How to Install and Use Nushell – A Modern Rust‑Based Cross‑Platform Shell

Nushell is a modern, cross‑platform shell written in Rust that aims to create a flexible, data‑oriented command‑line experience with improved safety and reduced bugs.

Installation on Linux

Ubuntu / Debian :

sudo apt update
sudo apt install pkg-config libssl-dev -y
sudo apt install libxcb-composite0-dev libx11-dev -y

RHEL‑based systems :

sudo yum install libxcb openssl-devel libX11-devel -y

macOS (Homebrew) :

brew install openssl cmake

Install Nushell Binary

Download the latest release from GitHub, extract the archive, and move the binary and plugins to a directory in PATH:

cd /tmp
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/nushell/nushell/releases/latest | grep browser_download_url | cut -d '"' -f4 | grep 'linux.tar.gz' | wget -i -
 tar -xvf nu_*_linux.tar.gz
 sudo mv nu_*_linux/nushell-*/nu /usr/local/bin
 sudo mv nu_*_linux/nushell-*/nu_plugin* /usr/local/bin

Fedora users can install via the COPR repository:

sudo dnf copr enable atim/nushell -y && sudo dnf install nushell -y

Installation on macOS

Using Homebrew: brew install nushell Or download the binary manually, unzip, and copy the files:

cd /tmp
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/nushell/nushell/releases/latest | grep browser_download_url | cut -d '"' -f4 | grep 'macOS.zip' | wget -i -
 unzip nu_*_macOS.zip
 sudo mv nu_*_macOS/nushell-*/nu /usr/local/bin
 sudo mv nu_*_macOS/nushell-*/nu_plugin* /usr/local/bin

Run Nushell in Docker

docker run -it quay.io/nushell/nu:latest

Set Nushell as the Default Shell for a User

Create a new user and change its login shell to Nushell:

sudo adduser techviewleo
sudo chsh -s /usr/local/bin/nu techviewleo
su - techviewleo   # you are now in Nushell

After switching, you can test commands such as ls to see the Nushell behavior.

For more information and the source code, visit the official repository: https://github.com/nushell/nushell