Aliases & Env Vars

Two small Console features that make daily use a lot smoother: aliases (give short names to long commands) and environment variables (set values for the current tab that commands can read at runtime).

Aliases

An alias replaces the first word of a one-shot command with something else. For example:

Then typing ll src/ runs ls -la src/. Typing gs runs git status. Only the first word is replaced — everything after stays as you typed it. Cockpit ships with this small starter set out of the box.

Scope: global. Aliases apply across every project and every tab. Changes take effect on your next command — no restart needed.

Alias manager: the small icon in the Cockpit top bar (not the one in the Console input bar — that's the env-var manager). Inside the modal:

• Each existing alias is one row: left is $ <name> (read-only), right is the command (editable in place — change the expansion right there). Hover the row and 🗑 delete appears at the end.
• A + row at the bottom for adding a new alias: name on the left, command on the right, Enter to save.
• There's no "temporarily disable" toggle — only add / edit / delete.

Aliases also apply to: re-run (▶ button) and saved commands in the Quick Commands popover — they all go through the same dispatch order.

Aliases do not apply to: interactive shells (zsh, bash, and other PTY commands). Those go straight to the PTY and use your shell's own aliases.

Environment variables

Environment variables live on the current tab's Console panel — every command you run from this tab gets these KEY=VALUE pairs prepended to its environment.

Scope: per tab. Each tab keeps its own set of env vars in its own file; switch to another tab and you'll see a completely different set.

Env manager: the {x} (Variables) icon in the Console input bar toolbar. Once open:

• The subtitle at the top shows the current scope ("Tab scope").
• Each variable is one row: KEY (read-only) on the left, VALUE (editable) on the right, 🗑 to delete.
• A row at the bottom for adding a new variable: KEY, VALUE, Enter or the + button to add.
• Click Save to persist — the next command picks it up; no restart.

Typical uses

• Per-tab API keys — STRIPE_API_KEY=sk_test_... in your test-environment tab; STRIPE_API_KEY=sk_live_... in your production-tools tab. Each tab runs against its own key — no risk of crossing the wires.
• Per-tab database URLs — DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost/dev_db in your dev tab, …/staging_db in another.
• A tool path you want everywhere — e.g. PATH=/opt/homebrew/bin:$PATH. You'll need to set it in each tab that needs it — each tab has its own env file.

Variable expansion

Cockpit writes VALUE into the child process environment as a literal string — no $VAR expansion, no ~ expansion, no quote parsing. If you want PATH=/opt/homebrew/bin:$PATH:

• Type the literal /opt/homebrew/bin:$PATH as the VALUE.
• At runtime: Cockpit stuffs that literal string into the PATH env var, and the shell expands $PATH when it runs the command.

Where it lives

Everything runs locally. Aliases are global and travel with your machine; env vars are stored per tab inside Cockpit's data folder. To move to a new machine, copy your Cockpit data folder over and your aliases plus every tab's env vars come along.

Common issues

• Alias not expanding — aliases only apply to the first word of a one-shot command. Inside an interactive shell (zsh, bash), commands go through your shell's own aliases, not Cockpit's.
• Env var "not set" in a fresh terminal — interactive shells are child processes that inherit the env Cockpit injects, but anything you export inside them doesn't flow back to Cockpit.
• $VAR inside a VALUE didn't expand — by design. Cockpit doesn't do shell expansion; it hands the literal string to the shell, which expands it when the command actually runs.
• Vars disappeared after I switched tabs — each tab has its own env file. To have the same variable in multiple tabs, set it in each tab.

Next

• Command Input — how Console picks bubbles and where aliases sit in the dispatch order