cpath

convert path

A small bash function for WSL that auto-detects whether you handed it a Windows path, a WSL path, or a file:// URL and converts it. The result is printed and also copied to the Windows clipboard so you can paste it straight into File Explorer, an editor, or a chat.

By default it converts along this graph:

file:// URL  ->  Windows
Windows      ->  WSL
WSL          ->  Windows

Or pass a target flag to convert to a specific form: -i/--windows, -s/--wsl, -f/--fileurl.

It's a thin wrapper around Microsoft's built-in wslpath plus Windows' built-in clip.exe. No PHP, Python, Go, or Rust runtime — just bash and two tools that already ship with WSL and Windows.

Install / update

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/max-nothacker/cpath/main/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bashrc

Re-run the same command to update — the installer is idempotent and never duplicates anything in ~/.bashrc.

What it does:

• Writes cpath.sh to ~/.local/share/cpath/cpath.sh.
• Adds one tagged source-line to ~/.bashrc (and ~/.zshrc if it exists) so every new shell picks it up.
• Migrates legacy installs (an embedded cpath() block from earlier versions of this README) — backup saved at <rc>.cpath-bak.

Prefer to read the script before running it:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/max-nothacker/cpath/main/install.sh -o /tmp/cpath-install.sh
less /tmp/cpath-install.sh
bash /tmp/cpath-install.sh
source ~/.bashrc

Dotfile users: copy cpath.sh anywhere you like and source it directly from your shell rc — no installer needed.

Uninstall

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/max-nothacker/cpath/main/uninstall.sh | bash

Removes the source-line from ~/.bashrc and ~/.zshrc (backups at <rc>.cpath-bak) and deletes ~/.local/share/cpath.

Usage

$ cpath 'C:\path\to\folder'
/mnt/c/path/to/folder
# (and the same string is on the Windows clipboard)

$ cpath /home/user/repos
\\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\user\repos
# (paste into File Explorer's address bar to open the WSL folder)

$ cpath /mnt/c/Users/Public
C:\Users\Public

# A file:// URL (e.g. copied from a browser or OneDrive) -> Windows path
$ cpath 'file:///C:/Users/you/OneDrive%20-%20Org/notes.pdf'
C:\Users\you\OneDrive - Org\notes.pdf

# Force a specific target form with -i / -s / -f
$ cpath -s 'C:\path'                 # to WSL
/mnt/c/path
$ cpath -i /home/user/repos          # to Windows
\\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\user\repos
$ cpath -f /home/user/notes.pdf      # to a file:// URL
file://wsl.localhost/Ubuntu/home/user/notes.pdf

# From a pipe (first line of stdin)
$ pwd | cpath
\\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\user

# From the Windows clipboard (no args)
# 1. Right-click a file in File Explorer → "Copy as path"
# 2. In WSL:
$ cpath
/mnt/c/Users/you/something.txt
# (same string is now back on the clipboard, ready to paste)

Paths with spaces work as long as the backslashes survive your shell — so quote a Windows path (cpath 'C:\a b\c.md') or use forward slashes (cpath C:/a b/c.md). An unquoted backslash path can't be recovered (bash eats the backslashes before cpath sees them); cpath detects this and points you at quoting or clipboard mode.

The clipboard mode side-steps bash's backslash-eating problem entirely: paths copied from Explorer never touch the shell's argument parser, so you don't have to remember to single-quote them.

How it works

1. The input form is detected: file://… → file URL; <letter>:[\/] or \\… → Windows; anything else with a slash → WSL.
2. With no target flag the default graph picks the target (file → Windows, Windows → WSL, WSL → Windows). A -i/-s/-f flag overrides it.
3. The input is resolved to a Windows path (via wslpath for WSL paths, percent-decoding for file URLs), then emitted in the target form — wslpath -u for WSL, percent-encoded file:///… for a file URL, or the Windows path itself.
4. The result is piped through clip.exe, which Windows exposes to WSL via interop.

Everything leans on Microsoft's built-in wslpath; the only added logic is the file-URL percent encode/decode. That's the whole tool.

Prior art

cpath is a thin combination of two well-known pieces. Credit where it's due:

• laurent22/wslpath — PHP, auto-detects direction.
• lamyj/wsl-path-converter — Python (wpc), auto-detects.
• ardnew/wslpath — Go binary, auto-detects, actively maintained.

The niche cpath fills: auto-detect plus Windows clipboard plus zero non-Microsoft dependencies, in a function small enough to drop into ~/.bashrc.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.