Shell Integration

Shell integration provides automatic environment activation and command completion.

Setting Up Shell Integration

Bash

# Add to ~/.bashrc
eval "$(vx shell init bash)"

Zsh

# Add to ~/.zshrc
eval "$(vx shell init zsh)"

Fish

# Add to ~/.config/fish/config.fish
vx shell init fish | source

PowerShell

# Add to $PROFILE
Invoke-Expression (& vx shell init powershell | Out-String)

What Shell Integration Provides

1. Automatic PATH Setup

Your PATH is configured to find vx-managed tools:

# Without shell integration
/usr/bin/node  # System node

# With shell integration
~/.local/share/vx/envs/default/node  # vx-managed node

2. Directory-Based Environment Switching

When you cd into a directory with vx.toml, the environment automatically activates:

cd my-project/  # Activates project environment
cd ~            # Returns to default environment

3. Command Completion

Tab completion for vx commands and options:

vx ins<TAB>     # Completes to "vx install"
vx install no<TAB>  # Completes to "vx install node"

Shell Completions

Generate completion scripts separately:

Bash

vx shell completions bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/vx

Zsh

vx shell completions zsh > ~/.zfunc/_vx

Fish

vx shell completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/vx.fish

PowerShell

vx shell completions powershell > ~\Documents\PowerShell\Completions\vx.ps1

Environment Indicators

With shell integration, your prompt can show the active environment:

Bash

PS1='$([ -n "$VX_ENV" ] && echo "[$VX_ENV] ")'"$PS1"

Zsh

PROMPT='%F{cyan}${VX_ENV:+[$VX_ENV] }%f'"$PROMPT"

Fish

function fish_prompt
    if set -q VX_ENV
        echo -n "[$VX_ENV] "
    end
    # ... rest of prompt
end

PowerShell

function prompt {
    if ($env:VX_ENV) {
        Write-Host "[$env:VX_ENV] " -NoNewline -ForegroundColor Cyan
    }
    # ... rest of prompt
}

Manual Environment Activation

If you prefer manual control:

# Activate specific environment
eval "$(vx env activate my-env)"

# Deactivate (restore default)
eval "$(vx env activate default)"

Troubleshooting

Shell Integration Not Working

1. Verify installation:

   vx shell init bash  # Should output shell script

2. Check if sourced correctly:

   source ~/.bashrc
   echo $PATH | grep vx  # Should show vx paths

3. Restart your terminal

Completions Not Working

1. Verify completion script exists:

   ls ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/vx

2. For Zsh, ensure compinit is called:

   autoload -Uz compinit && compinit

Slow Shell Startup

If shell startup is slow:

1. Use lazy loading:

   # Bash - lazy load vx
   vx() {
       unset -f vx
       eval "$(command vx shell init bash)"
       vx "$@"
   }

2. Cache the init script:

   # Generate once
   vx shell init bash > ~/.vx-init.sh
   
   # Source cached version
   source ~/.vx-init.sh

Advanced Configuration

Disable Auto-Switching

If you don't want automatic environment switching:

export VX_AUTO_SWITCH=false
eval "$(vx shell init bash)"

Custom Hook

Add custom behavior when environment changes:

# Bash
vx_env_changed() {
    echo "Switched to environment: $VX_ENV"
    # Custom logic here
}

Next Steps

• CLI Reference - Shell command reference
• Environment Management - Managing environments