Windows Terminal Ultimate Overhaul: PowerShell 7, Nushell, and Git Bash Coexistence Guide

1. Introduction: Why Is My Terminal Such a Mess?

When developing on Windows, we tend to accumulate a pile of shells that don’t talk to each other:

• CMD — Ancient, but some old scripts depend on it.
• PowerShell 5.1 — Built-in, good compatibility.
• PowerShell 7 — Cross-platform, powerful, the modern productivity workhorse.
• Git Bash — For the GNU toolchain (grep, sed, awk) and SSH.
• Nushell — A new structured shell, replacing traditional ls and find.

The pain point: they’re isolated from each other. Packages installed in Git Bash are invisible to PowerShell; variables set in PowerShell are unknown to Nushell. This article shares how to integrate these shells into a non-interfering yet interoperable efficient environment.

2. Baseline: Know Your Current State

3. Core Challenge: Cross-Shell Calls and PATH Conflicts

3.1 Path Format Differences

• PowerShell/Nu: C:\Users\...
• Git Bash: /c/Users/...

3.2 Command Resolution

Running nu directly in Git Bash may fail because Scoop’s shims directory isn’t in Git Bash’s PATH.

3.3 Solution: Wrappers and Aliases

PowerShell 7 Profile:

function global:bash {
    $bashPath = "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe"
    if (Test-Path $bashPath) {
        & $bashPath @args
    } else {
        Write-Error "Git Bash not found at $bashPath"
    }
}

Nushell config.nu:

def bash [...args: string] {
    ^"C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe" ...$args
}

4. Windows Terminal Configuration

{
    "profiles": {
        "list": [
            { "name": "PowerShell 7", "commandline": "pwsh.exe" },
            { "name": "Nushell", "commandline": "nu.exe" },
            { "name": "Git Bash", "commandline": "\"C:\\Program Files\\Git\\bin\\bash.exe\" --login -i" }
        ]
    }
}

5. PATH Management Strategy

5.1 System-Level PATH

Add to user environment variables:

C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\
C:\Users\user\scoop\shims\
C:\Program Files\Git\bin\
C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\

5.2 Shell-Specific Paths

Nushell config.nu:

$env.PATH = ($env.PATH | split row (char esep) | prepend [
    'C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7',
    'C:\Users\user\scoop\shims',
    'C:\Program Files\Git\bin',
])

6. Pitfall Memo

Pitfall 1: Git Bash PATH Truncation

Git Bash truncates the Windows PATH on startup. Append Windows paths explicitly in ~/.bashrc:

export PATH="$PATH:/c/Users/user/scoop/shims"

Pitfall 2: Nushell PATH Is a List

$env.PATH in Nushell is a List type, not a string. Use split row and append/prepend.

Pitfall 3: PowerShell 7 Execution Policy

Set to RemoteSigned to load your profile:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser