Support shell-based subshells in Warp

[thegedge]

We're tracking non-shell based REPLs (likeirb, ipython, psql, etc. ) on another GitHub issue > #4082

** List of shell-based subshells Warp supports **

• bash, zsh, fish, gcloud compute ssh, eb ssh, poetry shell, sudo su, etc.

[zachlloyd]

Yeah i think the right UI for this is to continue doing blocks but with some indication that you are in a subshell, similar to how we handle ssh. This should be doable. Please upvote if you want it.

[elviskahoro]

Differentiating User Shells And Subshells

From @shankarshastri via #220

Describe the solution you'd like?

It would be great based on the context, to show to users that currently in shell or subshell mode (For example docker shell container id for docker exec, and in case of ssh to ssh and hostname)

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

It's always a challenge to know whether we are in actual shell or any subshells.

Additional context

No response

[elviskahoro]

Poetry (python) creates a subshell. Would be nice if this was supported as well.

[Liu-Da]

Are there any plans or roadmaps for supporting the sub-shell feature?

[sweetyclem]

Hi, in a ruby on rails console I have the same issue. Thanks for looking into it!

[elviskahoro]

From #949

Describe the bug

On the MBP v12.2.1 native terminal, when I open up `psql`,I can navigate via Option + Left/Right arrow and modify my queries, but this behavior isn't compatible in Warp. Instead, I just get a space in the shell.

To Reproduce

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open psql
2. Type out a query like select * from users
3. Try to navigate via Option + Left Arrow to replace * with specific columns.
4. See that the cursor is moved to the right for some reason 🤷.

Expected behaviour

I would expect to be moved to the next "word" in the direction of the arrow key I choose while holding Option.

Screenshots

No response

Operating System

MacOS

OS Version

12.2.1

Additional context

No response

[jwickers]

Having Warp work with DB subshells would be huge. Those are the places where we often have to type and edit very long commands and basically where Warp would bring a lot of value.

[junyicc]

Encountered the same issue in subshells:

• mongo shell
• mycli command line
• ...

Currently, we can do the same things by

• Esc + B to move cursor to the beginning of the current word
• Esc + F to move cursor to the end of the current word
• Ctrl + W to delete whole word

But, it's not convenient and friendly. Looking forward to the shortcuts support in subshells by OPTION/CMD + ARROW LEFT/RIGHT or BACKSPACE

[joeyparis]

Just to add to the list of programs that would benefit from this, AWS's Elastic Beanstalk CLI. Specifically the eb ssh command

[evelant]

Aw man, this is disappointing. I just discovered Warp, got excited, and now find out that it doesn't support nushell. The rusty terminal should work with the rusty shell! As cool as Warp is I can't give up nushell so it's back to iterm for now.

[miohtama]

Good work guys! Warp is the best thing happened to UNIX command line since zsh.

Another command not yet mentioned is sudo.

I am working on a server and often I need to use sudo -i -u to switch users. When sudo spawns a new shell, the Warp block mode is lost.

[llam15]

The new subshell capability is hands down the best feature! A few things I have noticed:

• When I'm in a subshell of my subshell, such as running python manage.py inside of a docker exec, the ^D shortcut for exit does not seem to register. I can only exit the sub-sub-shell by typing exit() explicitly.
• If I try to warpify the following command: docker compose exec my-container python manage.py shell_plus , I get IndentationError: unexpected indent

