Troubleshooting · Terminal
Terminal basics¶
The terminal is a text box where you type commands to your computer. Agents like Claude Code live there. You need about five commands and one habit — that's it.
Open it¶
- Windows: Start menu → type "Terminal" → open Windows Terminal (or PowerShell).
- Mac: Cmd+Space → type "Terminal" → Enter.
The five commands¶
| Type this | It means |
|---|---|
pwd |
"Where am I?" — shows your current folder |
ls (Mac) / dir (Windows) |
"What's in here?" — lists the folder's contents |
cd Documents |
"Go into the Documents folder" |
cd .. |
"Go up one folder" |
mkdir ai-practice |
"Make a new folder called ai-practice" |
That's genuinely most of what you'll use. Everything else, you can ask AI for as you need it.
The one habit¶
Know where you are before you run anything. Type pwd first. Agents act in the folder you're standing in — being in the wrong folder is the #1 beginner mistake.
When a command fails¶
Read the message. The classics:
- "command not found" — a typo, or the program isn't installed.
- "no such file or directory" — you're in the wrong folder, or the name's misspelled.
pwdandlswill show you. - "permission denied" — the computer is protecting something. Stop and ask AI about the specific message rather than forcing it.