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Native Windows Linux-style commands | ~900KB single binary | No WSL required | Windows commands and Linux-style filters work together

WinuxCmd is built for one practical goal: make common Linux command workflows work naturally on Windows terminals.

• Native Windows executable (winuxcmd.exe), no WSL required
• Linux-style commands and flags (ls, grep, sed, ps, lsof, ...)
• Fast startup and small footprint
• Works well with AI-generated shell commands
• Cross-tool pipelines between Windows and Linux-style commands

irm https://dl.caomengxuan666.com/install.ps1 | iex

1. Download from Releases
2. Extract to any folder
3. Enter bin and run:

.\create_links.ps1

Optional:

.\create_links.ps1 -UseSymbolicLinks
.\create_links.ps1 -Remove

winuxcmd ls -la
winuxcmd grep -n "TODO" README.md
winuxcmd help
winuxcmd help sort

After links are created, you can call commands directly:

ls -la
grep -n "TODO" README.md

• Entered from PowerShell/pwsh: unknown commands fallback through PowerShell
• Entered from cmd: unknown commands fallback through cmd
• PowerShell completion entries (for example Get-Process, Where-Object) are enabled only in PowerShell sessions

FFI is kept in the tree for future experimentation, but it is not part of the default build or release path right now.

• Default builds keep BUILD_FFI=OFF
• Release-oriented modes force FFI off
• No FFI binary is shipped in the current release flow

The headers and example remain in the repo for reference, but treat them as inactive unless you are explicitly reviving that path locally.

Use the repository-local activation scripts when you want WinuxCmd available inside this folder without touching global PATH:

.\scripts\activate-workspace.ps1
man.exe ls
winuxcmd.exe help

For persistent interactive shells, install the optional user profile hook:

.\scripts\install-workspace-profile-hook.ps1

The local guidance for AI usage lives in skills/winuxcmd/SKILL.md. GitHub releases also publish a standalone WinuxCmd-skill-v<version>.zip bundle alongside the Windows binaries.

Add this to your PowerShell profile ($PROFILE) to auto-enter WinuxCmd for interactive terminal sessions:

# Automatically entering winuxcmd REPL env.
$cliArgs = [Environment]::GetCommandLineArgs() | ForEach-Object { $_.ToLowerInvariant() }
$isNonInteractiveLaunch = ($cliArgs -contains '-command') -or ($cliArgs -contains '-c') -or ($cliArgs -contains '-file') -or ($cliArgs -contains '-f')
$isRealTerminal = $env:WT_SESSION -or $env:TERM_PROGRAM
if ($Host.Name -eq 'ConsoleHost' -and -not $isNonInteractiveLaunch `
    -and $env:WINUXCMD_BOOTSTRAPPED -ne '1' -and $isRealTerminal) {
    $env:WINUXCMD_BOOTSTRAPPED = '1'
    $winuxExe = (Get-Command winuxcmd -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).Source
    if (-not $winuxExe) {
        $devExe = 'your\winuxcmd.exe\path'  # replace with your local path
        if (Test-Path $devExe) {
            $winuxExe = $devExe
        }
    }
    if ($winuxExe -and (Test-Path $winuxExe)) {
        & $winuxExe
    }
}

Replace $devExe with the actual local path to your winuxcmd.exe.

Using a registry AutoRun hook for cmd is risky: it also affects background usages such as cmd /c and Run dialog launches, and can force unexpected interactive WinuxCmd sessions.

Recommended approach:

• If you entered from plain cmd, manually run winuxcmd to enter the completion-enabled interactive environment.
• Avoid cmd AutoRun registry hooks: they also affect non-interactive/background calls such as cmd /c.
• Prefer Windows Terminal, and launch cmd with:

%SystemRoot%\System32\cmd.exe /k winuxcmd

WinuxCmd supports user-defined completion entries.

• Default file: %USERPROFILE%\.winuxcmd\completions\user-completions.txt
• Override path via env var: WINUXCMD_COMPLETION_FILE

Example format:

cmd|git|Distributed version control
opt|git|pull|Fetch from and integrate with another repository

Template file:

• scripts/user-completions.sample.txt

netstat -ano | grep 8080
tasklist | grep -i chrome
ipconfig | grep -i "ipv4"
ps -ef | grep winuxcmd

139 commands are currently implemented, including wildcard (glob) support for 48 commands:

• ls, cat, grep, sed, head, tail, sort, wc, cut, rm, stat, md5sum, find, tree, and more
• Wildcard patterns: *, ?, [abc], [a-z] character classes
• Cross-shell pipelines: netstat -ano | grep 8080 works out of the box

See full compatibility and option details:

• Command Compatibility Matrix (EN)
• 命令兼容性矩阵 (ZH)

Full execution benchmark (startup + execution + exit), 1000-file directory, 20 runs per command.

Summary:

• WinuxCmd wins in 7/8 commands
• Average time: WinuxCmd 6.28ms vs uutils 6.85ms
• Overall: about 1.09x faster

Benchmark details and notes:

• Build Modes
• Custom Containers and Benchmarks

• Stabilize Linux-style core commands on Windows
• Improve REPL fallback correctness for cmd/PowerShell
• Keep binary size and startup performance targets

• Better completion relevance and ranking
• More compatibility fixes for mixed Windows/Linux pipelines
• Improved test coverage for shell-edge scenarios

• Better integration docs and templates
• Contributor tooling and automation improvements
• Long-term cross-platform abstraction planning

A: No. WinuxCmd complements PowerShell. Use whichever syntax is best for the task.

A: Unknown commands are intentionally routed to the parent shell environment for compatibility.

A: Yes. Use %USERPROFILE%\.winuxcmd\completions\user-completions.txt or set WINUXCMD_COMPLETION_FILE.

A: Windows handle/process visibility depends on privilege level. WinuxCmd degrades gracefully and reports partial-result warnings instead of crashing.

• Many users in daily usage scenarios
• Limited contributor capacity
• Strong need for focused, high-quality contributions

If you want to help, the most valuable areas are:

1. Bug fixes for shell compatibility
2. Test coverage for REPL/fallback behavior
3. Documentation clarity and examples

• CONTRIBUTING.md

• Overview (EN)
• Shell Integration (EN)
• 概览 (ZH)
• Shell 集成 (ZH)
• Build Modes
• Testing Framework

MIT License (c) 2026 caomengxuan666. See LICENSE.