[ -z $WARP_BOOTSTRAPPED ] && echo $0 | grep -q zsh && unsetopt ZLE && eval 'unsetopt ZLE;WARP_SESSION_ID="$(date +%s)$RANDOM";_hostname=$(command -v hostname >/dev/null 2>&1 && command hostname 2>/dev/null
 || uname -n);_user=$(command -v whoami >/dev/null 2>&1 && command whoami 2>/dev/null || echo $USER);_msg=$(printf "{\"hook\": \"InitShell\", \"value\": {\"session_id\": $WARP_SESSION_ID, \"shell\": \"zsh\", \"
user\": \"$_user\", \"hostname\": \"$_hostname\", \"is_subshell\": true}}" | od -An -v -tx1 | command tr -d " \n");printf '"'"'\x1b\x50\x24\x64%s\x9c'"'"' $_msg;unset _hostname _user _msg;' || [ -z $WARP_BOOTST
RAPPED ] && echo $0 | grep -q bash && eval 'stty raw;unset PROMPT_COMMAND;HISTCONTROL=ignorespace;HISTIGNORE=" *";WARP_SESSION_ID="$(date +%s)$RANDOM";_hostname=$(command -v hostname >/dev/null 2>&1 && command
hostname 2>/dev/null || uname -n);_user=$(command -v whoami >/dev/null 2>&1 && command whoami 2>/dev/null || echo $USER);_msg=$(printf "{\"hook\": \"InitShell\", \"value\": {\"session_id\": $WARP_SESSION_ID, \"
shell\": \"bash\", \"user\": \"$_user\", \"hostname\": \"$_hostname\", \"is_subshell\": true}}" | od -An -v -tx1 | command tr -d " \n");printf '"'"'\x1b\x50\x24\x64%s\x9c'"'"' $_msg;unset _hostname _user _msg;'
 || [ -z $WARP_BOOTSTRAPPED ] && [ $FISH_VERSION ] && eval 'set -g WARP_SESSION_ID (random);set _hostname $(command -v hostname >/dev/null 2>&1 && command hostname 2>/dev/null || uname -n);set _user $(command -
v whoami >/dev/null 2>&1 && command whoami 2>/dev/null || echo $USER);set _msg $(echo -n "{\"hook\": \"InitShell\", \"value\": {\"session_id\": $WARP_SESSION_ID, \"user\": \"$_user\", \"hostname\": \"$_hostname
\", \"shell\": \"fish\", \"is_subshell\": true}}" | od -An -v -tx1 | command tr -d " \n");echo -n \u1b\u50\u24"d$_msg"\u9c;set -e _hostname _user _msg;'
  File "<bpython-input-3>", line 1
    [ -z $WARP_BOOTSTRAPPED ] && echo $0 | grep -q zsh && unsetopt ZLE && eval 'unsetopt ZLE;WARP_SESSION_ID="$(date +%s)$RANDOM";_hostname=$(command -v hostname >/dev/null 2>&1 && command hostname 2>/dev/null
|| uname -n);_user=$(command -v whoami >/dev/null 2>&1 && command whoami 2>/dev/null || echo $USER);_msg=$(printf "{\"hook\": \"InitShell\", \"value\": {\"session_id\": $WARP_SESSION_ID, \"shell\": \"zsh\", \"u
ser\": \"$_user\", \"hostname\": \"$_hostname\", \"is_subshell\": true}}" | od -An -v -tx1 | command tr -d " \n");printf '"'"'\x1b\x50\x24\x64%s\x9c'"'"' $_msg;unset _hostname _user _msg;' || [ -z $WARP_BOOTSTR
APPED ] && echo $0 | grep -q bash && eval 'stty raw;unset PROMPT_COMMAND;HISTCONTROL=ignorespace;HISTIGNORE=" *";WARP_SESSION_ID="$(date +%s)$RANDOM";_hostname=$(command -v hostname >/dev/null 2>&1 && command h
ostname 2>/dev/null || uname -n);_user=$(command -v whoami >/dev/null 2>&1 && command whoami 2>/dev/null || echo $USER);_msg=$(printf "{\"hook\": \"InitShell\", \"value\": {\"session_id\": $WARP_SESSION_ID, \"s
hell\": \"bash\", \"user\": \"$_user\", \"hostname\": \"$_hostname\", \"is_subshell\": true}}" | od -An -v -tx1 | command tr -d " \n");printf '"'"'\x1b\x50\x24\x64%s\x9c'"'"' $_msg;unset _hostname _user _msg;'
|| [ -z $WARP_BOOTSTRAPPED ] && [ $FISH_VERSION ] && eval 'set -g WARP_SESSION_ID (random);set _hostname $(command -v hostname >/dev/null 2>&1 && command hostname 2>/dev/null || uname -n);set _user $(command -v
 whoami >/dev/null 2>&1 && command whoami 2>/dev/null || echo $USER);set _msg $(echo -n "{\"hook\": \"InitShell\", \"value\": {\"session_id\": $WARP_SESSION_ID, \"user\": \"$_user\", \"hostname\": \"$_hostname\
", \"shell\": \"fish\", \"is_subshell\": true}}" | od -An -v -tx1 | command tr -d " \n");echo -n \u1b\u50\u24"d$_msg"\u9c;set -e _hostname _user _msg;'
    ^
IndentationError: unexpected indent
>>>

Happy to open separate issues if that's preferred! None of these are blocking, of course.

[zachbai]

Hi all, some exciting news:

Support for "Warpifying" bash, zsh, and fish subshells is launched in the latest release (v0.2023.05.18.01.08.stable_04)!

In Warpified subshell sessions, Warp's features like blocks, input editor, completions, etc work the same way they do in 'top-level' shell sessions.

