| # Default shell | |
| ## Setting Nu as default shell on your terminal | |
| | Terminal | Platform | Instructions | | |
| | :--------------: | ------------ | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: | | |
| | GNOME Terminal | Linux & BSDs | Open `Edit > Preferences`. In the right-hand panel, select the `Command` tab, tick `Run a custom command instead of my shell`, and set `Custom command` to the path to Nu. | | |
| | GNOME Console | Linux & BSDs | Type the command `gsettings set org.gnome.Console shell "['/usr/bin/nu']"` (replace `/usr/bin/nu` with the path to Nu). Equivalently, use [dconf Editor](https://apps.gnome.org/DconfEditor/) to edit the `/org/gnome/Console/shell` key. | | |
| | Kitty | Linux & BSDs | Press `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`F2` to open `kitty.conf`. Go to `shell` variable, uncomment the line and replace the `.` with the path to Nu. | | |
| | Konsole | Linux & BSDs | Open `Settings > Edit Current Profile`. Set `Command` to the path to Nu. | | |
| | XFCE Terminal | Linux & BSDs | Open `Edit > Preferences`. Check `Run a custom command instead of my shell`, and set `Custom command` to the path to Nu. | | |
| | Terminal.app | macOS | Open `Terminal > Preferences`. Ensure you are on the `Profiles` tab, which should be the default tab. In the right-hand panel, select the `Shell` tab. Tick `Run command`, put the path to Nu in the textbox, and untick `Run inside shell`. | | |
| | iTerm2 | macOS | Open `iTerm > Preferences`. Select the `Profiles` tab. In the right-hand panel under `Command`, change the dropdown from `Login Shell` to `Custom Shell`, and put the path to Nu in the textbox. | | |
| | Windows Terminal | Windows | Press `Ctrl`+`,` to open `Settings`. Go to `Add a new profile > New empty profile`. Fill in the 'Name' and enter path to Nu in the 'Command line' textbox. Go to `Startup` option and select Nu as the 'Default profile'. Hit `Save`. | | |
| ## Setting Nu as login shell (Linux, BSD & macOS) | |
| ::: warning | |
| Nu is still in development and is not intended to be POSIX compliant. | |
| Be aware that some programs on your system might assume that your login shell is [POSIX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSIX) compatible. | |
| Breaking that assumption can lead to unexpected issues. | |
| ::: | |
| To set the login shell you can use the [`chsh`](https://linux.die.net/man/1/chsh) command. | |
| Some Linux distributions have a list of valid shells located in `/etc/shells` and will disallow changing the shell until Nu is in the whitelist. | |
| You may see an error similar to the one below if you haven't updated the `shells` file: | |
| @[code](@snippets/installation/chsh_invalid_shell_error.sh) | |
| You can add Nu to the list of allowed shells by appending your Nu binary to the `shells` file. | |
| The path to add can be found with the command `which nu`, usually it is `$HOME/.cargo/bin/nu`. | |