store: Fix: KDE caches $SHELL at login — Konsole still uses old shell after chsh

graph/fixes/fix-kde-caches-shell-at-login-konsole-still-uses-old-shell-a-6b1ef7.md

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+---
+id: 6b1ef7c1-547f-4a79-aad7-23a720378c03
+type: fix
+title: "Fix: KDE caches $SHELL at login — Konsole still uses old shell after chsh"
+tags: [kde, konsole, fish, shell, workstation, dotfiles, chsh]
+importance: 0.55
+confidence: 0.8
+created: "2026-02-27T05:55:45.065939+00:00"
+updated: "2026-02-27T05:55:45.065939+00:00"
+---
+
+# Fix: KDE caches $SHELL at login — Konsole still uses old shell after chsh
+
+## Problem
+After running `chsh` to change the login shell from zsh to fish, `/etc/passwd` updates immediately but KDE's `$SHELL` environment variable remains stale. KDE caches the login environment at session start, so new terminals opened in Konsole still launch the old shell because Konsole's fallback profile uses `$SHELL`.
+
+## Root Cause
+KDE reads `$SHELL` from the environment at session startup (PAM/login), not dynamically from `/etc/passwd`. `chsh` only updates `/etc/passwd` — it does not send a signal to a running session.
+
+## Workaround (applied to Cal's workstation)
+Add an explicit `Command` line to the Konsole default profile so it does not fall back to `$SHELL`:
+
+**File:** `~/.local/share/konsole/Profile 1.profile`
+
+```ini
+[General]
+Command=/usr/bin/fish
+```
+
+This bypasses the stale `$SHELL` entirely and launches fish directly.
+
+## Long-term fix
+Log out and back in to KDE. After re-login, `$SHELL` will reflect the new value from `/etc/passwd` and the explicit `Command=` override can be removed if desired.
+
+## Notes
+- Applies to any shell change via `chsh` on KDE Plasma (Konsole, KDE apps)
+- Other terminal emulators may behave differently
+- Cal's workstation is on Nobara/Fedora with KDE Plasma