whi

whi is a smarter which that also lets you rearrange your current shell’s PATH safely. Install the shell integration once, run the high level commands (prefer, move, switch, clean, delete, diff, save), and grab the helper shortcuts if you like terse aliases.

Heads up: mutation commands only run after the integration exports WHI_SHELL_INITIALIZED=1. If you see the integration warning, run the snippet for your shell and add it to your config for persistence.

Install & Integrate

cargo install whi

Pick the snippet for your shell and paste it into a terminal. Add the same line to your shell config so it runs on startup.

# Bash
eval "$(whi init bash)"      # add to ~/.bashrc (or the file you source)

# Zsh
eval "$(whi init zsh)"       # add to ~/.zshrc

# Fish
whi init fish | source        # add to ~/.config/fish/config.fish

The snippet defines helper functions and exports WHI_SHELL_INITIALIZED=1 so the whi binary knows it is safe to mutate the live PATH.

Core Commands

All of these operate on the current shell session. Each command prints the updated PATH; the integration captures the string and updates PATH for you.

# Prefer a specific executable or add a path
whi prefer cargo 5
whi prefer cargo ~/.cargo/bin
whi prefer cargo github release
whi prefer ~/.local/bin

# Move and swap entries by index (1-based)
whi move 12 1
whi switch 4 9

# Clean duplicates, delete entries
whi clean
whi delete 3 9
whi delete ~/.local/bin
whi delete build temp

# Inspect and persist PATH state
whi diff              # current shell
whi diff zsh          # another shell
whi diff full         # shorthand for --full
whi save              # current shell
whi save fish         # explicit
whi save all          # every shell

Querying executables

whi node                 # show the first match (with PATH index)
whi --all node           # list every match
whi --full node          # list matches, then highlight PATH entries
whi --path "custom:path" python

Useful flags:

• -a/--all
• -f/--full
• -l/--follow-symlinks
• -s/--stat
• -0/--print0
• -q/--quiet
• --silent
• --color <auto|never|always>
• --path <PATH>

whi --help shows the verbs (diff, save, prefer, move, switch, clean, delete). The integration intercepts those public names and rewrites them to the hidden __… subcommands that actually mutate the environment.

Helper Shortcuts

These are defined by the integration and map directly to the core commands:

whip cargo github release    # -> whi prefer ...
whim 12 1                    # -> whi move ...
whis 4 9                     # -> whi switch ...
whic                         # -> whi clean
whid 3 9                     # -> whi delete ...
whia python                  # -> whi --all python

Use whichever spelling you prefer—both routes converge in Rust.

Persistence & Logs

• Saved PATH files live in ~/.whi/ (saved_path_bash, saved_path_zsh, saved_path_fish). whi save all refreshes all three. Each save creates a *.bak backup before overwriting.
• Session logs live in ${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR:-$TMPDIR}/whi-<uid>/session_<ppid>.log. They track explicit moves/deletions so whi diff can distinguish explicit vs. implicit changes. When more than 30 logs accumulate, the oldest ones are pruned automatically.

Notes

• Mutating commands exit with an instructional message if the integration is missing. Copy the snippet shown (or the table above), run it, and add it to your shell config for future sessions.
• If you want to script against whi directly, capture stdout and export the string yourself. The integration just automates that for interactive use.

License

MIT