CLI Crib Sheet — Coding with AI Bootcamp

Which Terminal Am I Using?

Mac is easy — there's one terminal. Windows is confusing because several different things all look like "a terminal." Here's the short version.

Mac

Press ⌘ + Space, type Terminal, hit Enter. You're done. Follow any bootcamp example exactly as written.

Windows — use this one

Open the Ubuntu app from your Start menu. That's it. Everything a bootcamp example says to type will work the same as on a Mac.

"Ubuntu" is the app we want you to use on Windows for this bootcamp. If you haven't installed it yet, follow the Pre-Class Setup Guide.

Why this is confusing on Windows: the same machine can open windows labeled Ubuntu, PowerShell, or Command Prompt. They all look like black rectangles with text. For this bootcamp, just use Ubuntu. If you accidentally opened something else, close it and open Ubuntu instead.

The Four Commands You Actually Need

If you know these four, you can follow along with any bootcamp exercise. They work the same on Mac Terminal and on the Ubuntu app on Windows.

pwd "show where I am"

Shows you where you are right now. When in doubt, run this.

$ pwd
/Users/patrick

ls "list"

Lists the files and folders in the current directory.

$ ls
Documents  Downloads  Desktop  Music  Pictures

Optional: use ls -la to see more detail, including hidden files.

cd "go to a folder"

Moves you into a folder. This is how you navigate.

$ cd Documents        # go into Documents
$ cd ..               # go UP one level
$ cd ~                # go to your home folder
$ cd                  # (same thing — home folder)
$ cd /tmp             # jump straight to a specific folder

Press Tab to save time: Start typing a folder name and hit Tab. The terminal finishes the name for you. This is one of the easiest ways to avoid typos.

mkdir "make a folder"

Creates a new folder in your current directory.

$ mkdir my-first-project
$ cd my-first-project
$ pwd
/Users/patrick/my-first-project

Gotcha — spaces in folder names: cd My Project won't work. Use cd "My Project" with quotes, or just skip spaces when you name folders — use my-project or my_project instead.

"Where Did My Folder Go?" — Finding CLI Stuff in the GUI

You made a folder in the terminal. Now you want to open it in Finder / Explorer. Here's how.

macOS — Finder

From the terminal, you can open the current folder in Finder directly:

$ open .              # opens current folder in Finder
$ open ~/Documents    # opens Documents in Finder

Or from Finder's menu: Go → Go to Folder… (⌘ + Shift + G), then paste a path like /Users/yourname/my-first-project.

To see hidden files in Finder (anything starting with ., like .claude): press ⌘ + Shift + . (period).

Windows (Ubuntu) — Explorer

From the Ubuntu window, open the current folder in Windows Explorer:

$ explorer.exe .      # opens the current folder in Explorer

The files you create in Ubuntu don't show up in your normal Windows drives — they live in their own spot on your computer. The easy way to browse them: open Explorer and look in the left sidebar for a Linux entry (penguin icon). Your Ubuntu home folder is inside.

Going the Other Way — GUI to CLI

You have a folder open in Finder/Explorer and you want to cd into it from the terminal.

Mac

Type cd (with a trailing space) in Terminal, then drag the folder from Finder onto the Terminal window. The full path gets pasted in for you. Hit Enter.
Or: right-click the folder in Finder → hold Option → "Copy as Pathname."

Windows (Ubuntu)

In Explorer, click the folder's address bar — it shows the full path. Copy it and paste after cd in Ubuntu.
Or: Shift + right-click a folder → "Copy as path."

Survival Tips

Up arrow brings back your previous command. Keep pressing it to walk back through what you typed earlier.
Tab auto-completes file and folder names. Start typing, hit Tab, and the terminal finishes the word for you. Use it constantly.
Ctrl + C cancels whatever's currently running. If you're stuck, hit it.
Type clear to clean up the screen when it gets noisy.
Capitalization matters. Documents and documents are different folders as far as the terminal is concerned.
The terminal is not scary. You can't break anything with pwd, ls, cd, or mkdir. Poke around freely.

Be careful with delete commands: some commands delete files and folders permanently, with no Trash and no undo. You won't need that for this bootcamp. If an AI suggests a delete command, read carefully before running it.

Glossary

Words that get thrown around. Skim once, refer back as needed.

Terminal

The window you type commands into. On Mac it's an app literally called Terminal. On Windows, the equivalent for this bootcamp is the Ubuntu app.

CLI

Command-Line Interface. Fancy name for "typing commands in a terminal." The opposite of a GUI, where you click things.

WSL

Windows Subsystem for Linux. The tech that lets you run a Linux terminal on a Windows machine. You don't really need to think about it — just open the Ubuntu app.

Ubuntu

The Linux system that WSL sets up for you. On Windows, the "Ubuntu" app in your Start menu is your terminal for this bootcamp.

PowerShell

A different Windows terminal you might see floating around. Works for some things, but not what we're using in the bootcamp. If you open it by accident, close it and open Ubuntu instead.

Command Prompt

An older Windows terminal (cmd.exe). Same deal — not what we're using. Close and open Ubuntu.

Prompt

The little bit of text sitting there waiting for you to type, usually ending in $ or >. When a guide shows $ ls, the $ is the prompt — don't type it, just type ls.

Folder / Directory

Same thing. "Folder" is what you call it when you see it in Finder or Explorer. "Directory" is what the terminal calls it.

Path

The full address of a file or folder, written out step by step. Like /Users/patrick/Documents/project — read that as "inside Users, inside patrick, inside Documents, the project folder."

Home folder

Your personal folder — where your Documents, Downloads, Desktop etc. live. The terminal shortcut for it is ~ (tilde).

Current folder

The folder you're "in" right now. Any command you run acts on this folder unless you say otherwise. Run pwd to see it.