resh - Resource Shell
AI-Native Automation Platform for Modern Infrastructure
🎉 v0.7 Alpha Available - 25 of 30 Handles Complete
resh v0.7 is now available for testing! This alpha release includes 25 production-ready handles covering the complete automation lifecycle.
⭐ Star this repo to follow development and be notified of updates!
Current Status:
- ✅ 25 handles implemented and functional
- ✅ JSON, table, and log output formats working
- ✅ URI-based resource model operational
- ⏱️ 2 remaining handles coming in v0.8 (January 2026)
- ⚠️ Alpha quality - expect bugs and rough edges
What is resh?
resh (Resource Shell) is a next-generation automation platform designed for the AI era. While traditional tools like Ansible and Terraform were bui…
resh - Resource Shell
AI-Native Automation Platform for Modern Infrastructure
🎉 v0.7 Alpha Available - 25 of 30 Handles Complete
resh v0.7 is now available for testing! This alpha release includes 25 production-ready handles covering the complete automation lifecycle.
⭐ Star this repo to follow development and be notified of updates!
Current Status:
- ✅ 25 handles implemented and functional
- ✅ JSON, table, and log output formats working
- ✅ URI-based resource model operational
- ⏱️ 2 remaining handles coming in v0.8 (January 2026)
- ⚠️ Alpha quality - expect bugs and rough edges
What is resh?
resh (Resource Shell) is a next-generation automation platform designed for the AI era. While traditional tools like Ansible and Terraform were built for humans writing YAML, resh provides structured, typed outputs that both AI agents and human operators can reliably consume.
v0.7 Alpha demonstrates the core vision with 25 working handles.
The Problem
Current infrastructure automation tools face critical limitations:
- Unstructured outputs - Text-based responses require fragile regex parsing
- Inconsistent errors - AI agents can’t reliably handle failures
- YAML complexity - Configuration files become unmaintainable at scale
- Not composable - Different tools for different tasks, extensive glue code
When AI agents try to use traditional tools, error rates spike 10-15x higher than human-operated workflows.
3. Comprehensive Operations 25 handles operational in v0.7, covering files, processes, services, databases, secrets, certificates, networking, and more.
Why Test v0.7 Alpha?
For DevOps Engineers
- Test AI-native automation in your environment
- Compare structured outputs vs traditional tools
- Provide feedback on handle design
- Influence v1.0 feature priorities
For SRE Teams
- Evaluate for fleet management use cases
- Test reliability at scale
- Assess SSH remote execution performance
- Validate database operation workflows
For AI/ML Engineers
- Build AI agents using structured outputs
- Test autonomous infrastructure operations
- Develop self-healing systems
- Pioneer AI-native automation patterns
For Early Adopters
- Shape the future of infrastructure automation
- Join a community building something new
- Get recognition as an early contributor
- Influence roadmap and priorities
What to Expect
- ✅ Functional 25 handles you can use today
- ⚠️ Bugs and rough edges (it’s alpha!)
- ⚠️ API may change before v1.0
- ✅ Responsive maintainer (issues answered within 24h)
- ✅ Rapid iteration and improvements
- ✅ Your feedback directly shapes development
Implemented in v0.7 (25 Handles)
Filesystem & Storage ✅
- ✅
file://- File operations (read, write, copy, move, delete, chmod, hash) - ✅
fs://- Filesystem management (mount, quota, usage, resize) - ✅
snapshot://- Snapshot and versioning (create, restore, diff, list) - ✅
archive://- Archive management (tar, zip, 7z, gzip, xz, zstd)
Process & Service Management ✅
- ✅
proc://- Process control (signal, nice, setPriority, limits) - ✅
svc://- Service management (systemd + OpenRC support) - ✅
cron://- Job scheduler (systemd timers + cron)
Network & Remote Operations ✅
- ✅
ssh://- Remote execution and file transfer - ✅
http://- HTTP client operations (get, post, put, delete, patch) - ✅
net://- Network diagnostics (ping, tcp_check, scan, dns) - ✅
dns://- DNS operations (lookup, resolve, zone management) - ✅
mail://- Email/SMTP (send, templates, attachments)
Security & Secrets ✅
- ✅
secret://- Secret management (env, keystore, Vault integration) - ✅
cert://- Certificate management (X.509, TLS, Let’s Encrypt) - ✅
firewall://- Firewall management (iptables, nftables, ufw, firewalld) - ✅
user://- User management (add, del, passwd, groups, exists)
Data & State Management ✅
- ✅
db://- Database operations (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite) - ✅
cache://- Cache operations (Redis, Memcached) - ✅
config://- Configuration store (get, set, watch, remove) - ✅
mq://- Message queue operations (create, put, get, purge) - ✅
log://- Logging and log management - ✅
event://- Event pipeline (publish, subscribe, filter)
System & Software ✅
- ✅
system://- System information (CPU, memory, disk, network, uptime) - ✅
pkg://- Package manager (apt, yum, dnf, pacman, apk) - ✅
git://- Git operations (clone, pull, commit, push, status)
Total: 25 handles production-ready
Why resh?
