webinstall.dev/psscriptanalyzer Star on GitHub

To update or switch versions, run webi psscriptanalyzer.

Cheat Sheet

It's dangerous to go alone! Take PSScriptAnalyzer!
(nothing crazy, just the standard fmt & lint tool you'd expect)

You'll probably want pwsh-essentials as well.

Table of Contents

• Files
• Manual Install
• Format
• Lint
• Vim Config
• Beware the BOM!
• Check Version

Files

These are the files / directories that are created and/or modified with this install:

~/.local/share/powershell/Modules/PSScriptAnalyzer/

How to Install PSScriptAnalyzer Manually

It's just a one liner, but... a little harder to remember than the webi version:

pwsh -Command "Install-Module -Name PSScriptAnalyzer -Scope CurrentUser -AllowClobber"

How to Run the PowerShell Formatter

pwsh-fmt from (pwsh-essentials) is the easiest way to run the formatter on a file or directory.

pwsh-fmt ./script.ps1

There is no built-in one-liner to do so. You have to do something like this instead:

function Format-File($Path) {
    $WasDirty = $false

    $Original = Get-Content -Path $Path -Raw
    $Formatted = Invoke-Formatter -ScriptDefinition $Original

    IF ($Original -eq $Formatted) {
        return $WasDirty
    }
    $WasDirty = $true

    # By default Set-Content unconditionally adds an *extra* newline every time
    # See <https://stackoverflow.com/a/45266681/151312>
    Set-Content -Path $Path $Formatted -Encoding utf8NoBom -NoNewline

    return $WasDirty
}

$WasDirty = Format-File -Path "./script.ps1"

How to Run the PowerShell Linter

pwsh-lint from (pwsh-essentials) is the easiest way to run the linter on a file or directory.

pwsh-lint ./script.ps1

However, this one does have a nice onesliner:

Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer -Path "./script.ps1" -ExcludeRule PSAvoidUsingWriteHost

You can also make the output much more readable by using Format-List:

$Diags = Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer -Path "./script.ps1" -ExcludeRule PSAvoidUsingWriteHost
Write-Host ($Diags | Format-List | Out-String)

How to Run the PowerShell Fixer

pwsh-fix from (pwsh-essentials) is the easiest way to run the fixer on a file or directory.

At first blush the Fixer seems simple - just at -Fix to the Linter.

However, it's tricky because it will output a Byte-Order-Marker, which requires running the Formatter to remove.

That would look something like this:

function Repair-File($Path) {
    $WasDirty = $false

    $Original = Get-Content -Path $Path -Raw
    $Formatted = Invoke-Formatter -ScriptDefinition $Original

    IF ($Original -eq $Formatted) {
        return $WasDirty
    }
    $WasDirty = $true

    # By default Set-Content unconditionally adds an *extra* newline every time
    # See <https://stackoverflow.com/a/45266681/151312>
    Set-Content -Path $Path $Formatted -Encoding utf8NoBom -NoNewline

    return $WasDirty
}

You'll notice this is very similar to the Formatter solution above, with just these changes:

-     $Formatted = Invoke-Formatter -ScriptDefinition $Original
+
+     Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer -Fix -Path $Path -ExcludeRule PSAvoidUsingWriteHost
+     $Fixed = Get-Content -Path $Path -Raw
+     $Formatted = Invoke-Formatter -ScriptDefinition $Fixed

How to Configure PSScriptAnalyzer

There is no standard config location for projects or globally.
(not at the time of this writing at least)

Instead you'll need to change the config in your editor.

How to Configure PSScriptAnalyzer for Vim

1. You'll need to install vim-ale

   webi vim-ale
   

2. For Per-User config, edit ~/.vimrc and flavor to taste: ~/.vimrc:

    " PowerShell settings
    let g:ale_powershell_psscriptanalyzer_exclusions = "PSAvoidUsingWriteHost"
   

3. For Per-Project config you'll need to edit ~/.vimrc AND <PROJECT-DIR>/.vimrc: ~/.vimrc:

   " Place these 2 lines at the very END of ~/.vimrc
   " (this will enable per-directory .vimrc loading)
   set secure
   set exrc
   

   ~/PROJECT-NAME/.vimrc:

   " PowerShell settings
   let g:ale_powershell_psscriptanalyzer_exclusions = "PSAvoidUsingWriteHost"
   

How to Fix Byte-Order-Marker (BOM)

When you run the Linter with -Fix it will sometimes output a UTF Byte-Order-Marker to the file.

The good news is that the Formatter will remove this.

So always run the formatter after the linter. 🤷‍♂️

    $Fixed = Get-Content -Path $Path -Raw
    $Formatted = Invoke-Formatter -ScriptDefinition $Fixed

    # By default Set-Content unconditionally adds an *extra* newline every time
    # See <https://stackoverflow.com/a/45266681/151312>
    Set-Content -Path $Path $Formatted -Encoding utf8NoBom -NoNewline

Check the Installed Version

This will output the module and version, or $null.

Get-InstalledModule PSScriptAnalyzer `
    | Select-Object -Property Name, Version `
    | Format-List

Name    : PSScriptAnalyzer
Version : 1.21.0