By default, Warp recognizes the following commands and displays a banner prompting you for Warpification:

• docker exec ... (zsh|bash|fish)
• gcloud ssh ...
• eb ssh ...
• poetry shell
  There's more detail on how to use and configure the feature in our docs: https://docs.warp.dev/features/subshells.

For the sake of clarity - Warpifying non-shell REPLs like python , irb, psql etc is not yet supported -- this is on the long term roadmap but includes a whole new set of challenges and likely won't be built for a while. That being said, I'm hearing from this thread that the big pain point is keyboard navigation, and I think we can improve this in the near term, short of full-on Warpification/block integration.

[zachbai]

@llam15 Thanks for the feedback!

When I'm in a subshell of my subshell, such as running python manage.py inside of a docker exec, the ^D shortcut for exit does not seem to register. I can only exit the sub-sub-shell by typing exit() explicitly.

Mind filing a separate GH issue for this? We should be able to prioritize a fix for this shortly.

Additionally, just to be clear, is python manage.py shell_plus dropping you into a Python REPL? If so -- I think your second bullet point is to be expected. At this point, only bash, fish, and zsh shells are eligible for Warpification.

[Slawikus]

Support for "Warpifying" bash, zsh, and fish subshells is launched in the latest release (v0.2023.05.18.01.08.stable_04)!

By default, Warp recognizes the following commands and displays a banner prompting you for Warpification:

• poetry shell

Wow, that's great news!!! Will it work with pipenv shell similar to poetry?

[dannyneira]

@Slawikus Initiatingpipenv shell is supported from bash/fish, but not zsh at this time although we should have a fix for this in next week's release!

We'll update our docs and this thread if/when any others are added to the supported list. https://docs.warp.dev/features/subshells#how-to-warpify-the-subshell

[Evian-Zhang]

It seems like subshells spawned by sudo su does not be warpified in the latest v0.2023.05.18.01.08.stable_04 release. Switching to root user is frequently used for network engineers where most commands need administrator privilege, and currently using Warp with sudo su is just like a normal terminal which does not do anything magical.

[zachbai]

@Evian-Zhang thanks for the feedback --

For commands that are not automatically recognized for Warpification (including sudo su), you can follow the directions in our docs here to manually mark it as a 'Warpifiable' command.

On subsequent executions, the Warpify banner will be shown and you'll be able to Warpify the session.

Feel free to follow up on the thread if you encounter any issues!

[sebdanielsson]

I'm getting the following error when clicking on Warpify after adding sudo su to the commands:

sh-3.2#  [ -z $WARP_BOOTSTRAPPED ] && echo $0 | grep -q zsh && unsetopt ZLE && eval 'unsetopt ZLE;WARP_SESSION_ID="$(date +%s)$RANDOM";_hostname=$(command -v hostname >/dev/null 2>&1 && command hostname 2>/dev/null || uname -n);_user=$(command -v whoami >/dev/null 2>&1 && command whoami 2>/dev/null || echo $USER);_msg=$(printf "{\"hook\": \"InitShell\", \"value\": {\"session_id\": $WARP_SESSION_ID, \"shell\": \"zsh\", \"user\": \"$_user\", \"hostname\": \"$_hostname\", \"is_subshell\": true}}" | od -An -v -tx1 | command tr -d " \n");printf '"'"'\x1b\x50\x24\x64%s\x9c'"'"' $_msg;unset _hostname _user _msg;' || [ -z $WARP_BOOTSTRAPPED ] && echo $0 | grep -q bash && eval 'stty raw;unset PROMPT_COMMAND;HISTCONTROL=ignorespace;HISTIGNORE=" *";WARP_SESSION_ID="$(date +%s)$RANDOM";_hostname=$(command -v hostname >/dev/null 2>&1 && command hostname 2>/dev/null || uname -n);_user=$(command -v whoami >/dev/null 2>&1 && command whoami 2>/dev/null || echo $USER);_msg=$(printf "{\"hook\": \"InitShell\", \"value\": {\"session_id\": $WARP_SESSION_ID, \"shell\": \"bash\", \"user\": \"$_user\", \"hostname\": \"$_hostname\", \"is_subshell\": true}}" | od -An -v -tx1 | command tr -d " \n");printf '"'"'\x1b\x50\x24\x64%s\x9c'"'"' $_msg;unset _hostname _user _msg;' || [ -z $WARP_BOOTSTRAPPED ] && [ $FISH_VERSION ] && eval 'set -g WARP_SESSION_ID (random);set _hostname $(command -v hostname >/dev/null 2>&1 && command hostname 2>/dev/null || uname -n);set _user $(command -v whoami >/dev/null 2>&1 && command whoami 2>/dev/null || echo $USER);set _msg $(echo -n "{\"hook\": \"InitShell\", \"value\": {\"session_id\": $WARP_SESSION_ID, \"user\": \"$_user\", \"hostname\": \"$_hostname\", \"shell\": \"fish\", \"is_subshell\": true}}" | od -An -v -tx1 | command tr -d " \n");echo -n \u1b\u50\u24"d$_msg"\u9c;set -e _hostname _user _msg;'

