Terminal Quest

Tracks

1. 01🐚What Is a Shell? Foundations

   0/10 lessons

   Terminal basics, shell history, PATH, man pages, shortcuts

   The fundamentals. What the prompt is, how it finds commands, how to read help.

   Lesson list (10)

   • 01
     Terminal vs Shell vs Console~15 min · terminal, shell, console, iterm2, warp
   • 02
     A Brief History: sh → bash → zsh → fish~15 min · history, sh, bash, zsh, fish, posix
   • 03
     Why zsh Is the macOS Default~15 min · zsh, macOS, default-shell, license
   • 04
     Anatomy of the Prompt~15 min · prompt, ps1, powerlevel10k, starship
   • 05
     Commands, Arguments, Flags~15 min · command, argument, flag, getopt
   • 06
     PATH: How the Shell Finds Executables~15 min · path, executable, type, which, whence
   • 07
     Man Pages~15 min · man, documentation, less, info
   • 08
     Getting Help: --help, tldr, cheat.sh~15 min · help, tldr, cheat, documentation
   • 09
     Keyboard Shortcuts: Readline & Zsh~15 min · readline, shortcuts, emacs-keys, vi-mode
   • 10
     Exit Codes and $?~15 min · exit-code, status, errors, shell

   ✓Quiz · 5 questions→

2. 02📁Navigating the Filesystem

   0/12 lessons

   Directories, paths, permissions, find, tree

   Where files live, how to walk to them, and how to control who can touch them.

   Lesson list (12)

   • 01
     The Filesystem Tree~15 min · filesystem, fhs, macos, tree
   • 02
     pwd, cd, ls — The Navigation Trinity~12 min · pwd, cd, ls, navigation
   • 03
     ls Power Flags~12 min · ls, flags, macos
   • 04
     Absolute vs Relative Paths~10 min · paths, absolute, relative
   • 05
     Home, Current, Parent — ~ . ..~10 min · tilde, shortcuts, navigation
   • 06
     Hidden Files and Dotfiles~10 min · dotfiles, hidden, config
   • 07
     mkdir, rmdir, rm — Creating and Removing~12 min · mkdir, rmdir, rm, trash
   • 08
     cp, mv — Copying and Moving~12 min · cp, mv, rsync
   • 09
     Symbolic and Hard Links~13 min · symlink, hard-link, ln
   • 10
     find — Searching the Filesystem~15 min · find, search, exec
   • 11
     tree — Visualizing Directories~8 min · tree, visualization
   • 12
     File Permissions: rwx, chmod, chown~15 min · chmod, chown, permissions, umask

   ✓Quiz · 5 questions→

3. 03🔧Input, Output and Pipes

   0/10 lessons

   Streams, redirection, pipes, sort, uniq, xargs, tee

   How Unix programs talk to each other through three streams and one pipe character.

   Lesson list (10)

   • 01
     Standard Streams~12 min · stdin, stdout, stderr, fd
   • 02
     Output Redirection: > and >>~10 min · redirect, stdout, append
   • 03
     Stderr Redirection: 2>, 2>&1, &>~10 min · stderr, redirect, merge
   • 04
     /dev/null — The Black Hole~8 min · dev-null, silence
   • 05
     Pipes: The Unix Superpower~12 min · pipe, composition, philosophy
   • 06
     The Unix Philosophy~10 min · philosophy, composition, history
   • 07
     sort + uniq~12 min · sort, uniq, frequency
   • 08
     wc, head, tail~10 min · wc, head, tail, follow
   • 09
     cut and tr~10 min · cut, tr, fields
   • 10
     xargs and tee~12 min · xargs, tee, parallel

   ✓Quiz · 5 questions→

4. 04📝Text Processing Power Tools

   0/10 lessons

   grep, sed, awk, jq, regex, encoding

   Search, transform, and reshape any text the shell can read.

   Lesson list (10)

   • 01
     cat, less, more~8 min · cat, less, more, pager
   • 02
     grep Deep Dive~15 min · grep, regex, search
   • 03
     sed: Stream Editor~15 min · sed, substitute, in-place
   • 04
     awk: Pattern-Action Language~15 min · awk, fields, scripting
   • 05
     tr: Character Translation~8 min · tr, character
   • 06
     diff: Comparing Files~10 min · diff, patch, compare
   • 07
     jq: JSON Processing~13 min · jq, json
   • 08
     Regular Expressions Basics~15 min · regex, patterns
   • 09
     Real-World One-Liners~13 min · one-liner, compose
   • 10
     File Encoding~10 min · utf-8, encoding, bom, line-endings

   ✓Quiz · 5 questions→

5. 05⚙️Environment and Configuration

   0/10 lessons

   Variables, dotfiles, aliases, PATH, Homebrew, SSH

   Make the shell yours. Persistent settings that follow you across sessions and machines.