For DevOps Teams
- Faster, more reliable automation
- Single tool replaces Ansible + Terraform + scripts
- Predictable outputs eliminate debugging nightmares
For SRE Teams
- Better observability with structured data
- Reliable fleet operations via SSH
- Self-healing infrastructure capabilities
For AI/ML Engineers
- AI-native design from the ground up
- Type-safe operations for autonomous agents
- Foundation for self-managing infrastructure
Development Timeline
| Milestone | Target | Status |
|---|---|---|
| v0.7 Alpha (25 handles) | December 2025 | ✅ Available Now |
| v0.8 Feature Complete (27 handles) | January 2026 | ⏱️ In Progress |
| v0.9 Beta Release | (30 handles) | February-March 2026 |
| v1.0 Production | Q2/Q3 2026 | ⏱️ Planned |
See ROADMAP.md for detailed timeline.
Current Status
What’s working in v0.7:
- ✅ 25 of 30 handles implemented and functional
- ✅ URI parser and resource dispatcher
- ✅ JSON, table, and log output formatters
- ✅ Basic CLI with argument parsing
- ✅ SSH remote execution
- ✅ Database operations (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite)
- ✅ Service management (systemd + OpenRC)
- ✅ Template rendering (Tera engine)
- ✅ Plugin system foundation
- ✅ Comprehensive documentation for all handles
- ✅ Organized documentation structure by category
What’s next:
- ⏱️ plugin:// and lock:// handles (v0.8 - January 2026)
- ⏱️ Integration test suite expansion (v0.9)
- ⏱️ Advanced documentation with more examples (v0.9)
- ⏱️ Performance optimization (v0.9)
- ⏱️ Binary releases for major distributions (v0.9)
Alpha limitations:
- ✅ Documentation now complete for all 25 handles
- ⚠️ Test coverage ~40% (expanding to 80%+ in v0.9)
- ⚠️ Performance not yet optimized
- ⚠️ Error messages need improvement
- ⚠️ Some edge cases not fully handled
Try it out:
- Download and build from source
- Report bugs and feedback via GitHub Issues
- Join early testing community
Installation
Prerequisites
- Rust 1.70 or later - Install from rustup.rs
- Git - For cloning the repository
- Linux/Unix - Currently Linux-focused (Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, Arch, Alpine tested)
Building from Source
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/millertechnologygroup/resh.git
cd resh
# Checkout v0.7 release
git checkout v0.7.0
# Build in release mode
cargo build --release
# Binary will be at: ./target/release/resh
./target/release/resh --version
Quick Installation
# Install to /usr/local/bin (requires sudo)
cargo build --release
sudo cp target/release/resh /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/resh
# Verify installation
resh --version
Development Build
# Build for development (faster compile, slower runtime)
cargo build
# Run directly
cargo run -- svc://nginx status --format json
# Run tests
cargo test
Using the Installation Script
# Quick install (downloads and builds latest release)
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/millertechnologygroup/resh/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
Binary Releases
Coming in v0.9 Beta - Pre-built binaries for:
- Ubuntu/Debian (.deb)
- RHEL/Fedora/CentOS (.rpm)
- Arch Linux (AUR)
- Generic Linux (tar.gz)
- macOS (Homebrew - post v1.0)
Contributing
resh v0.7 alpha is now available for testing! We welcome:
How You Can Help Now
1. 🐛 Test and Report Bugs
- Try resh in your environment
- Report issues via GitHub Issues
- Include: OS, resh version, command run, expected vs actual output
2. 💡 Provide Feedback
- Which handles do you use most?
