The Path › Chapter 9 of 9
The omnibox
your terminal answers you
Teach
The shell's one answer
A shell has exactly one response to a line it doesn't recognize: command not found. So every time you want to look something up — what is the hash of this commit, what does this API need, how does time work on this machine — you leave the terminal and reach for a browser, losing the directory, the environment and the session you were in. The omnibox makes that line reach an agent instead, so you stay.
It is a hook, not a new shell
This is not a new shell language. It is a hook that installs into your existing shell — PowerShell, bash or zsh — so your terminal stays your terminal. Your directory, your environment variables, your history, the session you are in: they are all still there. The omnibox just intercepts the moment before command not found and asks an agent instead.
Scripts stay silent
Every script tests whether a tool is installed by running get-command <name> or which <name>. Without a guard, every test would fire an agent request, invisibly, and those requests would be billed. So the hook fires only on lines a human types at the prompt — not on probes made from inside a script or function. A tool check returns command not found the normal way; your question typed at the prompt gets an answer.
Do
Type each line, press Enter, and compare with what you should see.
npm i -g @aitherium/awsh
You should see: awsh and aither on your PATH
If not: Needs Node.js (nodejs.org, LTS). Open a new terminal after installing it.
awsh init
You should see: 'installed in <your shell profile>' - it works in PowerShell, bash and zsh
If not: If it says the profile is not writable, it prints the exact line to add by hand. That line is the whole feature.
awsh doctor
You should see: a measured miss time well under the budget it prints
If not: A slow miss names the PATH entry causing it (usually a huge directory on PSModulePath). Remove that entry; it is costing every typo a minute.
what time is it
You should see: an answer, where 'command not found' used to be
If not: Open a NEW terminal - the hook installs into the profile, and the profile loads at start.
Check you are done
awsh doctor
You should see: omnibox OK
What you learned
- The shell has exactly one response to a line it does not know; now that line reaches an agent instead.
- It is a shell hook (CommandNotFound), not a new shell - your terminal, your directory, your environment.
- Probes made by scripts are ignored on purpose; only what a human types at the prompt is answered.