## TL;DR WSL is useful, but not mandatory for a GNU-like workflow on Windows. If your work is Windows-first, this is enough: - MSYS2 installed (`C:\msys64`) - Git + GNU tools in Bash - Codex commands explicitly executed via MSYS2 Bash The reliable pattern is: ```powershell C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lic 'source ~/.bashrc; gst' ``` ## What Actually Happened I kept trying commands like: ```powershell gst source ~/.bashrc ``` and got errors. The reason was not "Git is broken" and not "aliases are wrong." The reason was shell mismatch: - Codex was executing in PowerShell - `gst` and `source` were Bash-level aliases/builtins So PowerShell could not resolve them. ## The Fix Run the command in MSYS2 Bash directly, and source your shell config in that same invocation: ```powershell C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lic 'source ~/.bashrc; gst' ``` This works because: - `-l` starts a login shell - `-i` enables interactive behavior (alias expansion) - `-c` runs the command string - `source ~/.bashrc` loads fresh aliases before running `gst` You may see: ```text bash: cannot set terminal process group (-1): Inappropriate ioctl for device bash: no job control in this shell ``` That warning is normal in non-interactive command runners and does not prevent alias execution. ## Why This Is Good Enough for Many Workflows If you are not targeting Linux ABI behavior, Linux containers, or Linux-only runtime semantics, WSL may be extra complexity: - extra boundary layer - cross-filesystem path friction - occasional shell-context confusion MSYS2 keeps everything native to Windows while preserving GNU ergonomics. ## Practical Setup Pattern I now keep aliases in a dedicated include file and source it from `~/.bashrc`: ```bash # ~/.bashrc if [ -f "$HOME/.bash_aliases_git_plugin.sh" ]; then . "$HOME/.bash_aliases_git_plugin.sh" fi ``` Then Codex commands can use: ```powershell !C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lic 'source ~/.bashrc; gst' !C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lic 'source ~/.bashrc; gapa' !C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lic 'source ~/.bashrc; grst' ``` ## Important Clarification If Codex is running with PowerShell as its default session shell, `!command` runs in PowerShell by default. So this: ```powershell !gst ``` will fail unless `gst` is a real Windows command on PATH. This: ```powershell !C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lic 'source ~/.bashrc; gst' ``` is the explicit cross-shell bridge. ## Final Note WSL is still excellent. This is not anti-WSL. This is just a practical decision: "I wanted GNU tools, not a Linux VM boundary in daily flow." For that goal, MSYS2 plus explicit Bash invocation in Codex was enough.