PowerShell Profile

A self-bootstrapping PowerShell profile for Windows. Set up a new machine, install your tools, configure Windows Terminal, and keep everything in sync across computers.

I work across multiple machines, personal, work, and VMs that get wiped regularly. Got tired of manually setting up PowerShell, installing tools, and configuring the terminal every time. This profile handles all of it on first launch and keeps everything consistent through cloud sync.

What It Does

On every shell startup, the profile runs through a checklist and reports status:

  [ok] Microsoft.PowerShell
  [^^] JanDeDobbeleer.OhMyPosh : 29.7.0 -> 30.0.0
  [^^] GitHub.Copilot : v0.0.419 -> v0.0.420
  [>>] nepnep.neofetch-win installing...
  [ok] nepnep.neofetch-win installed
  [ok] Cascadia Code NF
  [ok] Windows Terminal config
  [ok] GlyphShell 0.1.0

  To update these packages, copy and run:
  winget update JanDeDobbeleer.OhMyPosh GitHub.Copilot

• [ok] - installed, up to date
• [^^] - update available (shows version diff)
• [>>] - installing right now
• [!!] - something went wrong

When updates are found, it prints a ready-to-copy winget update command so you can update just your tracked packages instead of winget update --all.

Features

Package Management

Keeps a list of WinGet packages and checks them on startup. Missing packages get installed automatically. Packages with updates show the version diff. Uses a single Get-WinGetPackage batch call with local filtering - no extra network requests. See Customization for how to add your own packages.

Windows Terminal Configuration

Automatically configures Windows Terminal on PS7:

• Installs Cascadia Code NF (Nerd Font) via Oh My Posh if missing and sets it as the default font
• Sets PowerShell 7 as the default profile
• Adds/removes terminal profiles for Copilot CLI and Claude Code based on whether they're installed
• Uses custom icons (Copilot.png, ClaudeCode.png) if they exist next to the profile, falls back to the default PowerShell icon. Icons are derived from GitHub and Anthropic branding and used for personal terminal identification only.
• Organizes the new tab menu with your main profiles up top and everything else in an "Other" folder
• Only writes settings.json when something actually changed

Tab Completions

Registers tab completions for tools if they're installed - skips any that aren't:

Tool	Type	What you get
winget	Native	Package names, subcommands, flags, versions
dotnet	Native	Commands, project names, options (requires SDK)
gh	Script	Full GitHub CLI completions
kubectl	Script	Kubernetes resource types, namespaces, flags
az	Native	Azure CLI commands and parameters (via argcomplete, requires v2.49+)
docker	Script	Container names, images, commands

Native completers call the tool's complete command on each Tab press. Script completers load a completion script into the session at startup.

These are zero-cost at startup if the tool isn't installed - a single batched Get-Command check covers all tools at once.

PSReadLine

Ensures PSReadLine is at least v2.4.5 on PS7 (updates automatically if below). Configures completions, predictions, and history navigation.

MenuComplete - pressing Tab shows a dropdown of all matching completions (directories, commands, parameters) instead of cycling through them one at a time:

> cd E:\Code\
  > Aseprite\
    Bloxels\
    ConwaysBattlegrounds\
    DonutRun\
    TerminalBootstrap\

ListView predictions - as you type, a dropdown of matching history entries appears inline. Press F2 to toggle between ListView and inline suggestion styles:

> Get-Chi
  > Get-ChildItem -Path E:\Code\Projects -Recurse
    Get-ChildItem -Filter *.log
    Get-ChildItem | Sort-Object LastWriteTime
    Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_OperatingSystem

CompletionPredictor - bridges tab completers (winget, dotnet, gh, docker, etc.) into the ListView dropdown, so tool-specific completions appear as you type - not just on Tab. Installed automatically if missing.

History search - Up/Down arrows filter history by what you've already typed. Start typing Get-Ch and press Up to cycle through only commands that started with Get-Ch. When the ListView dropdown is visible, arrows navigate the list instead - both features coexist.

Shell & Prompt

• Loads Oh My Posh prompt theme
• Runs neofetch for system info display
• On PS7+, auto-installs GlyphShell - a high-performance C# replacement for Terminal-Icons that hooks into Get-ChildItem to add Nerd Font icons, colors, and extra columns. Includes tree views (gstree), grid views (gsgrid), git status indicators, and 900+ icon mappings. On PS5, falls back to Terminal-Icons which provides the same basic icon experience.

Setup

Quick Start

Paste this into any PowerShell window (works in the built-in Windows PowerShell 5.1 on a fresh machine):

$b = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SemperFu/TerminalBootstrap/master"
mkdir ~\Documents\PowerShell, ~\Documents\WindowsPowerShell -Force | Out-Null
iwr "$b/Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1" -OutFile ~\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
iwr "$b/WindowsPowerShell_profile.ps1" -OutFile ~\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

Open a new PowerShell window and the profile will bootstrap everything on first run (including installing PowerShell 7 if missing).

Edit the $packages array to add/remove whatever WinGet packages you want tracked. See CUSTOMIZATION.md for details.

Manual Setup

1. Copy Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1 to your PowerShell profile directory:

   ~\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
   

2. Open a new PowerShell 7 window. It'll bootstrap everything on first run.

Windows PowerShell (5.1) Support

The profile works on both PS7 and PS5. To share a single config, copy WindowsPowerShell_profile.ps1 to the PS5 profile location:

~\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

It dot-sources the PS7 profile so both shells use the same config. PS7-only features (like Windows Terminal config) are gated behind version checks and just skip on PS5.

Syncing Across Computers

The profile is a single file. Put it somewhere that syncs (OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, a git repo) and dot-source it from your profile path:

# ~\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
. "$HOME\OneDrive\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1"

If your Documents folder already syncs through OneDrive, it's automatic - nothing extra to do.

Customization

See CUSTOMIZATION.md for how to add packages, tab completions, and terminal profiles.

Requirements

• Windows 10/11 with WinGet
• PowerShell 7 recommended (PS5 works with reduced features)
• Windows Terminal for terminal config features

Everything else gets installed by the profile itself.