Feature Request: Support zsh as defaultShell for ! bang commands
Resolved 💬 1 comment Opened Apr 16, 2026 by pod2gR Closed May 25, 2026
Problem
Currently, Claude Code's settings.json only allows "defaultShell": "bash" or "powershell" for ! bang commands. On macOS (and many Linux setups), zsh is the default login shell, and users maintain all their aliases, PATH exports, plugins, and environment configurations in ~/.zshrc.
When using ! to run quick commands inside Claude Code, everything executes in bash, which:
- Does not load
~/.zshrc. - Breaks user-defined aliases (e.g.
alias ls="lsd"). - Creates a confusing experience for anyone whose daily workflow is built around
zsh.
Request
Please add "zsh" as a valid option for "defaultShell" in settings.json (and ideally auto-detect $SHELL on macOS).
Use case
As a heavy zsh user, I want ! commands to run inside zsh so that my environment, aliases, and completions work consistently without having to prefix every command with zsh -c \"...\".
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