Let Bali run commands with the Shell tool

With the Shell tool, Bali can run commands in your project folder, the same way you would in a terminal. It uses this to install packages, run builds and tests, search files and automate repetitive tasks, especially in web projects.

The Shell tool is new and still evolving. You stay in control: Bali asks before running commands that could change things.

Approve commands

When Bali wants to run a command, a Shell Approval Required card appears in the chat showing the exact command. Read it, then:

• Click Approve Once to run it this time.
• Click Deny to stop it.
• To skip the prompt next time, open Remember approval and choose to remember it for this session, this project or all projects.

Only approve commands you recognize

Shell commands can change or delete files on your computer. If you’re not sure what a command does, click Deny and ask Bali to explain it first.

Some read-only commands run without asking, such as listing files, reading a file, searching with grep, checking a program’s version, and viewing git status, git diff or git log.

How commands run

• Commands always run in the current project’s folder, even if you switch between projects.
• Commands that run too long are stopped after the timeout. The default is 30 seconds.
• When a command prints a lot of output, Bali sees a shortened version, and the full output is saved to a log file in the project.

Choose your shell

Studio detects a shell automatically:

Your computer	Studio uses the first one it finds
Windows	Git Bash (or another bash), then PowerShell 7, then Windows PowerShell
Mac	bash, then zsh

To change it, open Settings → Shell. You’ll see your Current OS and the Resolved shell Studio is using.

Setting	What it does
Shell mode	Auto detects a shell for you. Custom executable lets you pick one.
Shell family	bash, zsh, PowerShell or custom
Executable and Args	The program to run and any arguments, for a custom shell
Default timeout (ms)	How long a command can run before it’s stopped. Up to 300,000 ms (5 minutes).

Click Save shell settings when you’re done.

Approvals can’t be remembered for custom shells, or for commands that run script files, so Studio asks every time.

On Windows?

Studio prefers bash when it’s available. To get it, install Git for Windows, which includes Git Bash.

Manage saved approvals

• All projects: Settings → Shell lists the commands you’ve approved for all projects.
• One project: open Project Settings → AI Settings → Project Shell to see Project Approvals. Here you can also turn off Inherit global shell settings to give the project its own shell settings.