About Niubash
Niubash is a native Windows shell that runs Bash-compatible commands without WSL or a virtual machine. It includes the rubash language engine, Unix commands from WinuxCmd, a git-aware prompt, and a plugin system.
Niubash 1.4.4
AI-native Bash-compatible shell for Windows
- By Unixwin
- Open Source
- Updated Oct 27, 2026
What's new in 1.4.4
- ping/netstat/tracert are reachable again: System32 ships them with UPPERCASE on-disk names (PING.EXE etc.) and the engine's byte-exact stem contract rejected lowercase invocations; the PATH fold arm now compares the stem ASCII-case-insensitively (rubash#998/#1000)
- Interactive crash on ${v^^} / ${v:1:3} input fixed in the same engine (niubash#503)
- MSIX packaged builds no longer silently degrade when a stale WINUXCMD_PATH/WINUXSH_ROOT from an old NSIS install is inherited (#504/#505)
- Installer and shell startup now reconcile the bundled gawk.exe/awk.exe shims to the current winuxcmd.exe (#468 residue)
- Carries WinuxCmd v1.1.20 and the rubash 1.4.3 engine
Technical details
| Publisher | Unixwin |
|---|---|
| Author | unixwin team |
| Version | 1.4.4 |
| License | MIT |
| Installer type | inno |
| Architecture | x64, arm64 |
| Package ID | Unixwin.Niubash |
| Install scope | Current user |
Install Niubash from the command line
- Install with Windows Package Manager
winget install --id=Unixwin.Niubash -e- Update to the latest version
winget upgrade --id=Unixwin.Niubash -e- Uninstall
winget uninstall --id=Unixwin.Niubash -e- Silent install with the offline installer
"niubash-v1.4.4-win-x64-setup.exe" /VERYSILENT /NORESTART
Niubash version history
1.4.3
- Interactive multi-line groups no longer wedge the REPL: a stray ) inside an open group ends the gather with a single GNU-style diagnostic and rc 2 (rubash#955 + #484; #482)
- Bare drive designators (D:, cd D:) converge on the engine dispatch across the host fast path, grouped route, and piped niu -i (rubash#953; #481, #483)
- unset of an inherited environment name now clears the process-env copy, realigned to GNU across a 9-probe matrix (rubash#943; #917)
- Launcher accepts -EncodedCommand / --ec spellings for the verbatim base64 handoff, with v1: rewrite-guard semantics preserved (#477)
- niu --help and --version close with the unixwin portal lines (#490)
- Installer-surface guards hardened: constant-fold coverage for {syswow64}/{sysnative}/{autocf} and {sys} name-boundary enforcement, pinned by test (#472)
- Vendored bash upgraded from Bash-5.3 patch 15 to patch 20 (rubash#957)
- Carries WinuxCmd v1.1.19 (gawk BINMODE argv-prefix adapter) and the rubash 1.4.2 engine
1.1.4
Frequently asked questions
Is Niubash free?
Yes. Niubash is free and open-source software released under the MIT license.
What is the latest version of Niubash?
The latest version is 1.4.4, released on Oct 27, 2026.
Is it safe to download Niubash?
The download button links to the official installer published on github.com, the same file Windows Package Manager installs. You can verify the downloaded file by comparing its SHA-256 checksum with 2dbad523497ff539f5c8c58ccdde7aca5af29de7c1cc7c0903d9db5e51300da8.
Which Windows versions does Niubash support?
Niubash runs on Windows and is available for 64-bit (x64), ARM64 systems.
How do I install Niubash silently?
Run the offline installer with "niubash-v1.4.4-win-x64-setup.exe" /VERYSILENT /NORESTART, or install it with Windows Package Manager: winget install --id=Unixwin.Niubash -e --silent.
How do I uninstall Niubash?
Open Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Niubash and select Uninstall. From the command line, run winget uninstall --id=Unixwin.Niubash -e.
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