coming_from_powershell.md

Coming from PowerShell

::: tip PowerShell pipelines pass rich .NET objects, which allow property access like $process.Name or piping objects directly into cmdlets that understand them.

Nushell pipelines, by contrast, pass structured data such as tables, lists, and values.
This means:

• No .PropertyName access
• Use get column, select, $it.column, or table operations instead
• Commands always receive predictable structured input, not strings or .NET types :::

Command Equivalents:

PowerShell	Nu	Task
Get-ChildItem	ls	List files in current directory
Get-ChildItem <dir>	ls <dir>	List files in given directory
Get-ChildItem pattern*	ls pattern*	Pattern-match files
Get-ChildItem -Force -File -Hidden	ls --long --all or ls -la	Detailed listing including hidden files
Get-ChildItem | Where-Object { $_.PSIsContainer }	ls | where type == dir	List directories only
Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter *.rs	ls **/*.rs	Recursive search for files
Get-ChildItem -Recurse Makefile | Select-Object -Expand Name	ls **/Makefile | get name | vim ...$in	Pass matched paths to command
Set-Location <dir>	cd <dir>	Change directory
Set-Location	cd	Go to home directory
Set-Location -	cd -	Go to previous directory
New-Item -ItemType Directory <path>	mkdir <path>	Create a directory
New-Item test.txt	touch test.txt	Create a file
command | Out-File <path>	out> <path> or o> <path>	Save output to file (raw)
command | Set-Content <path>	| save <path>	Save output to file (structured)
command | Out-File -Append <path>	out>> <path> or o>> <path>	Append output to file
	| save --append <path>	Append structured output
command | Out-Null	| ignore	Discard output
cmd1 | Tee-Object -FilePath log.txt | cmd2	cmd1 | tee { save log.txt } | cmd2	Tee output to file
command | Select-Object -First 5	command | first 5	Limit output to first N rows
Get-Content <path>	open --raw <path>	Display file contents
Move-Item <source> <dest>	mv <source> <dest>	Move file
Get-ChildItem *.md | ForEach-Object { $_.Name }	ls *.md | each { $in.name }	Iterate list values
foreach ($i in 1..10) { $i }	for i in 1..10 { print $i }	Loop over range
Copy-Item <source> <dest>	cp <source> <dest>	Copy file
Copy-Item -Recurse <source> <dest>	cp -r <source> <dest>	Copy directory recursively
Remove-Item <path>	rm <path>	Remove file
	rm -t <path>	Move file to trash
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force <path>	rm -r <path>	Remove directory recursively
Get-Date "<date>"	"<date>" | into datetime -f <format>	Parse date
"<str>" -replace 'a','b'	str replace "a" "b"	Replace substrings
Select-String <pattern>	where $it =~ <pattern> or find <pattern>	Search text
Get-Help <command>	help <command>	Get command help
Get-Command	help commands	List all commands
Get-Command "*<string>*"	help --find <string>	Search commands
command1; if ($?) { command2 }	command1; command2	Run second command only if first succeeds
/tmp/$((Get-Random))	$"/tmp/(random int)"	String interpolation
$env:Path	$env.PATH or $env.Path	Show PATH
$LASTEXITCODE	$env.LAST_EXIT_CODE	Exit code of last external command
$env:PATH += ":/usr/bin"	$env.PATH = ($env.PATH | append /usr/bin)	Update PATH (temporary)
Get-ChildItem Env:	$env	List environment variables
$env:FOO	$env.FOO	Access environment variable
Remove-Item Env:FOO	hide-env FOO	Unset environment variable
Set-Alias s "git status -sb"	alias s = git status -sb	Temporary alias
Get-Command FOO	which FOO	Inspect command / alias / binary
powershell -Command "<commands>"	nu -c <commands>	Run inline pipeline
.\script.ps1	nu <script file>	Run script file
Get-Location or $PWD	pwd or $env.PWD	Show current directory
Read-Host	let var = input	Read user input
Read-Host -AsSecureString	let secret = input -s	Read secret input

Clearing the commandline buffer by pressing ESC

Legacy versions of PowerShell feature the ability to clear the commandline buffer by pressing the ESC key.

While Nu does not replicate this by default, a keybind can be added to your config.nu to enable similar functionality:

$env.config.keybindings ++= [{
    name: 'esc_clear'
    modifier: 'None'
    keycode: 'Esc'
    mode: ['Emacs', 'Vi_Normal']
    event: {edit: 'Clear'}
}]