Replaces the Phase 0 io.popen + sentinel-echo exit-code recovery with
forkpty + waitpid via ffi/pty. The §7 amendment paragraph on PHASE0.md
is rewritten to point at PHASE1.md §5 — the workaround is gone, not
just renamed.
User-visible behavioral changes:
- Interactive commands (vim, less, htop, top) now work via $cmd /
:exec / known-command shell paths because the child has a real
PTY for line discipline.
- Exit codes are accurate: `false` -> 1, `exit 7` -> 7, signal kill
-> 128+N (bash convention), shell parse error -> sh's 2.
- Broken-shell-syntax cmd now shows the actual sh diagnostic
(e.g. "Syntax error: end of file unexpected") instead of Phase 0's
"(no output — possible shell parse error)" guess.
- Output normalization: PTY emits CR LF; executor collapses \r\n
-> \n to keep the Phase 0 contract ("output uses \n separators").
Code path:
pty.spawn(cmd) -> drain master_fd until EOF
-> wait() returns ("exit", N) | ("signal", N) | ...
-> exit_code mapped: exit -> N, signal -> 128+N, else -1
Phase 0 invariants intact: `cd` interception unchanged (still libc.chdir
per §3 + §7), `CMD: ` extraction unchanged.
PHASE0.md §7: the "LuaJIT 2.1 popen-close caveat" paragraph is rewritten
to "Superseded by Phase 1" — points at PHASE1.md §5 for the live model.
The illustrative sketch is left in place as historical context.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
aish
aish — AI-augmented conversational shell.
A single REPL that interleaves shell command execution and language-model conversation, backed by a llama.cpp HTTP broker. Implementation is LuaJIT 2.x with FFI bindings to libcurl, GNU readline, and libc — no C extensions, no build step, one source tree.
Why
Three flows that currently live in three windows fold into one:
- "Run this command and show me the output" — fast feedback loop, no copy-paste between terminal and chat.
- "Explain or write code based on the output we just looked at" — exec output is automatically injected into the model's context.
- "Plan and execute a multi-step task with confirmation gates" — landing in Phase 3 as Chuck Norris autonomous mode.
aish is not a wrapper around bash. It's a first-class interactive environment where the shell is one of several execution channels.
Status
| Component | State |
|---|---|
| Repository skeleton | ✅ in this commit |
| Phase 0 manifest | ✅ docs/PHASE0.md — locked |
| Phase 0 implementation | 🔜 next session |
| Phase 1+ | 📋 enumerated in PHASE0.md §11 |
Every module file currently raises not implemented (Phase 0 pending)
when called. luajit main.lua fails loudly at the first un-implemented
function, never silently.
Quick orientation
| Read this | If you want to know |
|---|---|
docs/PHASE0.md §1–2 |
What aish is and what Phase 0 ships |
docs/PHASE0.md §3 |
Technology decisions (LuaJIT, FFI, readline, libcurl, llama.cpp) |
docs/PHASE0.md §4 |
Directory layout — these file names are stable across all phases |
docs/PHASE0.md §5 |
How input is dispatched (meta / shell / AI) |
docs/PHASE0.md §6 |
Broker contract: /v1/chat/completions, CMD: extraction |
docs/PHASE0.md §10 |
Config schema and resolution order |
docs/PHASE0.md §11 |
Phase sequence (what lands when) |
docs/PHASE0.md §13 |
Open questions, tracked per phase |
CLAUDE.md |
Project conventions for AI-assisted contributors |
Directory layout
aish/
├── main.lua # entry point
├── repl.lua # readline loop, dispatch, prompt
├── broker.lua # llama.cpp HTTP client
├── router.lua # input classifier (meta/shell/AI)
├── executor.lua # command exec + CMD: extraction
├── context.lua # in-memory turn history
├── history.lua # disk persistence (Phase 1+)
├── safety.lua # destructive-op gate (Phase 3+)
├── renderer.lua # output formatting
├── config.lua # default model registry + preferences
├── ffi/
│ ├── curl.lua # libcurl easy interface
│ ├── readline.lua # GNU readline
│ ├── pty.lua # forkpty (Phase 1+)
│ └── libc.lua # chdir, errno, strerror
└── docs/
└── PHASE0.md # locked substrate
Build / runtime dependencies
System packages (Debian / ALARM / Arch names):
luajit(>= 2.0)libcurl4/libcurl-openssl-3runtimelibreadline8runtimelibc6runtime (always present)
No compilation, no luarocks, no make. Just luajit main.lua.
Running
Once Phase 0 ships:
luajit main.lua # uses ~/.config/aish/config.lua
luajit main.lua --config ./config.lua # explicit config path
AISH_CONFIG=/path/to/config.lua luajit main.lua
Config resolution order is documented in docs/PHASE0.md §10.
Configuration
config.lua is a Lua file returning a single table. The committed
config.lua in this repo is both the canonical example and the
development-fallback config (lowest precedence). Copy it to
~/.config/aish/config.lua and edit endpoints to your local llama.cpp
servers, or point AISH_CONFIG at your own.
The default endpoints assume mfritsche's home network:
fast→dirac.fritz.box:8081(Qwen2.5-Coder-7B q4 8k ctx)deep→dirac.fritz.box:8080(Qwen2.5-Coder-7B q4 32k ctx)cloud→hossenfelder.fritz.box:8082(forwards to OpenRouter)
Replace these with your own llama.cpp endpoints if you're not on that LAN.
License
Not yet selected. Default-private until decided.
Project conventions
See CLAUDE.md for contribution conventions, commit style,
and the phase-loop discipline this project follows.