shil 2025.8.6.5.22
Shell helper utilities for python
License: MIT
Requires Python: >3.7

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      <strong>shil</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
      <a href=https://pypi.org/project/shil><img src="https://img.shields.io/pypi/l/shil.svg"></a>
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    <td width=15%><img src=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/elo-enterprises/shil/master/img/icon.png style="width:150px"></td>
    <td>
      Shell-util library for python.  <br/>
      Includes helpers for subprocess invocation, shell-formatters / pretty-printers, and more.
      <br/>
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<div class="toc">
<ul>
<li><a href="#overview">Overview</a></li>
<li><a href="#features">Features</a><ul>
<li><a href="#shell-formatters-pretty-printers">Shell-formatters / pretty-printers</a></li>
<li><a href="#subprocess-invocation">Subprocess Invocation</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#installation">Installation</a></li>
<li><a href="#usage-cli">Usage (CLI)</a></li>
<li><a href="#usage-api">Usage (API)</a><ul>
<li><a href="#oop-style-dispatch">OOP-style Dispatch</a></li>
<li><a href="#functional-approach-to-dispatch">Functional approach to dispatch</a></li>
<li><a href="#loading-data-when-command-output-is-json">Loading data when command-output is JSON</a></li>
<li><a href="#serialization-with-pydantic">Serialization with Pydantic</a></li>
<li><a href="#caller-determines-logging">Caller determines logging</a></li>
<li><a href="#rich-console-support">Rich-console Support</a></li>
<li><a href="#stay-dry-with-runners">Stay DRY with Runners</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

## Overview

The `shil` library provides various shell-utilities for python.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

## Features

### Shell-formatters / pretty-printers

* A somewhat usable parser / grammar for bash
* Console support for [rich](https://rich.readthedocs.io/en/stable/index.html) & [rich protocols](https://rich.readthedocs.io/en/stable/protocol.html)

### Subprocess Invocation

There's a lot of shell-related libraries out there, especially for invocation (see for example [this list](https://www.pyinvoke.org/prior-art.html)).
The interface for `shil` is hopefully unsurprising, and something that's convenient but not fancy.  It's a utility, and not a huge framework.

The main goal is to provide an API that is simple and stable, without a ton of dependencies.

```pycon
>>> import shil
>>> proc = shil.invoke('echo hello world')
>>> assert proc.succeeded
>>> assert proc.stdout.strip()=='hello world'
>>>
```

Beyond such basics, shil includes support for [rich output](#) and uses pydantic for datastructures.

See the [API docs](#usage-api) for more detailed information.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

## Installation

See [pypi](https://pypi.org/project/shil/) for available releases.

```bash
$ pip install shil
```

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

## Usage (CLI)

The shil library publishes a small CLI tool, mostly just for testing & demoing the API behaviour. See [the CLI docs](docs/cli/) for the latest (autogenerated) help.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

## Usage (API)

See also:

* [the unit-tests](tests/units) for some examples of library usage
* [the smoke-tests](tests/smoke/test.sh) for example usage of stand-alone scripts

### OOP-style Dispatch

This uses `shil.Invocation` and returns `shil.InvocationResponse`.

```pycon
>>> import shil
>>> req = cmd = shil.Invocation(command='printf hello-world\n')
>>> resp = cmd()
>>> print(resp.stdout)
hello-world
>>>
```

### Functional approach to dispatch

Use `shil.invoke`, get back `shil.InvocationResponse`

```pycon
>>> import shil
>>> resp = shil.invoke(command='printf hello-world\n')
>>> print(resp.stdout)
hello-world
>>>
```

### Loading data when command-output is JSON

```pycon
>>> import shil
>>> cmd = shil.Invocation(command="""echo '{"foo":"bar"}'""", load_json=True)
>>> resp = cmd()
>>> print(resp.data)
{'foo': 'bar'}
>>> assert type(resp.data) == type({})
>>> assert resp.data['foo'] == 'bar'
>>>
```

### Serialization with Pydantic

```pycon
>>> import json, shil
>>> req = cmd = shil.Invocation(command="""echo pipes-are-allowed|grep allowed""")
>>> resp = cmd()
>>> keys = resp.dict().keys()
>>> expected = 'stdout stderr failed failure success succeeded data'.split()
>>> assert all([k in keys for k in expected])
>>>
```

### Caller determines logging

Works like this with basic logger:

```pycon
>>> import logging, shil
>>> logger = logging.getLogger()
>>> resp = shil.invoke('ls /tmp', command_logger=logger.critical, output_logger=logger.warning)
>>>
```

Supports using [rich-logger](https://rich.readthedocs.io/en/stable/logging.html) too:

```pycon
>>> import shil
>>> from rich.console import Console
>>> console = Console(stderr=True)
>>> resp = shil.invoke('ls /tmp', command_logger=console.log)
>>>
```

### Rich-console Support

Besides using rich-logger as above, you can use the [rich-protocol](https://rich.readthedocs.io/en/stable/protocol.html) more directly.

Printing works the way you'd expect for `Invocation` and `InvocationResponse`.

```pycon
>>> import shil, rich
>>> req = cmd = shil.Invocation(command='echo {"foo":"bar"}')
>>> resp = cmd()
>>> rich.print(req)
>>> rich.print(resp)
```
By default, output looks roughly like this:

![rich console](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/elo-enterprises/shil/master/img/rich-1.png)
<br/>
![rich console](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/elo-enterprises/shil/master/img/rich-2.png)

### Stay DRY with Runners

Runner's are basically just [partials](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_application) on `shil.invoke`.  It's simple but this can help reduce copying around repetitive configuration.

```pycon
>>> import shil
>>> from rich.console import Console
>>> console=Console(stderr=True)
>>> runner = shil.Runner(output_logger=console.log, command_logger=console.log)
>>> resp = runner('ls /tmp')
>>> assert isinstance(resp,(shil.InvocationResult,))
>>>
```