mise-shell-activation

Shell activation

mise activate registers a shell hook that runs mise hook-env on every prompt display, updating PATH and env vars when you change directories or edit mise.toml. Without activation, mise still works via mise exec / mise x and shims, but it's much less convenient.

The activation snippets

bash

# ~/.bashrc (interactive shells)
eval "$(mise activate bash)"

For login-shell-only environments (some Linux setups), also add:

# ~/.bash_profile
[[ -f ~/.bashrc ]] && source ~/.bashrc

zsh

# ~/.zshrc
eval "$(mise activate zsh)"

fish

# ~/.config/fish/config.fish
mise activate fish | source

Brew on macOS auto-activates fish. If you installed via brew, you don't need to add anything to config.fish. Disable with set -Ux MISE_FISH_AUTO_ACTIVATE 0 if you don't want this.

nushell

# ~/.config/nushell/config.nu
mise activate nu | save -f /tmp/mise.nu
source /tmp/mise.nu

(Nushell's eval semantics require the file dance.)

elvish

# ~/.config/elvish/rc.elv
eval (mise activate elvish | slurp)

xonsh

# ~/.xonshrc
execx($(mise activate xonsh))

PowerShell (Windows or pwsh on macOS/Linux)

# $PROFILE
(&mise activate pwsh) | Out-String | Invoke-Expression

To find $PROFILE: run $PROFILE in pwsh. Create with New-Item $PROFILE -Force if it doesn't exist.

Login vs interactive rc files

This trips people up:

File	When it loads	Use for
~/.bash_profile, ~/.bash_login, ~/.profile	Login shells only (Linux: at login; macOS: every Terminal tab)	One-time-per-session setup
~/.bashrc	Interactive non-login shells (Linux: every new terminal; macOS: only if sourced from .bash_profile)	Aliases, prompts, mise activate
~/.zshrc	Interactive zsh	Same
~/.zprofile	Login zsh	Sometimes used for shims-only mode

On macOS, every Terminal tab is a login shell — .bash_profile runs each time. On Linux, only the first SSH or graphical login.

The safe pattern: put mise activate in ~/.bashrc / ~/.zshrc (interactive), and source the rc from the profile if needed.

Dual-mode pattern (interactive + IDE)

IDEs like VSCode and IntelliJ launch a non-interactive shell to run language servers. mise activate (the full version) requires interactive mode (it hooks into the prompt). For IDEs you typically want shims.

The dual-mode pattern: full activation interactively, shims in login (which IDEs read):

# ~/.zprofile  — login shell, read by IDEs
eval "$(mise activate zsh --shims)"

# ~/.zshrc  — interactive shell
eval "$(mise activate zsh)"

This gives you:

• Interactive terminals: full mise activate with [env] and hooks.
• IDEs: shims on PATH, no hooks/env (IDEs don't need them for language servers).

For fish:

# ~/.config/fish/config.fish
if status is-interactive
  mise activate fish | source
else
  mise activate fish --shims | source
end

Why NOT just --shims

mise activate --shims puts the shims directory on PATH but does not load [env] vars, hooks, or watch_files. If you only have --shims, your project's [env] block does nothing in your shell.

So: full activation for daily use, shims for IDE integration only.

Verifying activation

# 1. Confirm mise binary is on PATH
which mise

# 2. Confirm the shell function is defined (some shells)
type mise        # bash/zsh: should say "mise is a function"

# 3. Confirm hook-env runs
MISE_DEBUG=1 mise hook-env

# 4. cd into a project with mise.toml and verify env updates
cd /path/to/project
echo $MISE_LOADED  # set after first hook-env

# 5. Doctor
mise dr

If mise dr shows "mise activate not detected", the eval line isn't in your rc OR your shell isn't sourcing the rc.

Common issues

Symptom	Fix
mise activate not in rc but you added it	rc isn't being sourced — check login vs interactive
Added to ~/.zshrc but VSCode terminal doesn't have mise	VSCode terminal might be a login shell — also add to ~/.zprofile (shims is fine here)
Tools on PATH but [env] vars missing	You used --shims mode. Switch to full activation.
Slow shell prompt (>50ms) after adding mise	MISE_DEBUG=1 mise hook-env to see what's slow. Often a _.source script or large mise ls.
mise hook-env runs but PATH isn't updated	Another tool (direnv, nvm) is overwriting PATH after mise. Make mise activate LAST in the rc.
bash: mise: command not found after install	mise binary not on PATH yet. Add export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" BEFORE the eval line.

IDE-specific

IDE	Best activation
VSCode	Use hverlin/mise-vscode extension. Or shims in .zprofile + the terminal.integrated.automationProfile.osx setting.
JetBrains (IntelliJ, PyCharm, etc.)	Use 134130/intellij-mise plugin. Or symlink ~/.local/share/mise → ~/.asdf for asdf-aware plugins.
Neovim	vim.env.PATH = vim.env.HOME .. "/.local/share/mise/shims:" .. vim.env.PATH in your config. Or use a mise plugin if one exists.
Emacs	mise.el — (global-mise-mode)
Xcode	eval "$($HOME/.local/bin/mise activate -C $SRCROOT bash --shims)" in build phase scripts. Add $(SRCROOT)/mise.toml to Input Files.

Full IDE patterns are in the v0.3 mise-vscode-integration, mise-jetbrains-integration, and mise-neovim-integration skills.

See also

• /mise-activate-shell command — automates this with detection + diff confirmation
• mise-pathing-and-shims — when each method (activate, --shims, exec, env) wins
• mise-troubleshooting — diagnostic flow for "mise not loading"