oils-for-unix/oils
Oils is our upgrade path from bash to a better language and runtime. It's also for Python and JavaScript users who avoid shell! observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
70/100
- Activity 85
- Release rhythm 35
- Longevity 100
Flags: no_releases no_license
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: n/a
- age_days: 3578
- days_rel: n/a
- days_push: 94
- n_releases_24m: 0
Adoption not part of the score
3385 stars · 195 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded
Oils is a Unix shell project providing OSH, a bash-compatible shell that runs existing scripts, and YSH, a modern shell language for users who prefer Python/JavaScript-style programming. It is written in typed Python and translated to a fast, small C++ binary that does not depend on Python.
Use cases
- run existing bash scripts with better error messages
- migrate shell scripts to a safer language
- parse and manipulate JSON from the command line
- write shell scripts with real data types and error handling
- replace bash with a modern Unix shell
- avoid shell quirks when scripting in Python or JavaScript
When to choose
- you maintain legacy bash scripts and want a drop-in upgrade path
- you want shell scripting with JSON, dicts, and proper error handling
- you need a small, fast shell binary without Python dependencies
When to avoid
- you need POSIX sh strict compliance for minimal embedded systems
- your team is fully invested in zsh/fish interactive features
- you only need a one-off script and learning a new language isn't worth it
Facets
application · maturity active
interpreter programming-language cli parser programming-languages developer-tools cli python cpp shell osh ysh bash-compatibility unix-shell json command-line automation linux macos
5 sources
- readme: https://github.com/oils-for-unix/oils · fetched 2026-08-28 · dac0f5001d62
- homepage: https://oils.pub/ · fetched 2026-08-29 · 7e9478e966e8
- site_page: https://oils.pub/release/latest · fetched 2026-08-29 · 17910482b261
- site_page: https://oils.pub/release/latest/doc/published.html · fetched 2026-08-29 · 00cdf38d0a15
- site_page: https://oils.pub/releases.html · fetched 2026-08-29 · 3ed3cf21abc2
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| oils-for-unix/oils | main | 70 |
For agents
markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="oils-for-unix/oils")
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem