apnaShell

apnaShell is a custom Windows shell written in C, paired with a dedicated Electron desktop terminal host.

The shell provides a Linux-like command set on Windows, while the desktop app provides the branded terminal UI, prompt/output formatting, and working-directory aware chrome.

Builds are versioned as separate executables such as myshell_v2.exe, myshell_v3.exe, and so on as new milestones are implemented.

The repository is organized into:

• shell-core/ for the shell engine and shell executables
• terminal-app/ for the Electron desktop terminal app
• concepts/ for terminal app concept docs

Current Features

• Interactive shell prompt
• Current shell prompt label: bolBhai>>
• Built-in commands:
  • help
  • exit
  • quit
  • cd <path>
  • pwd
  • history
  • !!
  • !n
  • ls
  • ls -l
  • cat <file>
  • mkdir <dir>
  • rmdir <dir>
  • rm <file>
  • cp <src> <dest>
  • mv <src> <dest>
  • touch <file>
  • clear
• Basic trimming of extra whitespace
• Basic quoted path handling for commands such as cd "My Folder"
• Arrow-key input with basic line editing in the interactive console
• Tab completion for files and directories in the interactive console
• Better quoted argument parsing for built-in commands with spaced paths
• Better ls option handling including combined flags like -la
• Environment variable expansion for %VAR% and $VAR
• Native simple pipeline support using |
• Native redirection support using >, >>, and <
• External command execution through cmd.exe /C within the shell execution engine
• Machine-readable cwd control line for the desktop app shell bridge
• Dedicated Electron desktop terminal app with:
  • branded bolBhai>> prompt rendering
  • sunBhai> output labeling
  • centered welcome banner in the terminal
  • boxed working-directory indicator in the terminal header
  • custom frameless app chrome

Not Implemented Yet

• Background jobs
• Wildcard or glob expansion like *.txt inside built-in commands
• Linux-style ${VAR} expansion
• Native built-in input streaming from redirected stdin

Project Structure

• shell-core/myshell.c - main source code for the shell
• shell-core/myshell.exe - early shell executable
• shell-core/myshell_v2.exe - versioned executable for the v2 milestone
• shell-core/myshell_v3.exe - versioned executable for the v3 milestone
• shell-core/myshell_v4.exe - versioned executable for the v4 milestone
• shell-core/myshell_v5.exe - versioned executable for the v5 milestone
• shell-core/myshell_v6.exe - versioned executable for the current v6 milestone
• terminal-app/ - dedicated desktop terminal app
• concepts/ - concept docs for the terminal app directions
• FEATURES.md - quick feature status document
• DEVELOPMENT_LOG.md - version-by-version project change log
• VERSIONING_METHOD.md - project versioning approach
• WORKFLOW.md - fixed implementation workflow

Terminal App

The desktop app lives in terminal-app/ and launches through a dedicated Electron bootstrap that clears inherited ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE state before startup.

Build and launch it from the repository root with:

cd terminal-app
npm install
npm run build
npm run start

To build the Windows installer from the terminal app folder:

cd terminal-app
npm run dist:win

The installer output is written to terminal-app/release/ and includes the packaged shell executable.

Requirements

• Windows
• A C compiler such as MinGW GCC

Build

If you have gcc installed:

gcc -Wall -Wextra -std=c11 shell-core/myshell.c -o shell-core/myshell_v6.exe

Run

.\shell-core\myshell_v6.exe

Example Session

bolBhai>> pwd
D:\Projects\myShell

bolBhai>> history
   1  pwd
   2  history

bolBhai>> ls
shell-core/
terminal-app/
concepts/
README.md
FEATURES.md

bolBhai>> help

Notes

• This shell is not a full replacement for Bash, Zsh, PowerShell, or CMD.
• Built-in commands are implemented directly in C for a more Linux-like feel on Windows.
• External commands are launched through cmd.exe /C while redirection and simple pipelines are coordinated by the shell itself.

Future Improvements

• Add wildcard expansion for built-ins
• Add background job execution
• Add Linux-style ${VAR} expansion
• Support recursive file operations and more Unix-style flags

License

You can add a license here before publishing to GitHub. The common choice is the MIT License.