Shell Integration

Shell integration wraps agent tool commands so they automatically use the active ARC profile. No need to call arc launch manually every time.

Setup

Run once to install shims and add the integration line to your shell profile:

arc setup

This:

1. Installs the arc shim into ~/.local/bin (or equivalent) and adds it to PATH
2. Appends the shell integration line to your shell's profile file
3. Detects your shell automatically

Open a new terminal after setup completes.

Manual Integration

bash / zsh

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
eval "$(arc shell-init)"

fish

# Add to ~/.config/fish/config.fish
arc shell-init --shell fish | source

PowerShell

# Add to your $PROFILE
arc shell-init --shell powershell | Out-String | Invoke-Expression

PowerShell Note

The | Out-String step is required. Piping a multi-line string directly to Invoke-Expression in PowerShell fails. Out-String collapses it to a single evaluable block.

How It Works

The integration installs shell functions that:

1. Call arc _resolve-config-dir to get the active profile's config directory
2. Set the appropriate env var (CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR, etc.) for the tool
3. Invoke the real tool binary with the original arguments
4. Clean up the env var after the process exits (PowerShell and fish)

Currently the claude wrapper is installed. Additional wrappers for gemini and codex follow as those tool integrations mature.

Shell Options

arc setup --shell bash        # Force bash integration
arc setup --shell zsh
arc setup --shell fish
arc setup --shell powershell
arc setup --no-shell          # Skip shell profile modification

Profile Resolution Order

When a tool command is invoked via the shell wrapper:

1. ARC_PROFILE env var (if set — useful for scripts)
2. Workspace arc.json (if present in cwd or parent)
3. Active profile in ~/.arc/config.json
4. No override (falls through to bare tool invocation)

Scripting with ARC_PROFILE

Set ARC_PROFILE to override which profile is used without modifying config.json:

ARC_PROFILE=work claude --help
ARC_PROFILE=gemini-work gemini --version

This works with both the shell wrapper and arc launch.

Subshell

Open a new shell with the profile's environment already active:

arc shell [name]

If name is omitted, the active profile is used. Exit normally (exit or Ctrl+D) to return.

Exec

Run any command with a profile's environment variables injected, without launching the agent tool:

arc exec <name> -- <command> [args...]

# Examples
arc exec work -- claude --help
arc exec work -- env | grep CLAUDE
arc exec aws -- aws sts get-caller-identity

Useful for scripts, CI pipelines, or any tool that reads auth env vars.