# Elvish: Expressive Programming Language + Versatile Interactive Shell

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Elvish is an expressive programming language and a versatile interactive shell,
combined into one seamless package. It runs on Linux, BSDs, macOS and Windows.

Despite its pre-1.0 status, it is already suitable for most daily interactive
use.

User groups (all connected thanks to [Matrix](https://matrix.org)):
[![Gitter](https://img.shields.io/badge/gitter-elves/elvish-blue.svg?logo=gitter-white)](https://gitter.im/elves/elvish)
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## Documentation

Documentation for Elvish lives on the official website https://elv.sh,
including:

-   [Learning material](https://elv.sh/learn)

-   [Reference docs](https://elv.sh/ref), including the
    [language reference](https://elv.sh/ref/language.html),
    [the `elvish` command](https://elv.sh/ref/command.html), and all the modules
    in the standard library

-   [Blog posts](https://elv.sh/blog), including release notes

The source for the documentation is in the
[website](https://github.com/elves/elvish/tree/master/website) directory.

## Building Elvish

Most users do not need to build Elvish from source. Prebuilt binaries for the
latest commit are provided for
[Linux amd64](https://dl.elv.sh/linux-amd64/elvish-HEAD.tar.gz),
[macOS amd64](https://dl.elv.sh/darwin-amd64/elvish-HEAD.tar.gz),
[macOS arm64](https://dl.elv.sh/darwin-arm64/elvish-HEAD.tar.gz),
[Windows amd64](https://dl.elv.sh/windows-amd64/elvish-HEAD.zip) and
[many other platforms](https://elv.sh/get).

To build Elvish from source, you need

-   A supported OS: Linux, {Free,Net,Open}BSD, macOS, or Windows 10.

    **NOTE**: Windows 10 support is experimental.

-   Go >= 1.18.

To build Elvish from source, follow these steps:

```sh
# 1. Start from any directory you want to store Elvish's source code
# 2. Clone the Git repository
git clone https://github.com/elves/elvish
# 3. Change into the repository
cd elvish
# 4. Build and install Elvish
make get
```

This will install Elvish to `$GOBIN`, which defaults to `$GOPATH/bin` or
`~/go/bin` if `$GOPATH` is not set.

To install it elsewhere, override `ELVISH_MAKE_BIN` in the `make` command:

```sh
make get ELVISH_MAKE_BIN=./elvish # Install to the repo root
make get ELVISH_MAKE_BIN=/usr/local/bin/elvish # Install to /usr/local/bin
```

### Experimental plugin support

Elvish has experimental support for building and importing plugins, modules
written in Go.

However, since plugin support relies on dynamic linking, it is not enabled in
the official prebuilt binaries. You need to build Elvish from source, and make
sure that CGo is enabled:

```sh
make get CGO_ENABLED=1
```

To build a plugin, see this [example](https://github.com/elves/sample-plugin).

## Packaging Elvish

See [PACKAGING.md](PACKAGING.md) for notes for packagers.

## Contributing to Elvish

See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for notes for contributors.