Skip to main content
Version: Next

Configure Your Shell

After installing poof, it's necessary to add its bin directory to $PATH.

Automatically​

Via poof itself by running:

poof enable

Then reload your shell.

note

You can safely re-run poof enable. It will detect the existing line and do nothing if it's already present.

Manually​

Add the following command to your shell configuration:

poof init --shell <shell>

Replace <shell> with one of the supported shells:

  • bash
  • zsh
  • fish
  • elvish
  • nushell
  • powershell
  • xonsh

Supported Shells​

Bash​

# Add the following to ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile
eval "$(poof init --shell bash)"

# Then reload your shell config
source ~/.bashrc

Zsh​

# Add the following to ~/.zshrc
eval "$(poof init --shell zsh)"

# Then reload your shell config
source ~/.zshrc

Fish​

# Add the following to ~/.config/fish/config.fish
poof init --shell fish >> ~/.config/fish/config.fish

# Then reload your shell config
source ~/.config/fish/config.fish

Documentation: fish_add_path

Elvish​

# Add the following to ~/.config/elvish/rc.elv
eval (poof init --shell elvish)

# Then reload your shell config
use rc; rc:reload

Documentation: Elvish PATH Management

Nushell​

# Run the following to add to ~/.config/nushell/env.nu (for environment variables)
poof init --shell nushell >> ~/.config/nushell/env.nu

# Then restart your shell or run
source ~/.config/nushell/env.nu

Documentation: Nushell Environment Variables

PowerShell​

# Add the following to PowerShell profile
# typically `~/.config/poweshell/Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1` on Linux/macOS
# and `$env:HOME\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1` on Windows
Add-Content $PROFILE 'Invoke-Expression (& poof init --shell powershell)'

# Then reload your profile
. $PROFILE

Notes:

  • PowerShell uses semicolons (;) as PATH separators on all platforms.
  • PowerShell uses Invoke-Expression (or iex) instead of eval, and & for command invocation.

Documentation: PowerShell Environment Variables

Xonsh​

# Add the following to ~/.xonshrc
poof init --shell xonsh >> ~/.xonshrc

# Then reload your shell config
source ~/.xonshrc

Documentation: Xonsh Cheatsheet

Verification​

After adding the init script to your shell configuration, verify that poof is in your PATH:

poof --help

Conditional PATH addition​

To avoid adding the poof directory if poof is not installed, you can add a conditional check in your shell config:

Bash

if command -v poof > /dev/null 2>&1; then
   eval "$(poof init --shell bash)"
fi

Zsh

if command -v poof > /dev/null 2>&1; then
   eval "$(poof init --shell zsh)"
fi

Additional Notes​

  • The poof init command detects the poof bin directory automatically based on your system configuration
  • All shells prepend the poof bin directory to PATH, ensuring poof-installed binaries take precedence over system binaries
  • Changes to shell configuration only affect new shell sessions; existing sessions need to reload the configuration

Troubleshooting​

PATH not updated after adding init script​

Please:

  • Make sure you've reloaded your shell configuration:
    • Bash/Zsh: source ~/.bashrc or source ~/.zshrc
    • Fish: source ~/.config/fish/config.fish
    • Or simply restart your terminal
  • Check if the init script was added correctly to your config file.

Duplicate PATH entries​

If you accidentally added the init script multiple times, you may have duplicate PATH entries. To fix:

  1. Edit your shell configuration file
  2. Remove duplicate lines
  3. Reload your shell configuration

Permission issues​

If binaries aren't executable:

chmod +x ~/.local/share/poof/bin/*

See Also​

  • poof README - Main project documentation
  • Shell-specific documentation (linked throughout this guide)