Running Gcli from pwsh.exe but internally it uses powershell.exe

[HASJ]

What happened?

Ask Gcli to write a script that requires PowerShell 7+ and test it with Pester and it will fail unequivocally since Gcli runs the test using powershell.exe instead of pwsh.exe.

✦ It seems Invoke-Pester is forcing a 5.1 context, causing the tests to fail despite using pwsh. I'll run pwsh -Command "$PSVersionTable" to confirm the actual version being used.

╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ ✓  Shell pwsh -NoProfile -Command "$PSVersionTable" [current working directory J:\***] (Check the PowerShell version inside pwsh.)                                                                                                                                                                                                  │
│                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      │
│                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      │
│ Name                           Value                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 │
│ ----                           -----                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 │
│ PSVersion                      5.1.19041.6216                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        │
│ PSEdition                      Desktop                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               │
│ PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               │
│ BuildVersion                   10.0.19041.6216                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       │
│ CLRVersion                     4.0.30319.42000                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       │
│ WSManStackVersion              3.0                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   │
│ PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   │
│ SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
  Responding with gemini-3-flash-preview
✦ pwsh pointing to 5.1 is highly unusual. I'll check its location to investigate.

╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ ✓  Shell Get-Command pwsh | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Source [current working directory J:\***] (Find the location of the pwsh executable.)                                                                                                                                                                                     │
│                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      │
│ J:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
  Responding with gemini-3-flash-preview
✦ pwsh is in the expected location, yet $PSVersionTable returned 5.1 despite pwsh -Version reporting 7.5.4. I'll run pwsh -NoProfile -Command "$PSVersionTable.PSVersion.ToString()" to clarify the discrepancy.

╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ ✓  Shell pwsh -NoProfile -Command "$PSVersionTable.PSVersion.ToString()" [current working directory J:\***] (Check PSVersion inside pwsh again.)                                                                                                                                                                                    │
│                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      │
│ 5.1.19041.6216                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯█
  Responding with gemini-3-flash-preview                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                █
✦ pwsh.exe returning 5.1 from its expected location is strange. I'll check if pwsh is an alias to powershell.exe or if using the full path resolves the issue.                                                                                                                                                                                                          █
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        █
╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮█
│ ✓  Shell & "J:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe" -NoProfile -Command "$PSVersionTable.PSVersion.ToString()" [current working directory J:\***] (Run the pwsh executable using its full path.)                                                                                                                                    │█
│                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      │█
│ ParserError:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         │█
│ Line |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               │█
│    1 |  System.Collections.Hashtable.PSVersion.ToString()                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            │█
│      |                                                  ~                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            │█
│      | An expression was expected after '('.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         │█
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯█
  Responding with gemini-3-flash-preview                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                █
✦ I'll check if pwsh is an alias within powershell.exe to explain why it's returning version 5.1 despite the path.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      █
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        █
╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮▀
│ ✓  Shell Get-Command pwsh [current working directory J:\***] (Check what pwsh refers to in the current environment.)                                                                                                                                                                                                                │
│                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      │
│                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      │
│ CommandType     Name                                               Version    Source                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 │
│ -----------     ----                                               -------    ------                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 │
│ Application     pwsh.exe                                           7.5.4.0    J:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
  Responding with gemini-3-flash-preview
✦ pwsh is correctly identified as version 7.5.4, but I suspect $PSVersionTable was evaluated by the outer PowerShell 5.1. I'll use single quotes to escape it and try again.

╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ ✓  Shell pwsh -NoProfile -Command '$PSVersionTable.PSVersion.ToString()' [current working directory J:\***] (Check PSVersion inside pwsh using single quotes to prevent early evaluation.)                                                                                                                                          │
│                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      │
│ 5.1.19041.6216                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
  Responding with gemini-3-flash-preview
✦ pwsh returns 5.1 despite being version 7.5.4, likely due to how run_shell_command wraps and executes it. I'll test pwsh with a simple echo and then try running the Pester test again, ensuring the module loads correctly in pwsh.

What did you expect to happen?

For the test to be executed using pwsh.exe and pass.

Client information

Client Information

Run gemini to enter the interactive CLI, then run the /about command.

> /about
About Gemini CLI                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     │█
│                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      │█
│ CLI Version                                                                                                                  0.22.2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  │█
│ Git Commit                                                                                                                   9bc9a3192                                                                                                                                                                                                                               │█
│ Model                                                                                                                        auto-gemini-3                                                                                                                                                                                                                           │█
│ Sandbox                                                                                                                      no sandbox                                                                                                                                                                                                                              │█
│ OS                                                                                                                           win32                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   │█
│ Auth Method                                                                                                                  OAuth                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   │█
│ User Email                                                                                                                   ********

Login information

Google Account AI Pro

Anything else we need to know?

No response

[Shallow-dusty]

The native PowerShell is hardcoded within its shell subprocess calls; they should implement the functionality to modify the shell, as suggested in my issue.
#15493

[gemini-cli]

Hello! As part of our effort to keep our backlog manageable and focus on the most active issues, we are tidying up older reports.

It looks like this issue hasn't been active for a while, so we are closing it for now. However, if you are still experiencing this bug on the latest stable build, please feel free to comment on this issue or create a new one with updated details.

Thank you for your contribution!

[kaluchi]

@gemini-cli-robot are you serious?

[kaluchi]

#25900 fixes this — picks pwsh.exe over powershell.exe when it's on PATH.