Alternatives
Products that do what Just.sh – compiler that turns Justfiles into portable shell scripts does
Justfiles are like Makefiles, except Just is a command runner, whereas Make is a build system. As I understand it, Just was built to be a less arcane version of Make for collecting commands common to a code repository. When I first learned about Just, I realized that parsing arguments and running commands is exactly what shell scripts do, and there probably isn't much Just does that sh doesn't. This project proves that hypothesis by compiling Justfiles to portable (POSIX-compatible) shell scripts. just.sh is particularly useful for running Justfiles in esoteric environments where Just may…
- 1MA
`makedown` allows you to organise your shell scripts in one or several markdown files, by mix and matching different scripting languages for various commands and needs. zsh/bash/sh, python, javascript or anything else available on your system. Handy for replacing one-line-based package.json scripts or shell-based Makefiles. One can also write documentation and explanations to various commands in the same `.md` file. Most editors highlight correctly most languages in the markdown code blocks, even when you use several scripting languages. Here is a demo .md file…
2024 · github.com
- 2SR
Hello all, This is a small, few hours Holiday project I made out of frustration on what I would have liked makefiles to be but are not. It's rough, but it might be useful for somebody. Any type of feedback is welcome!
2022 · github.com
- 3OM
2023 · gist.github.com
- 4CS
The pattern of downloading and executing installation scripts without verifying them has bothered me for a while. I started messing around with a way to verify the checksum of scripts before I execute them. I've found it a really useful tool for installing things like Rust or Deno. It's written entirely as a shell script, and it's easy to read and understand what's happening. I hope it may be useful to someone else!
2022 · checksum.sh
- 5MB
2017 · notabug.org
- 6PS
I originally was just messing with pi-autoresearch. Gave it a sample task to build the most portable coding agent. First cut was 6 KB of shell. Great for one-shots, unusable interactively. I was shocked it actually worked. Started building up -- adding features — but with a self-imposed rule: no new dependencies, and sub 500 LOC. This thing had to be truly portable. Just sh, curl, awk. System primitives only. Which means I did some genuinely disgusting things in awk, including JSON parsing and the OpenAI Responses tool loop with reasoning items carried across turns. It's now ~400 lines. In…
Apr 2026 · pu.dev
- 7HM
A developer's machine accumulates tools fast. A Rust CLI you compiled last year, a Python formatter installed via `uv`, a language server pulled from npm, a terminal emulator from a curl script, a Go binary built from source. Each came from a different package manager, each with its own install incantation you half-remember. I wanted a way to declare what I need without adopting a complex system like Nix or Ansible just for a single laptop. The result was a plain old Makefile. I wrote a short post on using Make (along with a tiny bash script and fzf) to create a searchable, single-command…
Mar 2026 · thottingal.in
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- 9AL
Redstart is a lightweight Lisp interpreter written in C++ with a focus on shell scripting. It lets you combine the expressive power of Lisp with the practicality of the Unix shell: you can run commands, capture output, pipe between processes, and still use Lisp syntax for logic and structure. Think of it as writing your shell scripts in Lisp instead of Bash.
