carapace-sh Nushell Shell In-Depth Reference
Comprehensive reference for nushell shell internals, with emphasis on the completion system and how external tools hook into it.
Sub-Resources
Load the reference that matches your task. When in doubt, load multiple references.
| Keywords | Reference |
|---|---|
| NuCompleter, completer closure, spans, external completer, custom completion, @ syntax, completion algorithm, fuzzy, prefix, substring, NuMatcher, SemanticSuggestion, Suggestion struct, append_whitespace, completion_options, CommandCompletion, FileCompletion, FlagCompletion, CustomCompletion, CommandWideCompletion, context-aware completion, completion fallback, null fallback, carapace completer, fish completer, alias workaround, CARAPACE_LENIENT, max_results | references/completion.md |
| Reedline, Completer trait, Suggestion, Span, menu system, ColumnarMenu, ListMenu, DescriptionMenu, IdeMenu, menu layout, menu marker, menu style, menu keybindings, menu event, menu source, menu record, partial_complete, replace_in_buffer, MenuEvent, traversal direction, page_size, selection_rows, description_rows, only_buffer_difference | references/reedline.md |
| quoting, single quotes, double quotes, raw string, backtick, bare word, string interpolation, $'...', $"...", escape sequence, metacharacters, tilde expansion, path quoting, shlex, open quote, Patch | references/quoting.md |
| SyntaxShape, Type, Value, type system, CompleterWrapper, shape_filepath, shape_string, shape_flag, shape_internalcall, shape_external, type annotation, input/output types, subtyping, cell-path, record type, list type, table type, @ syntax, type-driven completion | references/types.md |
| extern, export extern, extern signature, flag completion, argument completion, subcommand completion, module-based extern, completion function, def completer, rest parameter, optional parameter, quoted command string, caret sigil, externs and modules | references/externs.md |
| $env.config, completions, external completer, completion algorithm, sort, case_sensitive, max_results, env.nu, config.nu, login.nu, autoload, NU_LIB_DIRS, startup order, XDG, default_config.nu, default_env.nu, vendor-autoload, user-autoload, config nu, config env | references/configuration.md |
| style, color, attr, fg, bg, color_config, shape_*, hex color, named color, abbreviation, light variant, background color, LS_COLORS, nu_ansi_term, style record, completion style, menu style, selected_text, description_text | references/style.md |
| pipeline, PipelineData, execution model, two-stage, parse, evaluate, external command, caret sigil, ExternalStream, ListStream, $in, input/output types, structured data, command search, module system, use, hide, export, submodule | references/execution.md |
Quick Guide
- How do I write a custom completer? → references/completion.md and references/externs.md
- How does the external completer closure work? → references/completion.md
- What are spans and how are they passed? → references/completion.md
- How do I configure the completion menu? → references/reedline.md
- How does Reedline handle completion display? → references/reedline.md
- How does quoting affect completions? → references/quoting.md
- What is SyntaxShape and how does it drive completions? → references/types.md
- How do I define extern commands with completions? → references/externs.md
- Which startup files does nushell read? → references/configuration.md
- How do I set up carapace as external completer? → references/completion.md
- How do completion styles and colors work? → references/style.md
- How does nushell execute commands and pipelines? → references/execution.md
- How do I handle alias completion? → references/completion.md
- What is the @ syntax for attaching completers? → references/types.md and references/externs.md
- How do I configure completion matching (fuzzy/prefix)? → references/completion.md
- How do I return styled completions? → references/completion.md and references/style.md
Cross-Project References
For carapace-specific nushell integration (snippet, patch phase, value formatting, style conversion), see the carapace-dev skill → references/shell-nushell.md.