- What features are missing?
- What documentation would help?
- Share your use cases
3. ⭐ Star and Watch
- Star the repository to show support
- Watch for updates and new releases
- Share with your network
4. 📝 Documentation
- Report unclear documentation
- Suggest examples
- Request tutorials for specific use cases
5. 🧪 Early Testing
- Test in your infrastructure
- Try different Linux distributions
- Test edge cases
- Share your automation workflows
Code Contributions
Not accepting pull requests yet - We’ll open contributions with v0.8 (January 2026).
Formal contribution guidelines coming in v0.9 beta.
Community
- GitHub Issues: Bug reports and feature requests
- GitHub Discussions: Questions and ideas (coming soon)
- Discord: Real-time community (coming with v0.8)
See CONTRIBUTING.md for more details.
Philosophy
Structured Over Unstructured Every operation returns typed, predictable data. No parsing. No surprises.
Simple Over Complex URI-based addressing works like the web. If you understand URLs, you understand resh.
Composable Over Monolithic Build complex workflows from simple, reliable primitives.
AI-Native Over AI-Compatible Designed for autonomous agents from the ground up, not bolted on later.
Fast Over Slow Single binary, zero dependencies, native performance.
License
Apache License 2.0 - See LICENSE for details.
About
Created by: Scott Miller Company: Miller Technology Group LLC Experience: 30+ years in software engineering and infrastructure automation
Built with frustration from years of fragile automation tools and excitement about AI-native infrastructure.
Why I’m building this: After three decades of writing deployment scripts, Ansible playbooks, and custom automation, I’ve learned that our tools weren’t designed for the world we’re entering—where AI agents become infrastructure operators. resh is automation rebuilt for that future.
Stay Updated
- GitHub: Star and watch this repository
- LinkedIn: Scott Miller for development updates
FAQ
Q: Can I use resh now? A: Yes! v0.7 alpha is available for testing. It’s not production-ready, but all 25 handles are functional. Great for experimentation and feedback.
Q: Is v0.7 production-ready? A: No. This is an alpha release. Expect bugs, incomplete documentation, and potential breaking changes. Production release (v1.0) is planned for Q2/Q3 2026.
Q: What’s missing in v0.7? A: 2 handles (webhook://, lock://), comprehensive documentation, extensive testing, performance optimization, and polish. Coming in v0.8 and v0.9.
Q: Can I contribute code? A: Not yet. We’ll open for code contributions with v0.8 (January 2026). For now, please test, report bugs, and provide feedback.
Q: What about Windows/macOS? A: Initial focus is Linux. macOS support likely post-v1.0. Windows support is being evaluated.
Q: How is this different from Ansible? A: Ansible uses YAML playbooks with unstructured output designed for humans. resh uses URIs with structured output (JSON/table/log) designed for both humans and AI agents. Ansible is for configuration management. resh is for real-time operations and AI-native automation.
Q: How is this different from Terraform? A: Terraform is for infrastructure-as-code with state management. resh is for real-time operations and automation without state files. They solve different problems and can be complementary.
Q: Why 25 handles in v0.7 instead of all 30? A: We wanted to get something in your hands quickly. The 25 core handles cover 90%+ of automation use cases. template:// and plugin:// will be coming in v0.8. webhook:// and lock:// are advanced features coming in v0.9.
Q: Where should I report bugs? A: GitHub Issues - Please include your OS, resh version, command, and output.
Q: Can I use resh in my company? A: Yes, it’s Apache 2.0 licensed. However, being alpha, we recommend testing in non-production environments first.
Q: What’s the performance like? A: Functional but not yet optimized. Performance improvements coming in v0.9. Current focus is correctness and features.
v0.7 Alpha available now. Test it. Break it. Help us build the future of infrastructure automation. 🚀