Configure Copilot CLI on Windows to stop using Powershell (only use git bash)?

[HerrDerb]

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I want to use copilot cli on my windows 11 computer. By default, I am using git bash as terminal.
Even when starting copilot cli within a git bash, it keeps executing power shell commands instead of bash commands, and I didn't find a way to change this behaviour.

How can i configure copilot cli to only use git bash?

[devJV899]

Hi,

This behavior happens because on Windows many CLI tools (including Copilot CLI) detect PowerShell as the default shell, even if the command is launched from Git Bash. In practice, the tool often falls back to powershell.exe when spawning commands.

If you want Copilot CLI to consistently run commands using Git Bash, there are a few approaches that usually work.

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1. Run Copilot CLI explicitly inside Git Bash

Make sure Copilot is installed in the same environment and start it from a Git Bash session:

copilot

If the CLI internally spawns commands, you can explicitly invoke them through bash:

bash -lc "<command>"

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2. Ensure Git Bash is the active shell

Some tools rely on environment variables to determine the shell. In Git Bash you can verify:

echo $SHELL

It should return something like:

/usr/bin/bash

If not, you can force it in your profile (~/.bashrc):

export SHELL=/usr/bin/bash

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3. Use Windows Terminal with Git Bash as default

If you are using Windows Terminal, set Git Bash as the default profile:

https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/terminal/customize-settings/profile-general

This helps prevent tools from defaulting to PowerShell when launching new shell sessions.

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4. (Optional) Force commands through bash

If Copilot generates commands that default to PowerShell syntax, you can pipe them to bash explicitly:

copilot suggest | bash

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Notes

Currently there is no official Copilot CLI configuration option to globally force a specific shell on Windows, so behavior depends on how the CLI detects the runtime environment.

If GitHub adds a configuration flag in the future (for example something like copilot config shell=bash), that would be the cleanest solution.

[Shubrathshetty]

Open your ~/.bashrc file in Git Bash:
echo 'export SHELL=/usr/bin/bash' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
Now copilot CLI will detect Git Bash as your shell and generate bash commands instead of PowerShell ones.

[itxashancode]

Set the SHELL environment variable to point to your Git Bash bash.exe. Copilot CLI uses this to determine the shell.

In Git Bash, run this to set it for the current session:

export SHELL="C:/Program Files/Git/bin/bash.exe"
copilot

For a permanent fix, add that export line to your ~/.bashrc file. You must also set the system environment variable SHELL to the same path through Windows Environment Variables settings, because Copilot CLI might spawn a new process that doesn't inherit your Git Bash session variables.

The exact path can vary. In Git Bash, run which bash to confirm the path. It's often C:/Program Files/Git/bin/bash.exe or C:/Program Files/Git/usr/bin/bash.exe.

After setting, verify in Git Bash with echo $SHELL. If Copilot CLI still uses PowerShell, it might be because the terminal emulator (like Windows Terminal) is configured to launch PowerShell by default for new tabs. Check your terminal's profile settings to ensure it starts Git Bash.

[simpleusr]

I tried all the solutions above. None of them worked.

I am on windows 11 and using GitHub Copilot CLI 1.0.35.

Below is the related output from copilot:

Let me use the standard PowerShell instead:Let me try with explicit mode and check available sessions:Let me try a simpler approach:It appears PowerShell 6+ (pwsh) is not installed on this system. Let me check what's available and view the file first:Now let me try running the commands using bash/cmd through a different approach. Let me check what shell environments are available by trying a direct command without the powershell wrapper:I apologize for the difficulty. The PowerShell tool requires PowerShell 6+ (pwsh) which is not installed on this system.

Any recommendations?

[simpleusr]

@Gecko51
So the key point is:
Copilot CLI 1.0.35 relies on pwsh for certain internal operations on Windows, even when the target shell is bash.
In my situation, I can not install pwsh so there is no point in trying to force copilot cli to use bash . I think it is the primary source of confusion for me and many others... I can not figure out a reason why any one would insist on using bash shell for copilot cli when they can freely use pwsh...

[sanperrier]

copilot CLI is pile of garbage ATM simply because of that stupid issue.
I have fully configured dev environment in bash, i don't want to install pwsh7 and configure it. The most infuriating thing - there is exactly zero reasons to use pwsh if cli is running in bash

[simpleusr]

@Gecko51 Thnx this seems to be a working solution...Best regards