[zachbai]

Hey @sebdanielsson,

It looks like this is because the login shell for the root user in your machine is /bin/sh, which isn't one of Warp's supported shells. Switching that login shell for root via sudo chsh -s $(which <fish|bash|zsh>) should change the root login shell to whichever shell you specify (fish/bash/zsh), all of which are supported by Warp. Let us know if this doesn't work for you.

That being said, we can probably do a better job of messaging that only bash/fish/zsh are supported. Or possibly look at ways to detect an unsupported shell while Warpifying and then notify you if so.

[shumkov]

Thank you for this fantastic feature! Looking forward to an option in settings to automatically warpify all supported (whitelisted) shells. Updating RC files is fine for local shells but when you work with docker or ssh subshells a lot it's not very feasible.

[zachbai]

Hey @shumkov,

Makes sense that the RC file update isn't always practical with docker containers/remote hosts.

Automatic Warpification without an RC file is tough because, under the hood, Warpification is done by executing an initialization command that performs all the necessary setup for blocks, input editor, completions etc to work.

Basically, without the RC file update, Warp would have to know if and when it's ok to Warpify purely based on the executed subshell command. This is hard to do in a reliable way because the executed command doesn't always encode the shell (bash vs fish vs tcsh vs nushell) that is being spawned, and some of these shells are unsupported -- so it would put the subshell in a bad state if we just automatically tried to Warpify by executing the initialization command (which might contain invalid syntax or make assumptions that don't hold true in unsupported shells).

There might be some non-RC file-based workaround here, but it would still likely involve installation of some small binary or creation of some config file on the remote hosts where the subshells are being spawned, both of which I'm thinking are as intrusive (or more intrusive) than updating an RC file. I could be wrong here, though! Also open to other suggestions, since it's obvious that automatic Warpification for all subshells would be the most ideal UX.

[evelant]

Now that feature has landed is it more feasible to add first class support for nushell? Is that on the roadmap? Warp looks awesome but I can't leave nushell for an old style shell, it's just too good. Nushell combined with Warp would be the most amazing experience!

[zachbai]

@evelant We're aware of the demand for nushell -- feel free to upvote #880! For the sake of transparency, it's not yet on the near-term roadmap (next 3 months or so), but agree it would be awesome to support and we're always re-evaluating what to build every quarter.

[shumkov]

@zachbai thank you for the comprehensive explanation. I understand the complications and I hope you guys will find a solution!

[Evian-Zhang]

It is interesting that, I can't directly ssh into a FreeBSD machine with warpified shell (I use /usr/bin/ssh to work around), however, after I get into the FreeBSD, I invoke such Warpification command, and I can use Warp features in FreeBSD!

I just feel confused that what is the different between a subshell and a shell spawned by ssh. Why don't use the same technologies to enable Warp features across ssh-target and subshells spawned by other common commands?

[llam15]

@zachbai

@llam15 Thanks for the feedback!

When I'm in a subshell of my subshell, such as running python manage.py inside of a docker exec, the ^D shortcut for exit does not seem to register. I can only exit the sub-sub-shell by typing exit() explicitly.

Mind filing a separate GH issue for this? We should be able to prioritize a fix for this shortly.

Sorry for the late reply, I did not get a notification for your reply 😓

• I opened another issue for the first bullet point, with some more specific replication instructions: ^D shortcut for exit does not register inside Warpified subshells #3186

Additionally, just to be clear, is python manage.py shell_plus dropping you into a Python REPL? If so -- I think your second bullet point is to be expected. At this point, only bash, fish, and zsh shells are eligible for Warpification.

Yes you're correct, python manage.py shell_plus is a Python REPL. Thanks for the explanation! Hope Python REPLs be supported soon :)

[dannyneira]

Locking this issue to help with notifications. We are aware of the demand for non-shell based subshells (REPLs). Any further updates will be posted on this thread by the Warp team.

[dannyneira]

Hey folks, since this issue was originally for sh based subshell, we're closing as resolved.

We'll be tracking the REPLs non-shell based subshell in a new meta issue which will also contain comments for tracking each REPL (irb, ipython, pipenv, psql, node, mongosh, rails, nix-shell, etc.) here #4082

Closing as completed since Subshell support has been
released.