Inline shell

Run a local shell command from the interactive TUI without leaving your Rho session. Inline shell commands use the current workspace as their working directory and display their output in the transcript.

Run a command

Type a command with ! at the start of the composer, then press enter:

!git status --short

Rho runs the command locally and adds the command, its output, and its exit status to the next model context. Use this mode when you want the model to inspect or act on the result.

Use !! when you want to see the result without sending it to the model:

!!git diff --stat

Rho still displays the command and output in the transcript, but it excludes them from model context. Typing ! or !! at an empty composer enters shell mode as explicit state: the composer stores only the command body, and the top border shows the mode label:

• !: top border labeled shell · included in context
• !!: top border labeled shell · excluded from context

Press esc to leave shell mode and return to the normal composer. The command text stays in the composer.

Complete a path

Press tab in shell mode to complete the word under the cursor, one path component at a time, the way a shell does:

!cat cra<tab>            → !cat crates/
!cat crates/rh<tab>      → !cat crates/rho/
!cat crates/rho/Ca<tab>  → !cat crates/rho/Cargo.toml

One match is inserted at once. A directory ends in / and gets no trailing space, so the next tab descends into it; a file gets a trailing space. Several matches open a list under the composer showing that directory's entries: keep typing to narrow it, use up and down to choose, then press tab or enter to insert the highlighted entry or esc to close the list and stay in shell mode. Paths that contain spaces or other characters the shell would interpret are single-quoted.

Quoted directories support the same repeated-Tab descent. If a typed character leaves no matches, the list hides and returns when you backspace to a matching prefix. Recalling history closes completion until you press Tab again.

Completion uses the same shell classification as the command runner. Bash, Zsh, sh, Dash, Ksh, Ash, Mksh, and Busybox support completion. PowerShell, cmd, Fish, Nushell, Csh, Tcsh, Xonsh, and unknown shells such as Elvish leave the command unchanged and show an unsupported-shell notice rather than inserting incompatible quotes. Unknown shell executables retain the runner's unwrapped -lc invocation, but that fallback does not enable POSIX completion quoting.

Completion lists the filesystem as the shell will see it, so untracked and ignored entries such as target/ are offered. Hidden entries appear only when the component you are typing starts with .. Relative paths resolve from the workspace; ~/, ../, and absolute paths work as they would in the shell. Completion offers paths only; it does not complete command names or flags.

A workspace entry whose name starts with ~ is inserted with a ./ prefix, so selecting a literal ~ directory cannot redirect the command to your home directory. An explicitly quoted or escaped leading tilde also stays literal; an unquoted ~/ keeps its home-directory meaning.

Rho runs inline commands asynchronously, so you can continue working while a command runs. Press esc to cancel a running command. Rho stops commands that run longer than 60 seconds. Cancellation and timeout stop the command's process group on Unix or Job Object on Windows, including descendants that remain in that group or job.

Choose a shell

Rho uses Bash on macOS and Linux, and PowerShell on Windows by default. Open /config in the TUI and select Inline shell to choose another detected shell.

Rho checks these shells when it builds the picker:

• macOS and Linux: bash, zsh, fish, and sh
• Windows: powershell, pwsh, and cmd

The picker lists shells that Rho finds on your PATH. It also keeps the configured value available when you use a custom executable path. Rho starts each command in the workspace directory with standard input closed.

Security

Inline shell commands run with your user permissions. Rho doesn't sandbox them or ask for approval before execution, so review commands before you submit them. Run Rho only in workspaces where you trust the commands you enter.

For commands that the model chooses to run as tools, see Tools and workspace. For the TUI's other input and command controls, see Interactive TUI.