Profile Source of Truth

These custom commands come from my PowerShell $PROFILE.

The $PROFILE file is no longer maintained as copied code in this knowledge-base article. It is managed by personal-config. The actual implementation lives at:

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personal-config/powershell/Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

On my Windows machine, the PowerShell 7 profile points to that file through a symbolic link:

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$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

This article only records what the commands are for and how I commonly use them. To change the implementation, edit the profile file in personal-config.

Command open

open opens a file or directory from PowerShell.

For directories, it uses Windows Explorer. For files, it tries to behave closer to double-clicking the file from Explorer, so GUI apps are less likely to stay attached to the Windows Terminal session and close together with the terminal.

Common usage:

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open .
open .\notes.md
open .\some-folder

I usually use it to quickly open the current directory, Markdown files, or files that should be viewed or edited with their default app.

Command touch

touch mimics the Linux touch command.

If a file does not exist, it creates it. If the file already exists, it updates the file's LastWriteTime.

Common usage:

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touch note.md
touch .env
touch a.txt b.txt

This is useful for quickly creating temporary files, initializing Markdown notes, or refreshing file timestamps.

Command tree

tree prints a directory tree for the current path.

It overrides PowerShell's original tree command and supports options that are more convenient for daily use, such as showing directories only or ignoring selected names.

Common usage:

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tree
tree -DirectoriesOnly
tree -Ignore "resources", "images"

-DirectoriesOnly shows directories only. -Ignore skips names that I do not want to inspect.

The command also works with $PSStyle.FileInfo color settings for directories, symbolic links, executable files, and several common file extensions, making the tree output easier to scan.