ipyshell

IPython as your terminal shell — via terminal profile swap, not chsh.

ipyshell launches a pre-configured IPython session where PATH executables work without ! (via %rehashx), shell commands get pty-backed output recorded in history (via ipythonng, with inline images and rich markdown), and an optional AI assistant sees your recent cells — sources, outputs, images, and errors.

Install & run

pip install ipyshell
ipyshell

First run creates an IPython profile named shell and installs a startup script into it; ipyshell then execs ipython --profile=shell (extra args are passed through). Point your terminal emulator's profile at ipyshell to use it as your shell.

AI assistant

Configure in ~/.config/ipyshell/ipyshell.conf (created with commented defaults on first run):

[DEFAULT]
model = claude-sonnet-5         # any fastllm model id
# system_prompt =               # optional; overrides the built-in default
api_key_env = ANTHROPIC_API_KEY # NAME of the env var holding your key
ctx_cells = 10                  # cells of history sent as context

Then lines starting with : become chat requests with your recent shell activity as context:

[~] secret = 'banana'
[~] :what's the secret?

You can also call await chat('...') directly. The model gets a safe_python tool (sandboxed via safepyrun, with safecmd's bash available) so it can run code in your session — with guardrails against destructive operations.

If no model or API key is configured, AI is skipped silently and everything else still works.

Development

pip install -e .[dev]
python -m pytest

Version lives in ipyshell/__init__.py as __version__; releases use fastship:

ship-bump --part 2   # patch / 1 minor / 0 major
ship-gh              # GitHub release from closed issues
ship-pypi            # build + upload to PyPI