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Windows: Shells and PATH Configuration

Shell-specific details and diagnostic commands for Windows.

Windows Shells

PowerShell

The modern default. Uses $env:PATH syntax.

Profile script customizes startup. Location varies; run $PROFILE to see yours.

Command Prompt (cmd)

Legacy shell. Uses %PATH% syntax. Different startup configuration than PowerShell. Not recommended for development work.

Git Bash

Bash-like shell bundled with Git for Windows. Uses bash config files in your Windows user home (as seen by Git Bash): ~/.bashrc and sometimes ~/.bash_profile.

A tool can work in PowerShell but not Git Bash (or vice versa) depending on where PATH is set.

System vs User Environment Variables

Windows maintains two scopes:

Scope Applies To Common Use
System All users OS-level tools
User Single account Developer tools like uv

The effective PATH merges both. Changes apply only to newly started processes. Reopen terminals after changes, and sometimes restart the machine.

Inspecting Your Environment

Inspecting PowerShell

```powershell

Which shell process

Get-Process -Id $PID | Select-Object ProcessName

Find a command

Get-Command uv

Show PATH

$env:Path

All environment variables

Get-ChildItem Env: ```

Inspecting Git Bash

```bash

Which shell

echo $0

Show PATH

echo $PATH

Find a command

command -v uv type -a uv ```

Finding the Source of Truth

GUI Method

  1. Open Start Menu.
  2. Search "Edit the system environment variables".
  3. Click "Environment Variables...".
  4. Check both User variables > Path and System variables > Path.
  5. Confirm the folder containing the missing tool, e.g., uv is listed.

After changes, close and reopen all terminals and VS Code.

Quick Comparison Checklist

Run these in both terminals (working and failing):

Check PowerShell cmd Git Bash
Shell Get-Process -Id $PID echo $0
PATH $env:Path echo %PATH% echo $PATH
Find uv Get-Command uv where uv command -v uv

The difference between outputs explains the problem.