Shell profiles

A shell profile tells Cogno how to start one shell: which program, with which arguments, in which directory. Every new tab starts a profile.

You already have profiles

On first launch Cogno looks for installed shells and writes a profile for each one into your config file:

Platform	Detected shells	Default
macOS, Linux	every Zsh and Bash listed in /etc/shells	Zsh if present, otherwise Bash
Windows	Windows PowerShell and PowerShell 7 (pwsh)	the first PowerShell found

This only happens while no profile exists. Afterwards the profiles are yours to edit.

A profile

shell.profiles.zsh.shell_type = ZSH
shell.profiles.zsh.path = /bin/zsh
shell.profiles.zsh.args = [-l, -i]
shell.profiles.zsh.working_dir = ~

zsh is the profile name. You choose it; it appears in menus. Use only letters, digits and _ if you want to reference the profile in a keybinding.

Setting	Required	Meaning
shell_type	yes	ZSH, Bash or PowerShell. Other shells, such as fish, are not supported.
path	yes	Path of the shell executable.
args	no	Arguments passed to the shell.
working_dir	no	Directory the shell starts in. Default: ~
env.<var>	no	Extra environment variables, e.g. env.EDITOR = nvim
enable_shell_integration	no	Load Cogno’s shell integration. Default: true
inject_cogno_cli	no	Put the cogno command on the shell’s PATH. Default: true
load_user_rc	no	Load your own startup files such as .zshrc, .bashrc or the PowerShell profile. Default: true

Changes to a profile apply to terminals you open afterwards.

Set load_user_rc = false for a clean shell without your aliases, plugins and prompt theme — useful to rule out your own configuration when something misbehaves. PATH is still taken from your login environment.

Note

Shell integration is what lets Cogno see where a command starts and ends, its exit code and the current directory. Without it Cogno does not draw its prompt and cannot track commands. Turn it off only if you need a completely untouched shell.

Default and order

shell.default = zsh
shell.order = [zsh, bash]

• shell.default is the profile a new tab starts. It must name an existing profile.
• shell.order is the order in menus. Every entry must name an existing profile.
• You can define at most 9 profiles.

Open a profile with a key

The actions open_shell_1 … open_shell_9 open a new tab with the profile in that position. By default they are on Ctrl+Shift+1 … 9 (Command+Shift+1 … 9 on macOS).

Position 1 is always the default profile. The profiles from shell.order follow, then any remaining profiles.

To bind a key to a profile by name, pass the name to new_tab:

keybind = Ctrl+Alt+B=new_tab:bash

Example: two profiles

shell.default = zsh
shell.order = [zsh, work]

shell.profiles.zsh.shell_type = ZSH
shell.profiles.zsh.path = /bin/zsh
shell.profiles.zsh.args = [-l, -i]

shell.profiles.work.shell_type = Bash
shell.profiles.work.path = /opt/homebrew/bin/bash
shell.profiles.work.working_dir = ~/projects/work
shell.profiles.work.env.AWS_PROFILE = work

All profile settings are listed under Shell in the settings reference.