Shell Aliases

mise can manage shell aliases that are set dynamically when you enter a directory and unset when you leave, similar to how environment variables work.

Configuration

Shell aliases are defined in mise.toml under the [shell_alias] section:

[shell_alias]
ll = "ls -la"
la = "ls -A"
gs = "git status"
gc = "git commit"

When you enter a directory with this configuration, these aliases will be automatically set in your shell. When you leave the directory (and the new directory doesn't have the same aliases), they will be unset.

Supported Shells

Shell aliases are currently supported in:

• bash - Uses alias/unalias commands
• zsh - Uses alias/unalias commands
• fish - Uses alias/functions -e commands

Other shells (nushell, elvish, xonsh, powershell) do not currently support shell aliases.

Dynamic Behavior

Shell aliases work similarly to environment variables managed by mise:

1. Set on entry: When you cd into a directory with [shell_alias] config, the aliases are set
2. Updated on change: If an alias value changes in your config, it will be updated
3. Unset on exit: When you leave the directory (or the alias is removed from config), it will be unset

$ cd ~/myproject
# mise sets: alias ll='ls -la'

$ ll
# Runs: ls -la

$ cd ~
# mise runs: unalias ll

Hierarchy

Like other mise config, shell aliases are inherited from parent directories. A child directory can override a parent's alias:

# ~/projects/mise.toml
[shell_alias]
build = "make build"

# ~/projects/myapp/mise.toml
[shell_alias]
build = "npm run build"  # Overrides parent

Templates

Alias values support templates, allowing dynamic values:

[shell_alias]
proj = "cd {{config_root}}"
node_version = "echo {{exec(command='node --version')}}"

Use Cases

Project-Specific Shortcuts

Define shortcuts that only make sense within a specific project:

[shell_alias]
dev = "npm run dev"
test = "npm test"
build = "npm run build"
deploy = "./scripts/deploy.sh"

Tool Wrappers

Create aliases that wrap tools with project-specific defaults:

[shell_alias]
docker-compose = "docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml"
terraform = "terraform -chdir=./infrastructure"

Quick Navigation

[shell_alias]
src = "cd {{config_root}}/src"
tests = "cd {{config_root}}/tests"
docs = "cd {{config_root}}/docs"

Comparison to Tool Aliases

mise has two different alias features that serve different purposes:

Feature	Purpose	Config Key
Shell Aliases	Define shell command shortcuts (alias ll='ls -la')	[shell_alias]
Tool Aliases	Define version aliases for tools (node@lts → 20.x)	[tool_alias]

See Tool Aliases for documentation on aliasing tool versions.