Kosh
Fast, cross-platform shell interpreter and linter built as a speedier alternative to Bash and ShellCheck.
🔗 Visit Kosh
Description
Bash scripts are everywhere, but checking them for mistakes with the standard tool, ShellCheck, can feel slow, and Bash itself isn't the fastest shell around. Kosh is a from-scratch attempt to fix both: a shell that runs faster than Bash and checks your scripts faster than ShellCheck.
Kosh is a C++23 shell interpreter, interactive shell, formatter, and language server in one binary, claiming roughly 5x faster execution than Bash and over 100x faster diagnostics than ShellCheck, with around 300 built-in ShellCheck-equivalent diagnostic rules. It runs natively on Windows, Linux, and macOS, supports multiple compatibility modes including kosh, bash, bash-posix, and sh, and includes LSP support, syntax highlighting, and persistent history. Open source and free.
💬 Our review
The short version: Kosh is a genuinely ambitious free rewrite of the Bash and ShellCheck combo for speed and cross-platform support, worth a look if shell script linting has ever felt painfully slow, but it's a young project asking you to trust a from-scratch reimplementation of tools people rely on daily.
Its direct comparisons are Bash itself, the default shell almost everywhere, and ShellCheck, the standard linter, plus alternative shells like fish and zsh which focus on interactive usability rather than linting speed. Kosh's real differentiator is doing both interpretation and diagnostics in one fast, portable binary, including genuine Windows support, which Bash and ShellCheck workflows often handle awkwardly. Being free and open source removes any cost barrier, but with under 30 stars and a huge scope, reimplementing a POSIX-compatible shell plus a linter, it's fair to treat this as an interesting experiment to watch rather than a safe default for critical infrastructure yet.
💰 Pricing
📊 Global score
🤖 AI-enriched data
Open source, aucune offre payante
Pros
Revendique ~5x plus rapide que Bash, ~100x plus rapide que ShellCheck
Support natif multiplateforme y compris Windows
~300 règles de diagnostic intégrées
Inclut formateur et serveur de langage (LSP)
Gratuit et open source
Cons
Projet jeune (moins de 30 stars), pas encore éprouvé à grande échelle
Réimplémenter un shell et un linter depuis zéro est une large surface de bugs potentiels
Communauté plus petite que Bash ou ShellCheck