Getting started

Install

Add the ByJG package repository, then install the package:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install parolsh

# Fedora/RHEL
sudo dnf install parolsh

On macOS (or Linux) with Homebrew:

brew install byjg/tap/parolsh

Homebrew builds Parolsh from source from the ByJG tap, installing Rust only for the build. The sample configuration is then in $(brew --prefix)/share/parolsh/config.sample.toml.

The Linux package installs a single binary, /usr/bin/parolsh, and depends only on bash. ACP agents are not dependencies: install the one you want to use and configure it, see Agents.

Start it

Run parolsh in the directory you want to work in:

cd ~/projects/wallet
parolsh

Parolsh starts the configured agent in the background and opens a new conversation in that directory, the same way claude or codex behave when started inside a folder. The prompt appears right away; a question typed before the agent is ready waits for it. Each new parolsh starts a new, independent conversation.

On an ANSI terminal, Parolsh greets you with a banner showing the agent, its mode and the directory:

  ┏━┓┏━┓┏━┓┏━┓╻  ┏━┓╻ ╻
  ┣━┛┣━┫┣┳┛┃ ┃┃  ┗━┓┣━┫
  ╹  ╹ ╹╹┗╸┗━┛┗━╸┗━┛╹ ╹  0.1.0
  Speak to your terminal. Natural language first.
  agent: claude (auto) · ~/projects/wallet · #help
wallet ❯

Type #help to see the commands and #exit (or Ctrl+D) to leave.

First commands

wallet ❯ what changed today?    ask the agent
wallet ❯ !git status            run a shell command
wallet ❯ !bash                  open a Bash session, `exit` to come back
wallet ❯ #cd ~/projects/billing switch to another project
wallet ❯ #project init          mark the current directory as a project
wallet ❯ #new                   start a new conversation

The answer is printed as it arrives. Ctrl+C cancels it and returns to the prompt.

Use it from scripts

parolsh -c runs a command with a plain, non-interactive bash -c, without the agent and without loading ~/.bashrc:

parolsh -c 'echo "$0 $1"' name first

The exit code is the command's exit code.