Shell

The Shell class runs shell commands within a jiki container. It parses command strings, resolves executables, and manages process I/O.

The shell supports standard Unix-like syntax including pipes, logical operators, and environment variable expansion. Commands are executed against the virtual filesystem and kernel, so tools like node, npm, and npx work as expected.

Methods

Method	Description
`execute(command)`	Execute a shell command string
`spawn(command, args?, options?)`	Spawn a long-running process

Execute result

The execute() method returns a promise that resolves with the command’s result:

interface ShellResult {
  exitCode: number;
  stdout: string;
  stderr: string;
}

Spawn

For long-running processes like dev servers, use spawn() which returns a process handle with streaming I/O:

const proc = await container.shell.spawn("npm", ["run", "dev"]);

proc.stdout.on("data", chunk => {
  console.log(chunk);
});

await proc.exit; // wait for process to finish