🚀 What's New in v4.1.1?
Version 4.1.1 elevates NexusShell into a true, standards-compliant terminal host—combining real-time ConPTY input streaming for modern AI agents and CLI tools, dynamic PowerShell autocompletion, multi-line command drafting, and isolated background audio.
NexusShell now operates as a true, standards-compliant terminal host. The Command Input box streams raw input, navigation keys, and control sequences directly to PowerShell, CMD, and interactive AI agents/brokers (such as agy, claude, inquirer, and fzf), providing an authentic terminal environment paired with clean, accessible rendering.
- Live Interactive CLI & TUI Speech: As you navigate interactive CLI menus, model pickers, slash commands, or checkboxes using the Arrow Keys, NexusShell automatically extracts and announces the active selection in real time for NVDA, JAWS, and Narrator.
⚡ 2. Dynamic PowerShell Autocompletion
Powered by a high-speed, out-of-process PowerShell runspace (PowerShellCompletionService) that queries native CommandCompletion in real time.
- Accessible Suggestion Navigation: Browse authentic command, cmdlet, parameter, and file path suggestions using Up/Down Arrows with clear positional speech feedback (e.g.,
"Item, 1 of 12"), and press Tab or Enter to apply or Escape to dismiss.
- Multi-Line Command Drafting: Press
Shift + Enter in the Command Input box to draft and edit multi-line commands, scripts, or queries cleanly before pressing Enter to execute.
- Decoupled, Quiet Typing: Removed UI binding echo loops so your screen reader announces your typing naturally without stuttering or repetition.
- Enhanced Session Navigation: Reliable escape, dismissal, and cancellation handling in interactive command-line sessions.
🔊 4. Isolated Audio Feedback
- Non-Interrupting Sound Engine: Typing clicks (
KeyType) and status chimes run on dedicated background threads so they never duck, clip, or interrupt screen reader speech synthesis.
🎵 5. Non-Intrusive Sound Effects
Dynamic sound cues play on command execution, output updates, and opening/closing windows. These clicks and chimes are subtle, fast, and volume-scaled, providing valuable spatial awareness without interfering with speech synthesizers.
📥 Installation
Option 1 — Windows Package Manager (Recommended)
winget install MF.NexusShell
Option 2 — Manual Installer
- Download
NexusShell_Setup.exe from the GitHub Releases Page.
- Run the installer to set up the program, create desktop shortcuts, and optionally add it to your system PATH.
- For silent installations, download
NexusShell_Silent_Setup.exe which installs the app completely in the background.
Option 3 — Docker
📦 mohammedkhaledmahmoud/nexusshell on Docker Hub
> NexusShell does not run inside the container. It is a WPF desktop app — it
> drives Win32 ConPTY, hosts Chromium through WebView2, encrypts your key with
> DPAPI and speaks to NVDA and JAWS. A container has none of that. The image
> carries the published win-x64 build with a SHA-256 for every file, so a
> release can be pulled, pinned by digest and verified from any machine. For
> everyday use, Option 1 is simpler.
>
> This is for CI runners, scripted installs, offline mirrors and anyone who
> would rather pin a digest than download a zip.
Get the build onto this machine — it lands in .\out, then run it normally:
docker run --rm -v "${PWD}\out:/out" mohammedkhaledmahmoud/nexusshell:latest
.\out\NexusShell.App.exe
REM cmd.exe
docker run --rm -v "%CD%\out:/out" mohammedkhaledmahmoud/nexusshell:latest
# Linux/macOS — to stage or mirror a release; the binaries need Windows to run
docker run --rm -v "$PWD/out:/out" mohammedkhaledmahmoud/nexusshell:latest
Other commands:
docker run --rm mohammedkhaledmahmoud/nexusshell:latest verify # re-hash every shipped file
docker run --rm mohammedkhaledmahmoud/nexusshell:latest list # print SHA256SUMS
docker run --rm mohammedkhaledmahmoud/nexusshell:latest version # print the version
docker run --rm mohammedkhaledmahmoud/nexusshell:latest help # usage
Tags: latest, or a release such as 4.1.1. For anything you intend to keep,
pin the digest instead — a tag can be moved, a digest cannot:
docker pull mohammedkhaledmahmoud/nexusshell@sha256:
Check what you extracted at any time, against the SHA256SUMS that came with it:
Get-Content .\out\SHA256SUMS | ForEach-Object {
$expected, $relative = $_ -split '\s+', 2
$actual = (Get-FileHash ".\out\$($relative.TrimStart('./'))" -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLower()
if ($actual -ne $expected) { "MISMATCH: $relative" }
}
Running NexusShell still needs Windows 10 1903+ (x64) and the
WebView2 runtime. The
build is self-contained, so .NET does not need to be installed. Building and
publishing the image yourself is covered under
Docker — distribution, not a runtime.
🚀 Feature Overview
- Multi-Shell Support: Run PowerShell, CMD, and WSL inside a unified interface.
- Multi-Tab Sessions: Open multiple independent tabs for different workflows.
- Integrated AI Assistance (NexusAI): Generate commands from natural language, explain terminal errors, and chat about your output using Groq's high-speed API.
- SSH Manager: Save and connect to remote servers with a single click.
- Alias & Snippet Managers: Eliminate repetitive typing with custom shortcuts and commands.
- Environment Variable Editor: Edit process variables in real-time.
- Theme Manager: Customize colors with instant live previews (Nexus Dark, Matrix, PowerShell Blue, Solarized).
- Customizable Shortcut Manager: Change all global hotkeys to match your personal preferences.
⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts Reference
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
Enter | Run command (Terminal) / Send message (AI Chat) |
| <<<<<<< HEAD | |
F1 | Open Help |
F2 / Alt+S | Open Settings |
| ======= | |
Shift + Enter | Insert new line (Multi-line Terminal & AI Chat input) |
F1 | Open Help documentation |
F2 / Alt+S | Open Settings categories |
| >>>>>>> c5026e0 (docs(release): align README and release notes with Help and About documentation) | |
F6 / Escape | Focus Command Input box / Toggle focus between terminal and input |
Ctrl + T | Open new terminal tab |
Ctrl + L | Clear terminal output |
Ctrl + Shift + S | Toggle Execute / Stop command |
Ctrl + F | Search terminal output |
| <<<<<<< HEAD | |
Arrow Keys | Navigate options (Interactive Dialog) |
Space / Enter | Select option (Interactive Dialog) |
Escape | Dismiss dialog (Interactive Dialog) |
| ======= | |
Arrow Keys | Navigate options (Interactive Menus & Suggestions) |
Space / Enter | Select & confirm option (Interactive Menus & Suggestions) |
Escape | Cancel / Dismiss (Interactive Menus & Suggestions) |
| >>>>>>> c5026e0 (docs(release): align README and release notes with Help and About documentation) | |
🛠️ Build from Source
Requirements: Windows 10 1903+ (x64), .NET 10 SDK, WebView2 Runtime.
git clone https://github.com/Mohammedkhaled96/NexusShell.git
cd NexusShell
dotnet build NexusShell.sln -c Release
# app.manifest requests elevation; for development run through the .NET host:
dotnet NexusShell.App\bin\Release\net10.0-windows10.0.19041.0\NexusShell.App.dll
One-command environment setup
On a fresh machine, let WinGet install the SDK, WebView2 Runtime and Git for you
(run in an elevated terminal from the repository root):
winget configure .\.configurations\configuration.dsc.yaml
Everyone builds the same bits
A desktop app cannot run in a container, so reproducibility is enforced by the
build instead — the same packages and compiler settings on every machine:
| File | What it pins |
|---|
global.json | The .NET SDK version, so a different SDK fails fast instead of building differently |
NexusShell.App/packages.lock.json | The full resolved NuGet graph, including transitive packages |
Directory.Build.props | Deterministic builds, warnings as errors, NuGet vulnerability auditing |
NuGet.config | nuget.org only, so a private or local feed cannot alter a restore |
After changing a PackageReference, commit the updated packages.lock.json
alongside it. CI restores with --locked-mode and fails if the two disagree.
Docker — distribution, not a runtime
Because the app cannot run in a container, the Docker image does not try to run
it. It carries the published win-x64 build with a SHA-256 checksum for every
shipped file, so a release can be pulled and verified by tag or pinned by digest
from any machine that can reach a registry. The published image is
mohammedkhaledmahmoud/nexusshell;
see Option 3 — Docker for how to use it. This section is
about building and publishing it.
To publish a new version: bump `` in NexusShell.App.csproj, then
double-click publish-docker.bat. It signs in, builds, runs the image test suite
and pushes X.Y.Z + latest only if every check passes — so the tag can never
disagree with the assembly inside. To rehearse without touching the registry:
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File docker\publish.ps1 `
-DockerHubUser mohammedkhaledmahmoud -NoPush
| File | Purpose |
|---|
docker/Dockerfile | The published image: Alpine carrying the win-x64 payload plus SHA256SUMS. Built in Docker's default Linux mode |
docker/Dockerfile.build | Optional: compiles from source inside a Windows container, so the host needs no .NET SDK |
docker/entrypoint.sh | The image's extract / verify / list / version commands |
docker-compose.yml | docker compose run --rm extract and … verify; builder sits behind the build profile |
publish-docker.bat | Double-click to sign in, build, test and push. Reads the version from the .csproj |
docker/publish.ps1 | The build-test-push logic. Refuses to push unless every image check passes |
docker/DOCKERHUB.md | The Docker Hub repository description (paste by hand — it is not uploaded with the image) |
WPF cannot be compiled on Linux, so publish.ps1 checks which engine is active:
in Linux mode the host runs dotnet publish and the image carries the result; in
Windows containers mode it builds inside the container. Either way the image ends
up with the same contract — mount a directory, get the build.
Project layout
| Path | Purpose |
|---|
NexusShell.App/App.xaml.cs | Composition root — Generic Host, DI registration, Serilog |
NexusShell.App/Services, Interfaces | ConPTY terminal sessions, AI (Groq), config, sounds, notifications |
NexusShell.App/ViewModels, Views | MVVM windows and view models |
NexusShell.App/WebTerminal | WebView2 renderer: hidden xterm.js parser → accessible HTML blocks |
packaging/winget | Windows Package Manager manifests |
AGENT.md | Architecture & contribution guide for humans and AI coding agents |
CI/CD
| Workflow | Runs on | What it does |
|---|
| CI | push, pull request | Restore, build and test on windows-latest |
| CodeQL | push, pull request, weekly | Security analysis of C# and JavaScript |
| Security | push, pull request | TruffleHog secret scan, vulnerable NuGet check, dependency review |
| Release | v* tag | Self-contained win-x64 build, zip + SHA256 attached to the GitHub release |
| Publish to WinGet | release published | Opens a pull request on microsoft/winget-pkgs updating MF.NexusShell with NexusShell_Silent_Setup.exe |
Dependabot keeps NuGet packages and GitHub Actions up to date.
🔒 Security
- Your AI API key is encrypted with Windows DPAPI in
%AppData%\NexusShell\settings.json — it is never stored in plain text or committed to the repository.
- No telemetry; terminal input and secrets are never logged.
- Report vulnerabilities privately — see SECURITY.md.
👥 Developers
- Farid Mohammed (Core Developer)
- Mohammed Khaled (Core Developer)
NexusShell — Making the terminal work for everyone.
