?

What does xonsh mean?

Install xonsh

Simple xonsh install

Install xonsh with package and environment management system

Install xonsh on macOS or Linux using conda

How to understand the xonsh location

pipx and xonsh

Try xonsh without installation

Docker

Linux-portable AppImage contains both Python 3 and xonsh in one file

Xonsh basics

Three most frequent things that newcomers overlook

1. Shell commands, also known as subprocess commands

2. Strings and arguments in shell commands

3. The process substitution operator $() returns output with universal new lines

$() - capture and return output without printing stdout and stderr

!() - capture all and return object without printing stdout and stderr

$[] - not capturing (return None), print stdout and stderr

![] - capture all and return hidden object, print stdout and stderr

@() - use Python code as an argument or a callable alias

@$() - split output of the command by white spaces for arguments list

Simple aliases

Abbrevs

Globbing - get the list of files from path by mask or regexp

Macros

Builtin macro Block

Custom JSON block

Custom Docker block

Macro blocks library

Bind hotkeys in prompt toolkit shell

Xontrib - extension or plugin for xonsh

Xonsh Script (xsh)

How to get the script path

Known issues and workarounds

ModuleNotFoundError

Intersection of console tools or shell syntax with Python builtins

Frozen terminal in interactive tools

Uncaptured output

Tips and tricks

Make your own installable xonsh RC file

Using a text block in the command line

Using the name of the alias in alias logic

Ask to input argument and with autocomplete

From the shell to REST API for one step

Interactively debugging a script

Using xonsh wherever you go through the SSH

How to modify a command before execution?

Comma separated thousands in output (custom formatter)

chdir context manager for scripting

Juggling of exit code using python substitution

How to paste and edit multiple lines of code while in interactive mode

Waiting for the job done

How to trace xonsh code?

From Bash to Xonsh

Xonsh and Windows

Recipes

Using many profiles with AWS CLI and xonsh aliases

Answers to the holy war questions

Bash is everywhere! Why xonsh?

Xonsh is slower! Why xonsh?

My fancy prompt in another shell is super duper! Why xonsh?

Xonsh has issues! Why xonsh?

Thank you!

Credits

More Repositories

3. The process substitution operator `$()` returns output with universal new lines

`$()` - capture and return output without printing stdout and stderr

`!()` - capture all and return object without printing stdout and stderr

`$[]` - not capturing (return `None`), print stdout and stderr

`![]` - capture all and return hidden object, print stdout and stderr

`@()` - use Python code as an argument or a callable alias

`@$()` - split output of the command by white spaces for arguments list

`chdir` context manager for scripting