## Name

Shell - command language interpreter

## Synopsis

```**sh
$ Shell [--skip-shellrc] [--live-formatting]
$ Shell [--skip-shellrc] command_file [arguments...]
$ Shell [--skip-shellrc] -c command_string [arguments...]
$ Shell [--skip-shellrc] --format command_file
```

## Description

The `Shell` utility is a command language interpreter, which reads commands from either a command string, a specified file, or the standard input.
The command language shall be described in [`Shell`(5)](help://man/5/Shell), _The Shell Command Language_.

Any extra arguments passed into `arguments` are placed in the local variable `$ARGV` and can also be accessed through the special variable `$*`.

**NOTE**:

The `Shell` utility does not promise POSIX `sh` interoperability.

## Options

-   `-c`, `--command-string`: Executes the given string as a command and exits
-   `--skip-shellrc`: Skips running the initialization file (at `~/.shellrc`)
-   `--format`: Format shell code from the given file and print the result to standard output
-   `-f`, `--live-formatting`: Enable live formatting of the line editor buffer (in REPL mode)
-   `--keep-open`: Keep the shell open after running the specified command or file
-   `--posix`: Behave like a POSIX-compatible shell

## Examples

```sh
# Start an interactive REPL, ignoring the shellrc
Shell --skip-shellrc

# Execute a given string
Shell -c 'rm foo*'

# Execute the contents of a file with some arguments
Shell foo a b c
```

## See also

-   [`Shell-vars`(7)](help://man/7/Shell-vars) For details on local and environment variables used by the shell