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fdncred merged 2 commits into from
Dec 8, 2025
Merged

Add “Coming from PowerShell” guide to the Nushell Book #2091

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Create coming_from_powershell.md
luk3953 Dec 7, 2025
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luk3953 Dec 7, 2025
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1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions .vuepress/configs/sidebar/en.ts
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Expand Up @@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ export const sidebarEn: SidebarConfig = {
children: [
'/book/coming_from_bash.md',
'/book/coming_from_cmd.md',
'/book/coming_from_powershell.md',
'/book/nushell_map.md',
'/book/nushell_map_imperative.md',
'/book/nushell_map_functional.md',
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67 changes: 67 additions & 0 deletions book/coming_from_powershell.md
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@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
# Coming from PowerShell

::: tip
PowerShell pipelines pass rich **.NET objects**, which allow property access like `$process.Name` or piping objects directly into cmdlets that understand them.

Nushell pipelines, by contrast, pass **structured data** such as tables, lists, and values.
This means:

- No `.PropertyName` access
- Use `get column`, `select`, `$it.column`, or table operations instead
- Commands always receive predictable structured input, not strings or .NET types
:::


## Command Equivalents:

| PowerShell | Nu | Task |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `Get-ChildItem` | `ls` | List files in current directory |
| `Get-ChildItem <dir>` | `ls <dir>` | List files in given directory |
| `Get-ChildItem pattern*` | `ls pattern*` | Pattern-match files |
| `Get-ChildItem -Force -File -Hidden` | `ls --long --all` or `ls -la` | Detailed listing including hidden files |
| `Get-ChildItem \| Where-Object { $_.PSIsContainer }` | `ls \| where type == dir` | List directories only |
| `Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter *.rs` | `ls **/*.rs` | Recursive search for files |
| `Get-ChildItem -Recurse Makefile \| Select-Object -Expand Name` | `ls **/Makefile \| get name \| vim ...$in` | Pass matched paths to command |
| `Set-Location <dir>` | `cd <dir>` | Change directory |
| `Set-Location` | `cd` | Go to home directory |
| `Set-Location -` | `cd -` | Go to previous directory |
| `New-Item -ItemType Directory <path>` | `mkdir <path>` | Create a directory |
| `New-Item test.txt` | `touch test.txt` | Create a file |
| `command \| Out-File <path>` | `out> <path>` or `o> <path>` | Save output to file (raw) |
| `command \| Set-Content <path>` | `\| save <path>` | Save output to file (structured) |
| `command \| Out-File -Append <path>` | `out>> <path>` or `o>> <path>` | Append output to file |
| | `\| save --append <path>` | Append structured output |
| `command \| Out-Null` | `\| ignore` | Discard output |
| `cmd1 \| Tee-Object -FilePath log.txt \| cmd2` | `cmd1 \| tee { save log.txt } \| cmd2` | Tee output to file |
| `command \| Select-Object -First 5` | `command \| first 5` | Limit output to first N rows |
| `Get-Content <path>` | `open --raw <path>` | Display file contents |
| `Move-Item <source> <dest>` | `mv <source> <dest>` | Move file |
| `Get-ChildItem *.md \| ForEach-Object { $_.Name }` | `ls *.md \| each { $in.name }` | Iterate list values |
| `foreach ($i in 1..10) { $i }` | `for i in 1..10 { print $i }` | Loop over range |
| `Copy-Item <source> <dest>` | `cp <source> <dest>` | Copy file |
| `Copy-Item -Recurse <source> <dest>` | `cp -r <source> <dest>` | Copy directory recursively |
| `Remove-Item <path>` | `rm <path>` | Remove file |
| | `rm -t <path>` | Move file to trash |
| `Remove-Item -Recurse -Force <path>` | `rm -r <path>` | Remove directory recursively |
| `Get-Date "<date>"` | `"<date>" \| into datetime -f <format>` | Parse date |
| `"<str>" -replace 'a','b'` | `str replace "a" "b"` | Replace substrings |
| `Select-String <pattern>` | `where $it =~ <pattern>` or `find <pattern>` | Search text |
| `Get-Help <command>` | `help <command>` | Get command help |
| `Get-Command` | `help commands` | List all commands |
| `Get-Command "*<string>*"` | `help --find <string>` | Search commands |
| `command1; if ($?) { command2 }` | `command1; command2` | Run second command only if first succeeds |
| `/tmp/$((Get-Random))` | `$"/tmp/(random int)"` | String interpolation |
| `$env:Path` | `$env.PATH` or `$env.Path` | Show PATH |
| `$LASTEXITCODE` | `$env.LAST_EXIT_CODE` | Exit code of last external command |
| `$env:PATH += ":/usr/bin"` | `$env.PATH = ($env.PATH \| append /usr/bin)` | Update PATH (temporary) |
| `Get-ChildItem Env:` | `$env` | List environment variables |
| `$env:FOO` | `$env.FOO` | Access environment variable |
| `Remove-Item Env:FOO` | `hide-env FOO` | Unset environment variable |
| `Set-Alias s "git status -sb"` | `alias s = git status -sb` | Temporary alias |
| `Get-Command FOO` | `which FOO` | Inspect command / alias / binary |
| `powershell -Command "<commands>"` | `nu -c <commands>` | Run inline pipeline |
| `.\script.ps1` | `nu <script file>` | Run script file |
| `Get-Location` or `$PWD` | `pwd` or `$env.PWD` | Show current directory |
| `Read-Host` | `let var = input` | Read user input |
| `Read-Host -AsSecureString` | `let secret = input -s` | Read secret input |