Inshellisense

Dev tools

shell autocomplete

SHOW HN2023

388points
148comments
#86of 3,109 in 2023
Top 3%of 2023 by points

How HN took it

MixedNo clear lean

14 positive, 23 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 31 critical, out of 70 comments about the project. Thread score -0.21.

Execution: 2 for, 12 againstIdea: 10 for, 0 againstPrivacy: 1 for, 5 againstPerformance: 0 for, 5 againstDesign: 0 for, 4 against

The thread, comment by comment

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

What HN said

What people liked

  • Open source is preferred over Fig's account-based model

    From 2 comments
    • i use warp's terminal and i love it, but I think im gonna love this more because its OSS
      orliesaurus on HN
    • A wrapper for Fig that doesn’t require me to create an account in order to use my terminal. I’d say it’s a good thing.
      alexlur on HN

Objections

  • Requires Node.js/npm, unwelcome as a shell dependency

    From 3 comments
    • So I have to take a shell dependency on Node.js? Hard pass
      efitz on HN
    • IDE style shell autocomplete for JavaScript or TypeScript programers Because otherwise requiring `npm` as a package manager for those of us who don't develop in either is silly.…
      kermatt on HN
    • Connecting NPM-powered software directly to my shell? Over my dead body.
      classified on HN
  • Breaks on Unix/Linux: CRLF config files and cd not working

    From 2 comments
    • The implementation has obviously never been run on a Unix/Linux: * shell config is created with CRLF https://github.com/microsoft/inshellisense/issues/8 * changing directory…
      dolmen on HN
    • I'm pretty sure that the scripts generated by inshellisense are CRLF, and the carriage returns aren't recognized by unix shells. You should be able to fix it with: ``` vi…
      quodlibetor on HN
  • Replaces the shell prompt and breaks custom prompts and plugins

    From 3 comments
    • Awesome in principle, but it appears that it has to take over your prompt to work. Any custom prompt (starship) is replaced, zsh-syntax-highlighting does not work anymore etc.…
      pseudo_meta on HN
    • I wish I had something like this without it replacing the shell prompt with `>`.
      boxed on HN
    • It's pretty cool but still seems a little rough around the edges. My simple test case was to launch into the shell and see if it loaded any of my normal shell configs like…
      chrysoprace on HN
  • Performance concerns with a JavaScript implementation

    From 2 comments
    • I wish they had written inShellisense in a more efficient programming language than TypeScript. I recall disabling bash_completion.sh on my computer some time ago due to its…
      guessmyname on HN
    • Man, we are doing a CLI autocomplete for duck sake, and You guys want to spin ENTIRE FUCKIN BROWSER for it, and then argue "well, it isn't THAT slow, so what's the problem". I'm…
      Xeamek on HN
  • Privacy concerns about calling home

    From 2 comments
    • Fig.io with no account and calling home, count me in.
      cvak on HN
    • Ya, cool name, but worse privacy than gorilla, more awkward than llm.sh and why would I ever get the Microsoft version of something I can get elsewhere without the worry that I'm…
      Y_Y on HN

Requests

  • Support zsh properly and load existing shell configs

    From 2 comments
    • It's pretty cool but still seems a little rough around the edges. My simple test case was to launch into the shell and see if it loaded any of my normal shell configs like…
      chrysoprace on HN
    • I get this error on zsh: Unsupported shell: '', supported shells: bash, powershell, pwsh, zsh, fish
      jss326 on HN
  • Add a safety measure for destructive commands

    From 1 comment
    • Great idea! Also terrifying :) Given how often I accidentally commit the wrong text in vscode, I shudder to think of the damage I could do with this on my shell, hah! What safety…
      monkellipse on HN
  • Copilot or LLM integration

    From 1 comment
    • This looks awesome! Is the next step something like a Copilot integration? There’s Copilot CLI coming soon[0] but I think something that autocompletes would feel more natural…
      jameslk on HN

Questions

  • How does it compare with Fish autocomplete or withfig/autocomplete?

    From 2 comments
    • I'd be curious how this compares with Fish, which has autocomplete as well. It's worked fantastic for me so far. Once you have it, it's hard to go back!
      Night_Thastus on HN
    • then what makes it better than withfig/autocomplete?
      hui-zheng on HN
  • Is it fully local with no external calls?

    From 1 comment
    • Is this fully local? I glanced around and didn't see any mention of chatgpt/gpt/codex so I'm thinking it is?
      filterfiber on HN
  • Why TypeScript was chosen?

    From 1 comment
    • This was the first thing I noticed, too. Why TypeScript? Is it: a) efficient enough, esp. compared to a Bash/Zsh/PWSH alternative, that spawning a JS interpreter for each…
      dlivingston on HN

Alternatives named

  • Fig (withfig/autocomplete)

    From 2 comments
  • zsh-autocomplete

    From 1 comment
    • Not up to the mark with https://github.com/marlonrichert/zsh-autocomplete which works contextually.
      theusus on HN
  • Fish shell autocomplete

    From 1 comment
    • I'd be curious how this compares with Fish, which has autocomplete as well. It's worked fantastic for me so far. Once you have it, it's hard to go back!
      Night_Thastus on HN
  • carapace-bin

    From 1 comment
    • Beyond the not-using-typescript for CLI tooling difference, it would be interesting for a comparison against carapace-bin, another shell agnostic completer:…
      k8svet on HN

Category, keywords, summaries and labels on this page were made by AI (Thread Reader v2) and not checked by hand. Each point links to the comments it came from.

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