Terminal Basics

Get comfortable with the command line before diving into developer tools.

What Is the Terminal?

The terminal is a text-based way to talk to your computer. Instead of clicking through menus and windows, you type commands and press Enter.

Why does this matter? Most developer tools — Git, Claude Code, and other builder tools — are designed to run from the terminal. Every setup guide that follows assumes you can open a terminal and type a command.

The good news: you only need a handful of commands to get started.

Open Your Terminal

macOS

You have two quick ways to open Terminal:

1. Spotlight Search: Press Cmd + Space, type Terminal, press Enter
2. Finder: Open Applications > Utilities > Terminal

You’ll see a window with a short line of text ending in $ or % and a blinking cursor. That’s your prompt — it means the terminal is ready for a command.

Windows

1. Start Menu: Click Start, type PowerShell, click Windows PowerShell
2. Windows Terminal (if installed): Click Start, type Terminal, click Terminal

You’ll see a window with a line ending in > and a blinking cursor. That’s your prompt — it means the terminal is ready for a command.

Essential Commands

These are the commands you’ll use most often. macOS/Linux and Windows PowerShell use slightly different names for some of them.

macOS / Linux

Command	What It Does
pwd	Print your current directory (where am I?)
ls	List files and folders in the current directory
cd foldername	Move into a folder
cd ..	Go back up one level
cd ~	Go to your home directory
mkdir foldername	Create a new folder
clear	Clear the screen

Windows PowerShell

Command	What It Does
Get-Location	Print your current directory (where am I?)
dir	List files and folders in the current directory
cd foldername	Move into a folder
cd ..	Go back up one level
cd ~	Go to your home directory
mkdir foldername	Create a new folder
cls	Clear the screen

PowerShell aliases

PowerShell also accepts pwd, ls, and clear as shortcuts. If you see those commands in a guide, they’ll work on Windows too.

Try It Yourself

Open your terminal and follow along. This short exercise builds muscle memory with commands you’ll use throughout these guides.

macOS / Linux

# 1. Check where you are
pwd

# 2. List what's in this folder
ls

# 3. Move to your Desktop
cd ~/Desktop

# 4. Create a test folder
mkdir terminal-test

# 5. List again — you should see your new folder
ls

# 6. Move into it
cd terminal-test

# 7. Confirm you're inside
pwd

# 8. Go back up one level
cd ..

# 9. Clean up — remove the test folder
rmdir terminal-test

Windows PowerShell

# 1. Check where you are
Get-Location

# 2. List what's in this folder
dir

# 3. Move to your Desktop
cd ~\Desktop

# 4. Create a test folder
mkdir terminal-test

# 5. List again — you should see your new folder
dir

# 6. Move into it
cd terminal-test

# 7. Confirm you're inside
Get-Location

# 8. Go back up one level
cd ..

# 9. Clean up — remove the test folder
rmdir terminal-test

If every step worked, you’re ready for the rest of the setup guides.

Key Concepts

Paths

A path describes the location of a file or folder on your computer.

• Absolute path — the full address from the root of your drive:
  • macOS: /Users/yourname/Documents/project
  • Windows: C:\Users\yourname\Documents\project
• Relative path — the address from wherever you are right now:
  • cd Documents (move into a Documents folder inside your current location)
  • cd ../other-folder (go up one level, then into a different folder)

Notice that macOS/Linux uses forward slashes (/) and Windows uses backslashes (\).

The Prompt

The $, %, or > at the start of each line is the prompt. It means the terminal is waiting for your input. You don’t type the prompt character — just the command after it.

Case Sensitivity

• macOS/Linux: File and folder names are case-sensitive. Documents and documents are different folders.
• Windows: File and folder names are not case-sensitive. Documents and documents refer to the same folder.

Tab Completion

Start typing a file or folder name and press Tab. The terminal will auto-complete the name if there’s a match, or show you options if there are multiple matches. This saves typing and helps avoid typos.

Troubleshooting

“I typed a command and nothing happened”

• Make sure you pressed Enter after the command
• Check for typos — commands must be spelled exactly right

“command not found” or “not recognized”

• The tool you’re trying to use isn’t installed, or your system doesn’t know where to find it
• Follow the relevant installation guide, then try again

“Permission denied”

• You may need administrator rights
• On macOS, prefix the command with sudo (you’ll be asked for your password)
• On Windows, right-click PowerShell and choose Run as Administrator

“I’m lost and don’t know where I am”

• Run pwd (macOS/Linux) or Get-Location (Windows) to see your current directory
• Run cd ~ to go back to your home directory

Ask AI for help

If you’re stuck, paste this into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini:

I’m learning to use the terminal on [Mac / Windows] and ran into this issue: [describe what happened or paste the error message]. I was trying to [what you were doing]. What does this mean and what should I try?