Oct 2025 · github.com
- 10UR
2020 · github.com
- 11
- 12EM
I wanted to run markdown files like shell scripts. So I built an open source tool that lets you use a shebang to pipe them through Claude Code with full stdin/stdout support. task.md: #!/usr/bin/env claude-run Analyze this codebase and summarize the architecture. Then: chmod +x task.md ./task.md These aren't just prompts. Claude Code has tool use, so a markdown file can run shell commands, write scripts, read files, make API calls. The prompt orchestrates everything. A script that runs your tests and reports results (`run_tests.md`): #!/usr/bin/env…
Jan 2026
- 13LS
Greetings, creator here! I've been working on a new blogging platform specifically for lists on and off for a few months now and I'm excited to officially announce its launch. After seeing https://charm.sh a few months ago, I've been enamored by the idea of SSH apps. I decided that a blogging platform focused on developers could be the perfect use case for an SSH app. Also, I love writing lists. I think restricting writing to a set of lists can really help improve clarity in thought. The goal of this blogging platform is to make it simple to use the tools you love to write and…
2022 · lists.sh
- 14HA
In the deep mists of time (circa 2012), I was playing with the Go standard library, and saw how easy it was to stand up a webserver that let you navigate a remote file system, and I thought it was pretty neat. I took a look at my shell history and a frequent pattern of commands was "cd, ls, cd, ls, ...". And I thought "I love my keyboard, but you know, point and click might be nice in this context." And then I thought, "It'd be even cooler if you could run commands there." Skip forward several years, a few earlier implementations, a name change, and now there's Hucksh(ell), a bash-like shell…
2023
- 15SA
I've built a tool called sol (like "soul") that helps you inspect and format complex shell one-liners. Features: - Choose which transformations you want (break on pipe, args, redirect, whatever) - "Peeks" into stringified commands (think xargs, parallel) and formats those, too - Auto-breaks at a given width (e.g., 80 characters) - Shows you non-standard aliases, functions, files, etc. that you might not have in your shell environment - Breaks up long jq lines with jqfmt because—let's be honest—they're getting out of hand As a security researcher and tool developer, I often encounter (or…
2024 · github.com
- 16RA
Hi HN — I’m learning Rust and decided to build a universal CLI for running code in many languages. The tool, Run, aims to be a single, minimal dependency utility for: running one-off snippets (from CLI flags), running files, reading and executing piped stdin, and providing language-specific REPLs that you can switch between interactively. I designed it to support both interpreted languages (Python, JS, Ruby, etc.) and compiled languages (Rust, Go, C/C++). It detects languages from flags or file extensions, can compile temporary files for compiled languages, and exposes a unified REPL…
Oct 2025 · github.com
- 17JA
Write a Python file named `jeeves.py` in your project directory with contents: import sh def lint(): """Lint your Python project.""" sh.mypy() This, together with pip install jeeves-shell[all] makes it possible to do j lint …which will run mypy for you, and, via the omnipotent `j` command, open ways for • Automation of routine tasks, • Standardization of your projects, • Implementation of best practices, • And more :) Github: https://github.com/jeeves-sh/jeeves-shell/
2023 · jeeves.sh
- 18RC
2022 · github.com
- 19BI
2018 · github.com
- 20GA
I built GRSH because I wanted a modern, memory-safe shell that feels native to FreeBSD but works seamlessly on macOS. While there are many shells out there, GRSH is my take on a minimal, fast, and secure command interpreter written entirely in Rust. It's designed for users who want the safety guarantees of Rust without the overhead of more bloated alternatives. I'm currently working on the official FreeBSD port. I’d love to get feedback on the shell's behavior and performance from the community. Github: https://github.com/antoniomalara301289/grsh
Jan 2026 · grimreaper.icu
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- 22SL
Or more precisely, my little site maker... It is a personal tool that I thoroughly enjoyed making, and enjoy using to write my website . A caveat before any more; nobody was supposed to promote this insanity. Like, terrible things have been done involving inotify and xdotool. But. It showed up on HN some months ago. That too while it was still, shall we say, fermenting. It got "done" some time thence, and of course one could not let the half-past just be. So here we are, for better or worse. Thank you HN mods for helping me repost! _\\// The README explains all, animated GIFs and…
2023 · github.com
- 23LT
This is my take on the common "use llms to generate shell commands" utility. Emphasis is placed on good CLI UX, simplicity, and flexibility. `llm2sh` supports multiple LLM providers and lets LLMs generate multi-command sequences to handle complex tasks. There is also limited support for commands requiring `sudo` and other basic input. I recommend using Groq llama3-70b for day-to-day use. The ultra-low latency is a game-changer - its near-instant responses helps `llm2sh` integrate seamlessly into day-to-day tasks without breaking you out of the 'zone'. For more advanced tasks, swapping to…
2024 · github.com
- 24CC
2023 · github.com
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