vex

CLI tool to manage shell environment variables without re-sourcing, plus a curated binary toolkit.

Note: macOS and Linux only. Windows is not supported.

Setup

go generate ./...   # install mage
mage install        # build + install to ~/.bio/bin

Add to .zshrc or .bashrc:

eval "$(vex init)"

vex init always exports PI_TASKS=off as part of shell setup.

Environment Variables

vex set aws staging       # exports AWS_PROFILE=staging
vex unset aws             # unsets AWS_PROFILE
vex list                  # show all aliased vars and current values
vex aliases               # show alias → variable mappings

Aliases

Short aliases map to real environment variable names (hardcoded in aliases.go):

Alias	Variable
exa	EXA_API_KEY
openrouter	OPENROUTER_API_KEY
opencode	OPENCODE_API_KEY
synthetic	SYNTHETIC_API_KEY

State persists in ~/.vex/state.json and is replayed on shell startup.

Bin Directory

vex init creates an OS-dependent bin directory and adds it to $PATH:

OS	Path
macOS	~/.local/share/vex
Linux	$XDG_DATA_HOME/vex (defaults to ~/.local/share/vex)

vex path              # print the vex bin directory

Place scripts or binaries here to make them available in every shell.

Managed Binaries (vex bin)

Install and update curated standalone binaries into the vex bin directory:

vex bin install <tool> [--force]   # install a curated binary
vex bin ls                         # list all curated tools and their status
vex bin status <tool>              # detailed install/update status
vex bin sync [--dry-run]           # install missing + update outdated tools
vex bin update [<tool>|--all] [--force]  # update one or all managed tools
vex bin version <tool>             # show installed vs latest version

Available Tools

Tool	Binary	Description
ast-grep	sg	Fast, polyglot code search and rewriting
cs	cs	Ranked structural code search
difftastic	difft	Structural diff that understands syntax
nushell	nu	A new type of shell
nu-plugin-semver	nu_plugin_semver	SemVer parsing for Nushell
nu-plugin-file	nu_plugin_file	File type detection via libmagic
scc	scc	Fast code counter with complexity
shellcheck	shellcheck	Shell script static analysis
yq	yq	YAML/JSON/XML/CSV processor

Only hardcoded tools are supported — vex never assumes all files in the bin directory are managed.

Details

See ARCHITECTURE.md for implementation details.