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Interactive Shell And History

Goal

Use the REPL when interactive exploration is faster than retyping commands in a new shell process every time, and use bijux history when you need to inspect or reset the persisted command log outside the REPL.

flowchart TD
    A[CLI mode] --> B{Need repeated exploration?}
    B -->|No| C[Stay in normal CLI]
    B -->|Yes| D[Open repl]
    D --> E[Run commands]
    E --> F[Use history and session controls]

This flowchart shows when the REPL is the right tool. It is for repeated, interactive exploration, not for replacing the normal CLI in automation or single-command workflows.

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as User
    participant R as REPL
    U->>R: bijux repl
    U->>R: status
    R-->>U: command output
    U->>R: :set format json
    U->>R: doctor
    R-->>U: JSON output

The sequence diagram demonstrates the main advantage of the REPL: you can keep one session open, change session-local settings, and rerun commands without rebuilding shell pipelines each time.

Start The REPL

bijux repl

Useful session controls:

  • :help <command>
  • :set format json|yaml|text
  • :set quiet on|off
  • :set trace on|off
  • :exit

History And Repetition

For persisted command history, use the dedicated CLI surface:

bijux history
bijux history --limit 50
bijux history --filter status
bijux history --sort timestamp
bijux history clear --force

bijux history returns the stored command entries plus a summary object when you request structured output. The summary tells you whether a filter was applied, which sort mode was used, how many entries were returned, and whether invalid entries were dropped while reading the file.

The REPL is useful when:

  • you are exploring several related commands
  • you want consistent session-local formatting
  • you want command history without rebuilding shell pipelines repeatedly

The history command is useful when:

  • you want to inspect recent commands without opening the REPL
  • you need a script-safe JSON or YAML record of recent command activity
  • you need to reset a corrupted history file with bijux history clear --force

Honest Limit

The REPL follows the same command law as the CLI, but it is still an interactive shell. For automation, use normal CLI invocations with explicit output formats. The history log is operational state, not an audit ledger or a durable event store.

Where To Go Deeper