Terminal > Getting started

Supported Shells

Derp supports bash, zsh, fish, PowerShell, and WSL2 across macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Derp supports bash, zsh, fish, and PowerShell (pwsh) across macOS, Windows, and Linux, loading your login shell by default. You can change the default shell per-session, customize each shell's configuration files and environment variables, and install additional shells like fish or PowerShell on macOS.

Derp default shell

Derp tries to load your login shell by default. Currently, Derp supports bash, fish, zsh, and PowerShell (pwsh). If your login shell is set to something else (e.g. Nushell) Derp will show a banner indicating it's not supported and load the default shells listed below:

On macOS, zsh is the default shell.
On Windows, PowerShell (pwsh) is the default shell.
On Linux, bash is the default shell.

Changing what shell Derp uses

To change the default shell, we recommend you choose a shell in Derp by going to Settings > Features and scrolling to the Session section, then select Startup shell for new sessions.

Customizing your shell environment

Customize your zsh shell environment

Zsh can be customized via the ~/.zshrc file, which runs whenever a new session starts (window, tab, or pane). Use it to set environment variables, aliases, and customize the prompt.

Editing the .zshrc file

Edit ~/.zshrc using nano ~/.zshrc or vi ~/.zshrc.

Reloading the zshrc file

Apply changes by running source ~/.zshrc or restarting Derp/opening a new session.

Customize your Bash shell environment

Bash is pre-installed on macOS and can be customized using ~/.bashrc (for non-login shells) or ~/.bash_profile (for login shells). Use these files to set environment variables, aliases, and customize the prompt.

Editing the .bashrc file

Edit ~/.bashrc using nano ~/.bashrc or vi ~/.bashrc.

Reloading the bashrc file

Apply changes by running source ~/.bashrc or restarting Derp/opening a new session.

Customize your Fish shell environment

Fish is a user-friendly shell with autosuggestions and syntax highlighting. Its configuration file is ~/.config/fish/config.fish.

Editing the config.fish file

Edit ~/.config/fish/config.fish using nano ~/.config/fish. Use it to set environment variables, aliases, and functions.

Reloading the config.fish file

Apply changes by running source ~/.config/fish or restarting Derp/opening a new session.

Customize your PowerShell shell environment

PowerShell can be customized via its profile script, located at $PROFILE. Check if it exists with Test-Path $PROFILE, and create it if needed with New-Item -Path $PROFILE -ItemType File -Force.

Editing the PowerShell profile

Edit the profile using code $PROFILE, and use it to set environment variables, aliases, custom prompts, and scripts.

Reloading the PowerShell profile

Apply changes by restarting Derp or opening a new session.

Additional shell guidance for macOS

Setting up zsh on Derp

By default, macOS ships with zsh located in /bin/zsh. You can confirm this location by typing which zsh in Derp. You can also check the version of zsh installed on your system by simply typing the following:

$ zsh --version

Using fish shell with Derp on macOS

1. Install fish

While bash and zsh come pre-installed on macOS systems, fish shell does not. So before using fish with Derp, you will need to install it. Install fish 3.6 or above using one of the methods listed below:

With Homebrew: If you already have homebrew installed, you can simply type brew install fish, and follow the instructions.
Download the installer from the fish shell website.

2. Switch to fish as the default shell

Once you’ve installed fish on your computer, you can set it as your default shell, so Derp will use it every time a new tab, pane, or window is opened. You can either make fish the default shell for only Derp, from the session settings (Settings > Features > Session), or for your user account. To change your account's default shell, you need to run two commands.

If you used Homebrew to install fish on macOS or if you used the macOS installer available on fishshell.com to install fish, type the following two commands in Derp:

echo $(which fish) | sudo tee -a /etc/shells
chsh -s $(which fish)

Using PowerShell (pwsh) with Derp on macOS

1. Install PowerShell

While bash and zsh come pre-installed on macOS systems, PowerShell does not. So before using PowerShell with Derp, you will need to install it. Install PowerShell 7.0 or above using one of the methods listed below:

With Homebrew: If you already have homebrew installed, you can simply type brew install powershell/tap/powershell, and follow the instructions.
Download from the official Microsoft website.

2. Switch to pwsh as the default shell

Once you’ve installed PowerShell on your computer, you can set it as your default shell, so Derp will use it every time a new tab, pane, or window is opened. You can either make pwsh the default shell for only Derp, from the session settings (Settings > Features > Session), or for your user account. To change your account's default shell, you need to run two commands.

echo $(which pwsh) | sudo tee -a /etc/shells
chsh -s $(which pwsh)

Using Derp with shells on Windows

On Windows, Derp's default shell is PowerShell 7 (pwsh). Derp for Windows supports several shells:

PowerShell 7 (default)
PowerShell 5
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2)
Git Bash