   Lesson list (10)

   • 01
     Environment Variables~12 min · env, export, variables
   • 02
     Shell Configuration Files~13 min · zshrc, zprofile, zshenv, bashrc
   • 03
     Login vs Non-Login, Interactive vs Non-Interactive~10 min · login-shell, interactive, non-interactive
   • 04
     Aliases vs Functions~10 min · alias, function
   • 05
     PATH Management~10 min · path, homebrew, ordering
   • 06
     Prompt Customization~10 min · prompt, starship, powerlevel10k
   • 07
     direnv: Per-Directory Environment~10 min · direnv, envrc, project
   • 08
     Homebrew Essentials~10 min · homebrew, package, macos
   • 09
     SSH Config~10 min · ssh, config, tunnel
   • 10
     Dotfiles Management~12 min · dotfiles, chezmoi, stow, git

   ✓Quiz · 5 questions→

6. 06🌐Network and Remote Work

   0/8 lessons

   SSH, rsync, curl, Tailscale, network triage

   Talk to other machines safely. Reach across networks the way Pippa's fleet does.

   Lesson list (8)

   • 01
     SSH Basics: Keys and Agent~13 min · ssh, ed25519, ssh-agent
   • 02
     SSH Tunnels — -L, -R, -D~13 min · ssh, tunnel, port-forward
   • 03
     rsync: Smart File Sync~13 min · rsync, sync, backup
   • 04
     scp vs rsync vs sftp~8 min · scp, sftp, rsync
   • 05
     curl: HTTP from the Shell~13 min · curl, http, api
   • 06
     HTTPie — Friendlier HTTP~8 min · httpie, http, alternative
   • 07
     Tailscale + ssh (Pippa fleet workflow)~10 min · tailscale, vpn, fleet
   • 08
     Network Tools: ping, dig, traceroute~10 min · ping, dig, traceroute, netcat

   ✓Quiz · 5 questions→

7. 07🔄Process Management and Job Control

   0/10 lessons

   ps, kill, jobs, tmux, cron, lsof, signals

   What's running, how to control it, how to keep it running across disconnects.

   Lesson list (10)

   • 01
     ps: Listing Processes~10 min · ps, process
   • 02
     top, htop, btop~8 min · top, htop, btop, monitor
   • 03
     kill: Sending Signals~10 min · kill, signals, term
   • 04
     Job Control: bg, fg, jobs~10 min · jobs, bg, fg
   • 05
     Background and nohup~8 min · nohup, disown, background
   • 06
     tmux Essentials~13 min · tmux, session, persistence
   • 07
     Cron and launchd~12 min · cron, launchd, schedule
   • 08
     System Services (brew services, launchctl)~10 min · services, launchctl, brew
   • 09
     lsof: Who's Using What~10 min · lsof, files, ports
   • 10
     Signals Deep Dive and watch~10 min · signal, trap, watch

   ✓Quiz · 5 questions→

8. 08📜Shell Scripting

   0/12 lessons

   Variables, loops, conditionals, functions, error handling

   Compose what you've learned into reliable scripts you'll trust in cron and CI.

   Lesson list (12)

   • 01
     The Shebang Line~8 min · shebang, interpreter
   • 02
     Variables and Quoting~13 min · variables, quoting, expansion
   • 03
     Conditionals: if/elif/else and [[ ]]~12 min · if, test, comparison
   • 04
     Loops: for, while, until~12 min · for, while, until, loops
   • 05
     Case Statements~8 min · case, switch
   • 06
     Functions in Scripts~10 min · function, local, return
   • 07
     Command Substitution and Arithmetic~10 min · substitution, arithmetic
   • 08
     Arrays~10 min · arrays, indexed, associative
   • 09
     Error Handling: set -euo pipefail~13 min · set, errexit, pipefail, nounset
   • 10
     trap: Cleanup on Exit~10 min · trap, cleanup, exit
   • 11
     Heredocs and Script Arguments~10 min · heredoc, args, getopts
   • 12
     Practical Scripts: backup, deploy, daily-check~13 min · practical, backup, deploy

   ✓Quiz · 5 questions→

9. 09⚡Modern CLI Tools

   0/8 lessons

   bat, fzf, ripgrep, zoxide, delta, mise

   Same job, better defaults. The Rust/Go-rewrite generation that makes 2026 terminal life feel new.

   Lesson list (8)

   • 01
     Modern Replacements: bat, eza, fd, ripgrep, dust, duf~13 min · bat, eza, fd, ripgrep, dust, duf
   • 02
     fzf: Fuzzy Finder Magic~13 min · fzf, fuzzy, history
   • 03
     zoxide: Smart cd~8 min · zoxide, cd, frecency
   • 04
     delta: Git Diffs You Can Read~8 min · delta, git, diff
   • 05
     jq, yq, dasel — Structured Data~10 min · jq, yq, dasel, json, yaml
   • 06
     Starship: Cross-Shell Prompt~8 min · starship, prompt
   • 07
     Atuin: Shell History on Steroids~10 min · atuin, history, sync
   • 08
     mise / asdf: Multi-Tool Version Manager~10 min · mise, asdf, version-manager

   ✓Quiz · 5 questions→

10. 10💻Advanced Patterns and macOS Specifics

    0/5 lessons

    Brace expansion, parameter expansion, process substitution, macOS

    The patterns that turn shell from a tool into a way of thinking.

    Lesson list (5)

    • 01
      Brace Expansion and Globbing Advanced~10 min · brace, glob, extglob
    • 02
      Parameter Expansion Advanced~13 min · parameter-expansion, default, substitute
    • 03
      Process Substitution~8 min · process-substitution, compare
    • 04
      Subshells and Command Grouping~8 min · subshell, grouping, scope
    • 05
      macOS-Specific: pbcopy, open, osascript~10 min · macos, pbcopy, open, osascript

    ✓Quiz · 3 questions→