wisp

wisp [-c command] [-e lua] [-f file]

wisp is a Linux shell that uses Lua (not a custom DSL) for configuration and scripting, and can pass structured data (Lua tables) between consecutive pipeline stages instead of only text.Bare prompt lines use ordinary shell syntax: external commands, pipes, redirects (`<` `>` `>>` `2>` `2>&1` `&>`), background jobs (`&`), environment assignments, quoting, brace expansion, and globbing. Job control is supported (`Ctrl-Z`, `fg`, `bg`, `jobs`, `kill %N`, `disown`, `wait`). Tab completion covers builtins, Lua functions, `$PATH` executables, and filenames; Ctrl-R is reverse history search.A line starting with : is evaluated as Lua. User-defined Lua functions and builtins that form a "native run" stay in-process and chain Lua values (for example lists of tables) without forking. When a pipeline stage is a real external binary, wisp forks and converts between structured values and bytes at that boundary.Builtins include cd, pwd, echo, export, command, type, source, jobs, fg, bg, kill, disown, wait, exit, and pkg (a thin front end to LuaRocks, requiring luarocks on `$PATH`).Requires Lua 5.4 development headers to build (`liblua5.4-dev` on Debian/Ubuntu, `lua5.4` on Arch). Install with `make && sudo make install` (default `/usr/local/bin/wisp`), or `lua bootstrap.lua build`.

-c command

Execute a shell-syntax command line and exit. A leading : switches the string to Lua.

Execute a Lua expression or chunk and exit.

Run a Lua script file (also usable via shebang `#!/usr/bin/env wisp`).

~/.config/wisp/init.lua

User config loaded at startup. Any global Lua function defined here is callable by name as a shell command. Define prompt() for the interactive prompt. Copy example-init.lua from the repository as a starting point.

Linux-focused; not a full POSIX shell. No shell-grammar `if`/`while`/`for`, heredocs, or `$1`..`$9` positional parameters — control flow belongs in Lua. Word splitting on expansion results is not POSIX-style (unquoted `$VAR` with spaces stays one argument). No sandboxing of `init.lua` (same trust model as `.bashrc`). Backgrounding an all-native pipeline is a no-op. Optional pkg needs LuaRocks installed separately.

wisp is a Lua-native Linux shell emphasizing structured pipelines and real job control. Upstream is maintained at github.com/Hinikaa/wisp under the MIT license (vendored linenoise is BSD-2-Clause).

bash(1), zsh(1), fish(1), nushell(1), lua(1)

Source code