Interactive Shell

Gitit provides a convenient feature to open an interactive shell in your newly created project directory after cloning a template. This can help you quickly start working with your new project without having to manually navigate to the directory.

Basic Usage

To use the interactive shell feature, add the --shell flag when cloning a template:

gitit github:user/repo my-project --shell

This will:

1. Clone the template repository
2. Extract it to the my-project directory
3. Open a new shell session in that directory

How It Works

Under the hood, Gitit uses your default shell environment to open a new shell session. The process is:

1. The template is downloaded and extracted
2. Gitit determines your current shell (from process.env.SHELL or defaults to /bin/bash on Unix and cmd.exe on Windows)
3. It spawns a new shell process in the target directory
4. Control is transferred to the new shell session
5. When you exit the shell, you return to the original session

Shell Environment

The shell opened by Gitit is a fully functional environment with:

• The working directory already set to your new project directory
• Access to all your normal shell configurations (from .bashrc, .zshrc, etc.)
• All environment variables from your current session

Combining with Other Options

The --shell option works well when combined with other Gitit features:

# Clone a template, install dependencies, and open a shell
gitit github:user/repo my-project --install --shell

# Clone a template, run a custom command, and open a shell
gitit github:user/repo my-project --command "npm run setup" --shell

In these cases, the shell opens after any other post-clone operations are completed.

Configuration

You can set the interactive shell feature as a default in your gitit.config.ts file:

// gitit.config.ts
export default {
  shell: true,
  // other options...
}

With this configuration, Gitit will always open a shell after cloning a template, unless explicitly disabled with --no-shell.

Use Cases

The interactive shell feature is particularly useful for:

1. Immediate development - Start working on your project right away
2. Running initial setup - Quickly run setup commands in the new project
3. Exploration - Easily browse through the template's file structure
4. Verification - Confirm that everything was properly cloned

Platform-Specific Behavior

The shell behavior varies slightly depending on your operating system:

• macOS/Linux: Opens your default shell as specified in the SHELL environment variable
• Windows: Opens Command Prompt (cmd.exe)

Example Workflow

A typical workflow using the interactive shell might look like:

# Clone a template and open a shell
gitit github:vuejs/vue-next-webpack-preview my-vue-app --shell

# In the new shell, you can immediately start working
npm install
npm run dev

This streamlines the process of creating a new project from a template and getting it up and running.