# Interactive Shell
> What's different about Murex's interactive shell?
Murex's interactive shell is also built around productivity. To achieve this we
wrote our own state-of-the-art readline library.
Below are just some of the features you can enjoy.
Table of Contents
- [Advanced Autocompletion](#advanced-autocompletion)
- [Hint Text](#hint-text)
- [Spellchecker](#spellchecker)
- [Preview Autocompletions](#preview-autocompletions)
- [Preview Command Lines](#preview-command-lines)
- [Safer Pasting](#safer-pasting)
- [Smarter Error Messages](#smarter-error-messages)
- [Hotkeys](#hotkeys)
## Advanced Autocompletion
Autocompletion happen when you press `[tab]` and will differ slightly depending
on what is defined in `autocomplete` and whether you use the traditional
[POSIX pipe token](../parser/pipe-posix.md), `|`, or the [arrow pipe](../parser/pipe-arrow.md),
`->`.
The `|` token will behave much like any other shell however `->` will offer
suggestions with matching data types. Which makes working working with data
quick and easy while still intelligent and readable.
## Hint Text
The **hint text** is a (typically) blue status line that appears directly below
your prompt. The idea behind the **hint text** is to provide clues to you as
type instructions into the prompt; but without adding distractions. It is there
to be used if you want it while keeping out of the way when you don't want it.
[Read more about Hint Text](/docs/user-guide/hint-text.md).
## Spellchecker
Murex supports inline spellchecking, where errors are underlined. For example
This might require some manual steps to enable, please see the [spellcheck user guide](spellcheck.md)
for more details.
## Preview Autocompletions
> Enabled via `[f1]`
This displays a more detailed view of each parameter you're about to pass to a
command, without you having to run that command nor leave the half-completed
command line.
It can display:
* [`man` pages](/docs/integrations/man-pages.md)
* custom guides like [https://cheat.sh](/docs/integrations/cheatsh.md) and [AI generated docs](/docs/integrations/chatgpt.md)
* information about binary files
* contents of text files
* and even images too!
## Preview Command Lines
> Enabled via `[f9]`
The Command Line Preview allows you to view the output of a command line while
you're still writing it. This interactivity removes the trial-and-error from
working with complicated command line incantations. For example parsing parsing
complex documents like machine generated JSON becomes very easy.
This does come with some risks because most command line operations change you
systems state. However Murex comes with some guardrails here too:
* Each command in the pipeline is cached. So if a command's parameters are
changed, Murex only needs to re-run the commands _from_ the changed
parameter onwards.
* Each time there is a change in the commands themselves, for example a new
command added to the pipeline, you are requested to press `[f9]` to re-run
the entire pipeline.
* The only commands considered "safe" for auto-execution if any parameters do
change are those marked as "safe" in `config`. For example:
```
ยป config get shell safe-commands -> tail -n5
td
cut
jobs
select
dig
```
## Safer Pasting
A common behaviour for command line users is to copy and paste data into the
terminal emulator. Some shells like Zsh support [Bracketed paste](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracketed-paste)
but that does a pretty poor job of protecting you against the human error of
pasting potentially dangerous contents from an invisible clipboard.
Where Murex differs is that any multi-line text pasted will instantly display
a warning prompt with one of the options being to view the contents that you're
about to execute.
This gives you piece-of-mind that you are executing the right clipboard content
rather than something else you copied hours ago and forgotten about.
## Smarter Error Messages
Errors messages in most shells are terrible. That's why Murex has taken extra care to
give you as much useful detail as it can.
## Hotkeys
A full breakdown of supported hotkeys is available in the [terminal-keys](terminal-keys.md)
guide.
## See Also
* [ANSI Constants](../user-guide/ansi.md):
Infixed constants that return ANSI escape sequences
* [Code Block Parsing](../user-guide/code-block.md):
Overview of how code blocks are parsed
* [Define Method Relationships (`method`)](../commands/method.md):
Define a methods supported data-types
* [Hint Text](../user-guide/hint-text.md):
A status bar for your shell
* [Shell Configuration And Settings: `config`](../commands/config.md):
Query or define Murex runtime settings
* [Shell Runtime: `runtime`](../commands/runtime.md):
Returns runtime information on the internal state of Murex
* [Spellcheck](../integrations/spellcheck.md):
How to enable inline spellchecking
* [Tab Autocompletion: `autocomplete`](../commands/autocomplete.md):
Set definitions for tab-completion in the command line
* [Terminal Hotkeys](../user-guide/terminal-keys.md):
A list of all the terminal hotkeys and their uses
* [`->` Arrow Pipe](../parser/pipe-arrow.md):
Pipes stdout from the left hand command to stdin of the right hand command
* [`onPreview`](../events/onpreview.md):
Full screen previews for files and command documentation
* [`{ Curly Brace }`](../parser/curly-brace.md):
Initiates or terminates a code block
* [`|` POSIX Pipe](../parser/pipe-posix.md):
Pipes stdout from the left hand command to stdin of the right hand command
This document was generated from [gen/user-guide/interactive-shell_doc.yaml](https://github.com/lmorg/murex/blob/master/gen/user-guide/interactive-shell_doc.yaml).