Commands & Flags

Released (v0.17.0)Available in stable release v0.17.0.

notMyShell maintains a clean boundary between its own control plane and your shell’s namespace. The nmsh executable is used to launch the frontend, reattach daemon sessions, and run maintenance commands outside of an interactive terminal session. Inside an active session, slash commands (/) control the frontend.

CLI Flags & Arguments

When launching nmsh from your terminal:

Invocation	Action
nmsh	Default launch. Attaches to an available detached session, or opens the interactive Startup Picker if multiple detached sessions exist. If none exist, launches a new session.
nmsh --new	Start a fresh session, bypassing the Startup Picker and ignoring detached sessions.
nmsh --sessions	List all live daemon sessions with their state (attached vs detached), session ID, and duration.
nmsh --attach <session-id>	Explicitly attach to a specific live session ID. Fails with an exit code if the session is already attached elsewhere.
nmsh --presets	List configured startup presets, their working directory, and startup commands.
nmsh --preset <name>	Launch a new session initialized with the specified session preset.
nmsh --version	Print NMSh build identity, version, commit, and platform architecture.

Recursive Protection: Launching nmsh from within an already NMSh-managed shell is rejected (NESTED_NMSH_MESSAGE). NMSh refuses to nest frontend instances.

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Maintenance Subcommands

These CLI subcommands run non-interactively or in maintenance mode, and can be safely executed from outside or inside an NMSh session:

nmsh config — Configuration Management

• nmsh config path: Prints the absolute path to config.json.
• nmsh config categories: Lists all 18 portable settings categories (prompt, theme, themeBridge, chroma, chrome, etc.).
• nmsh config export [--categories a,b] [--output FILE [--force]]: Exports settings to JSON (stdout by default). Never exports sensitive paths, credentials, history, or transcripts.
• nmsh config import FILE [--categories a,b] [--yes]: Validates and previews changes, showing an interactive diff before prompting to apply.

nmsh doctor — Environment Health Check

Prints a short, pasteable diagnostic report for issue reports and troubleshooting. Contains no secrets, command history, or environment dumps:

• Reports NMSh version and installation provenance (e.g. Homebrew tap vs npm global).
• Node version, OS platform, architecture, and kernel support tier.
• Terminal host identification and detected VT capabilities.
• Active providers for prompt, suggestions, history, navigation, and pickers.
• Default shell backend executable path, configuration path, and daemon runtime directory.

nmsh uninstall — Clean Removal

nmsh uninstall [--dry-run] [--delete-data] [--yes]

• Removes the nmsh launcher links created during installation after displaying an interactive preview.
• Settings, transcripts, and telemetry are preserved unless --delete-data is specified.
• Shell configuration files (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, ~/.config/fish/config.fish) are never modified.

nmsh packs — Context Engine Packs

• nmsh packs or nmsh packs list: List all bundled and installed declarative Context Packs.
• nmsh packs inspect FILE: Validate a pack manifest and display what capabilities and files it reads.
• nmsh packs install FILE [--sha256 HEX] [--replace] [--yes]: Installs a pack into context-packs/. Modules start hidden until toggled in /prompt.
• nmsh packs remove ID [--yes]: Removes an installed pack and cleans up its module configuration entries.
• nmsh packs enable ID / disable ID: Toggles an installed pack on or off.

nmsh agent-status — Coding Assistant Integration

• nmsh agent-status: Shows whether Claude Code is configured to report to NMSh, along with the most recent status report.
• nmsh agent-status setup [--yes]: Shows the exact setting modification before configuring NMSh as Claude Code’s status line.
• nmsh agent-status remove [--yes]: Cleanly removes the status line NMSh added.
• nmsh agent-status claude: The bridge handler invoked by Claude Code with JSON on stdin.

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Slash Commands (Internal Frontend UI)

Type / in the composer to open the Command Palette, or use Ctrl+Shift+P / F1.

Appearance & Themes

Command	Description
/theme	Open Theme Studio: choose, edit, import, or export themes.
/theme-bridge	Open Theme Bridge: synchronize NMSh themes to fzf, bat, tmux, less, vim, neovim, and helix.
/appearance	Configure terminal appearance, theme family, and colors.
/chroma	Open Chroma: configure prompt palettes, motion, and custom gradients.
/chrome	Configure UI Chrome: rules, frames, tabs, and accents.
/cursor	Configure text caret shape, blink, and effects.
/motion	Configure UI motion: context transitions, command launch, and completion effects.
/glyphs	Configure glyph styles: switch between Nerd Font icons and Safe Unicode symbols.
/strip (or /status-strip)	Status Strip Studio: configure bottom/top bar groups, telemetry, and live preview.
/screensaver	Idle visuals: configure screensavers, timeouts, and colors (/screensaver start launches immediately).
/activity	Live command activity indicators and colors.

Composer, Prompt & Transcript

Command	Description
/prompt	Configure prompt styles, powerline connectors, and layout.
/modules	Configure and route Context Engine modules to surfaces.
/layout (or /composer)	Select composer docking (bottom, top, flow) and transcript format (normal, chat).
/syntax	Configure syntax highlighting colors and token presentation.
/transcript	Configure transcript formatting, dividers, and output folding.
/keyboard	Configure keyboard protocol and shortcut handling.
/copy [N]	Copy the latest output without ANSI escapes (/copy N copies Nth previous output).
/find [term]	In-transcript search (Ctrl+F). Supports regex (-r), case-matching (-c), and term removal.
/filter [term]	Filter transcript rows for focused output. Supports invert (-v) and context rows (-C N).
/clear	Archive the current viewport and start a clean transcript buffer (history is preserved).

Tools & Integrations

Command	Description
/tools	Browse curated shell tools, installation previews, and configuration.
/caffeinate (or /awake, /zoomies)	Keep Awake: prevent computer or display from sleeping (idle, display, system, all; optional duration like 30m).
/tmux	tmux Config Studio: configure settings, status line, and pane integration.
/integrations	Inspect health of managed integrations.
/dotfiles <path>	Import settings from a dotfiles directory or Git repo (reviewed, never executed).
/configure <tool>	Configure supported third-party tools.

Shell & Session Control

Command	Description
`/shell [zsh	fish
/sessions	View and manage live sessions; switch between detached sessions or kill a session.
/resume	Browse and view archived session transcripts.
/presets	Create, inspect, and launch named session presets.
/zsh, /fish, /bash	Escape NMSh and hand off the terminal to an ordinary interactive shell. Running nmsh there returns back to this session.
/exit	Exit NMSh and hand off to your configured default shell.
/rename <name>	Rename the active live session for display identification.
/watch <cmd>	Run a command repeatedly and highlight changes (/watch git status --every 10s).
/btw [question] (or /ask)	Query local intelligence for command assistance.
/ai	View or launch coding agent harnesses (/ai claude).
/doctor	Run an in-session health check.
/update	Check for updates (/update apply installs available releases).