diff --git a/SwiftShell/Command.swift b/SwiftShell/Command.swift
index 09cbd68..982e9d6 100644
--- a/SwiftShell/Command.swift
+++ b/SwiftShell/Command.swift
@@ -7,17 +7,42 @@
 
 import Foundation
 
-public func runLater (shellcommand: String) -> NSTask {
-	let task = NSTask()
-	task.arguments = ["-c", shellcommand]
-	task.launchPath = "/bin/bash"
-
-	return task
-}
 
 /** Print message to standard error and halt execution. */
 @noreturn public func printErrorAndExit <T> (errormessage: T, errorcode: Int32 = EXIT_FAILURE) {
 	main.stderror.writeln("SwiftShell: \(errormessage)")
 	exit(errorcode)
 }
+
+extension ShellContextType {
+
+	func runLater (shellcommand: String, args: [String]) -> NSTask {
+		let task = NSTask()
+		task.arguments = args
+		task.launchPath = shellcommand
+		task.environment = main.env
+
+		return task
+	}
+
+	func runLater (bash bashcommand: String) -> NSTask {
+		return runLater("/bin/bash", args: ["-c", bashcommand])
+	}
+
+	/** Shortcut for in-line command, returns output as String. */
+	public func $ (shellcommand: String, args: String ...) -> String {
+		let task = runLater(shellcommand, args: args)
+
+		// avoids implicit reading of the main script's standardInput
+		task.standardInput = NSPipe ()
+
+		let output = NSPipe ()
+		task.standardOutput = output
+		task.standardError = output
+		task.launch()
+		task.waitUntilExit()
+
+		return output.fileHandleForReading.read(encoding: self.encoding)
+	}
+	
 }