diff --git a/lib/shell.lua b/lib/shell.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a35e1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/shell.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+local filesystem = require("filesystem")
+
+-- get a list of installed shells
+local shellDir = filesystem.list("/halyde/shell/")
+local shells = {}
+for i=1,#shellDir do
+  table.insert(shells,string.match(shellDir[i],"([^/]+)%.lua$"))
+end
+
+-- locate the shell
+local tasks = tsched.getTasks()
+-- print(tasks)
+local pid = tsched.getCurrentTask().id
+local function taskFromPID(pid)
+  checkArg(1,pid,"number")
+  for i=1,#tasks do
+    if tasks[i] and tasks[i].id==pid then
+      return tasks[i]
+    end
+  end
+end
+local shellProcess
+while true do
+  local task = taskFromPID(pid)
+  if not task then
+    error("parent shell task doesn't exist (ID="..pid..")")
+  end
+  if table.find(shells,task.name) then
+    shellProcess = task
+    break
+  end
+  pid = task.parent
+  if not pid then
+    error("could not find parent shell task")
+  end
+end
+if not shellProcess then error("could not locate shell task") end
+
+-- get the shell object from the process
+-- print("Process ID: "..shellProcess.id)
+-- print(ipc.shared[shellProcess.id].shell)
+return ipc.shared[shellProcess.id].shell