pretty-please 0.1.0

The polite sudo.
Documentation

pls reruns your previous shell command with sudo prepended, while keeping the shell-specific history lookup where it belongs: in the shell you are currently using.

pls demo

Install

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/iamrajjoshi/pretty-please/releases/latest/download/pretty-please-installer.sh | sh

Windows PowerShell:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://github.com/iamrajjoshi/pretty-please/releases/latest/download/pretty-please-installer.ps1 | iex"
Method Command Status
Homebrew brew install iamrajjoshi/tap/pls wired through cargo-dist
Cargo cargo install pretty-please --bin pls available
Shell installer `curl ... sh`
PowerShell installer irm ... | iex generated on release
Nix nix run github:iamrajjoshi/pretty-please included via flake.nix
AUR yay -S pls-git included as packaging/aur/PKGBUILD
Scoop community manifest welcome not automated yet

Setup

Hook pls into your shell once so the zero-argument form can see your live, in-session command history.

echo 'eval "$(pls init zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc

echo 'eval "$(pls init bash)"' >> ~/.bashrc

pls init fish | source

Add-Content $PROFILE 'Invoke-Expression (& pls init pwsh)'

pls init nu | save --append ~/.config/nushell/config.nu

Usage

Rerun the last command with sudo:

$ mkdir /var/my-app
mkdir: /var/my-app: Permission denied
$ pls

Wrap an explicit command directly:

$ pls systemctl restart nginx

Print shell completions:

$ pls completions zsh > _pls

Compatibility

Shell macOS Linux Windows
bash yes yes via WSL/Git Bash
zsh yes yes via WSL
fish yes yes via WSL
pwsh yes yes yes
nu yes yes yes

pls assumes a sudo executable exists on PATH. If it does not, pls fails fast with a friendly error instead of guessing.

Why This Split Exists

The shell function handles one thing only: reading the most recent in-memory command from your current shell session. The Rust binary handles everything portable:

  • refusing shell builtins like cd or export
  • avoiding sudo sudo ...
  • skipping sudo when already root
  • printing init snippets and completions
  • staying tiny enough to ship as a single CLI binary

Comparison

Tool What it does well Why pls exists
sudo !! tiny bash/zsh trick shell-specific, brittle outside history-expansion shells
shell alias/function only zero dependencies hard to test, hard to distribute, hard to support across shells
thefuck broad command correction much heavier than a single "rerun with sudo" primitive
pls one job, cross-shell, tiny binary purpose-built for "that should have been sudo"

FAQ

Does pls work with pipes and redirects?
Mostly the same way a manual sudo <previous command> does: sudo only applies to the leftmost command in a pipeline. A shell-wrapped mode can come later.

Why not just alias sudo !!?
Because !! is not portable, history access differs wildly between shells, and distributing a tested cross-shell tool is nicer than copy-pasting five different dotfile snippets.

Why is the crate called pretty-please if the binary is pls?
Because pls is already taken on crates.io, while pretty-please stays publishable and still lets the installed command remain pls.

Development

cargo fmt --all
cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings
cargo test

The demo GIF is generated from demo.tape with VHS, and the release pipeline is powered by cargo-dist.

License

Licensed under either of:

at your option.