Nexus

Central PowerShell module hub with a local web portal for discovering, importing, and invoking commands across your private modules.

Why Nexus

• One place to register and manage internal PowerShell modules
• Local browser portal for command discovery and execution
• CLI-first workflow with exported functions and a short alias
• JSON-based settings and module registry with local override support

Requirements

• PowerShell 7.2 or newer
• Windows, macOS, or Linux

Quick Start

# From the repository root
Import-Module .\Nexus.psd1 -Force

# Start the portal (browser opens by default)
Start-Nexus

# Alias for Start-Nexus
ops

Tip

Use Start-Nexus -Scan to discover modules from configured scan roots during startup.

Auto-Run On PowerShell Launch

If you want Nexus to start automatically whenever you open PowerShell, use the built-in helper command:

# From the repository root
Import-Module .\Nexus.psd1 -Force

# All hosts (Windows Terminal, VS Code terminal, etc.)
Enable-NexusAutoStart

# Or VS Code terminal only
Enable-NexusAutoStart -Scope CurrentHost

This writes an idempotent profile block that starts Nexus in a background PowerShell process only when Nexus is not already running.

Option A: All PowerShell Hosts (Recommended)

Use CurrentUserAllHosts so it runs in Windows Terminal, VS Code terminal, and other hosts.

if (!(Test-Path $PROFILE.CurrentUserAllHosts)) {
	New-Item -ItemType File -Path $PROFILE.CurrentUserAllHosts -Force | Out-Null
}
notepad $PROFILE.CurrentUserAllHosts

Add this to the opened profile file:

# Auto-start Nexus once if not already running
$nexusRoot = "<path-to-your-nexus-repo>"
$modulePath = Join-Path $nexusRoot "Nexus.psd1"

if (Test-Path $modulePath) {
	$alreadyRunning = $false
	try {
		$null = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "http://localhost:8090/api/health" -TimeoutSec 1
		$alreadyRunning = $true
	} catch {
		$alreadyRunning = $false
	}

	if (-not $alreadyRunning) {
		$cmd = "Import-Module '$modulePath' -Force; Start-Nexus -NoBrowser"
		Start-Process pwsh -WindowStyle Hidden -ArgumentList "-NoLogo", "-NoProfile", "-Command", $cmd | Out-Null
	}
}

Option B: VS Code Terminal Only

Use CurrentUserCurrentHost instead:

if (!(Test-Path $PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost)) {
	New-Item -ItemType File -Path $PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost -Force | Out-Null
}
notepad $PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost

Paste the same auto-start block into that profile.

Notes

• Start-Nexus is a blocking listener, so starting it in a separate process keeps your current terminal usable.
• Remove -NoBrowser if you want the portal tab to open automatically on startup.
• If you changed defaultPort in settings, update the health URL accordingly.

Execution Model

Nexus runs module commands in isolated execution contexts so modules can keep their own authentication state and avoid DLL conflicts.

• Most modules run in a persistent runspace for faster repeated execution.
• Modules that depend on conflicting ecosystems such as Microsoft Graph, Exchange Online, or Teams are automatically moved to process isolation.
• Async commands return immediately with a job id, and the portal polls job status until the result is ready.
• Only one async command can run at a time for a given module runspace to avoid pipeline collisions.

You can inspect async job progress through the portal API:

GET /api/jobs/{id}

Exported Commands

Command	Description
Start-Nexus	Start the local Nexus HTTP listener and portal
Stop-Nexus	Stop the running Nexus listener
Enable-NexusAutoStart	Add/update a profile block to auto-start Nexus when PowerShell launches
Get-OpsModule	List modules in the registry
Import-OpsModule	Import a registered module
Get-OpsCommand	List and search commands across registered modules
Invoke-OpsCommand	Invoke a registered command with parameters
Register-OpsModule	Register a module path and metadata
Unregister-OpsModule	Remove a module from the registry
Update-OpsRegistry	Scan and synchronize registry entries

Configuration

Nexus reads configuration from:

• Config/settings.json (portal behavior, ports, scan settings)
• Config/modules.json (module registry)

Local overrides are supported and take precedence when present:

• Config/settings.local.json
• Config/modules.local.json

Common defaults include:

• defaultPort: 8090
• portRange: 8090-8099
• openBrowserOnStart: true
• scanOnStartup: false

Build, Test, and Analyze

# Run analyzer + tests + build
.\build.ps1 -Task CI

# Individual tasks
.\build.ps1 -Task Analyze
.\build.ps1 -Task Test
.\build.ps1 -Task Build
.\build.ps1 -Task Clean

Project Layout

Public/   Exported user commands
Private/  Internal implementation
Assets/   Portal UI (HTML/CSS/JS)
Config/   Settings and module registry
Tests/    Pester test suite

Author

Robin Pieterse (Turrito Networks)