# michaelmacinnis/oh

A new Unix shell.

Repository: https://github.com/michaelmacinnis/oh
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/michaelmacinnis-oh
Language: Go
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: unix, shell, scheme, language, scripting-language, command-line, functional, interpreter, concurrent
Last push: 2023-09-19T17:46:30+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5587, "days_push": 1079, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1384, forks 55 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:34.717968+00:00)

## What it is
Oh is a new Unix shell written in Go that reimagines shell design with a Scheme-inspired language featuring first-class channels, pipes, environments, and functions. It aims to fix historical flaws in traditional Unix shells while respecting established shell conventions.

## Use cases
- replace bash with a modern shell language
- write shell scripts with lists and rich return values
- use a shell with lexical scope and exceptions
- script with first-class channels and concurrency
- define new shell language constructs with fexprs

## When to choose
- you want a more regular, powerful shell language than POSIX shells
- you need lists, lexical scope, and rich return values in shell scripts
- you like Scheme-style languages for scripting

## When to avoid
- you need full POSIX/bash compatibility for existing scripts
- you need a shell with a large community and ecosystem
- you want a shell that is actively and rapidly developed

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: maintenance
- function: interpreter, programming-language, cli
- domain: programming-languages, operating-systems, developer-tools
- platform: bsd, cross-platform, cli
- tags: unix-shell, scheme-inspired, shell-scripting, functional-programming, concurrency, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- michaelmacinnis/oh (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:34.717968+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:39:59.265237+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/michaelmacinnis/oh (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:34.717968+00:00, sha 26acb44d412a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.