Terminal Cheat Sheet

WezTerm Shortcuts (project custom)

Ctrl + Shift + Space is a leader key with a 3-second timeout: press and release it, then press the second key. Plain Ctrl + Space is deliberately left free — it is the tmux prefix — and Ctrl + A/Ctrl + E keep their shell meanings (beginning/end of line).

Tabs & Windows

Action	Shortcut
New tab	`Ctrl + Shift + T` or leader then `c`
Close tab	`Ctrl + Shift + W`
Next / previous tab	`Ctrl + Tab` / `Ctrl + Shift + Tab`
Rename tab	leader then `,`
Switch workspace	leader then `w`
Launcher (profiles/tabs)	`Ctrl + Shift + L`
Toggle fullscreen	`Alt + Enter`

Panes

Action	Shortcut
Split horizontal	leader then `backslash`, `pipe`, or `v`
Split vertical	leader then `-` or `s`
Split horizontal (direct)	`Ctrl + Alt + backslash`
Split vertical (direct)	`Ctrl + Alt + -`
Move between panes	`Ctrl + Shift + Left/Right` or leader then `h/j/k/l`
Zoom / unzoom pane	leader then `z`
Close pane	leader then `x` or `Ctrl + Alt + X`

Copy, Paste & Search

Action	Shortcut
Copy selection	`Ctrl + Shift + C`
Paste	`Ctrl + Shift + V`
Copy with mouse	Select text and release left button
Paste with mouse	Right-click
Search in scrollback	`Ctrl + Shift + F`
Scroll one screen	`Shift + PageUp` / `Shift + PageDown`
Jump to previous / next prompt	`Ctrl + Shift + Up` / `Ctrl + Shift + Down`
Quick-select URL/text	`Ctrl + Shift + P`

Appearance & Config

Action	Shortcut
Increase / decrease font size	`Ctrl + Shift + =` / `Ctrl + Shift + -`
Reset font size	`Ctrl + 0`
Open WezTerm config	leader then `.`

tmux Shortcuts (project custom)

The tmux prefix is Ctrl + Space; the WezTerm leader is Ctrl + Shift + Space, so the prefix passes straight through to tmux. Mouse support and vi copy-mode keys are enabled, and copy-mode y reaches the system clipboard (OSC 52) — including the Windows clipboard from WSL.

Action	Shortcut
Prefix key	`Ctrl + Space`
New window (keeps directory)	prefix then `c`
Next / previous window	prefix then `n` / `p`
Split horizontal	prefix then `pipe`
Split vertical	prefix then `-`
Move between panes	prefix then `h/j/k/l`
Resize pane	prefix then `H/J/K/L` (repeatable)
Zoom / unzoom pane	prefix then `m`
Copy mode (vi keys)	prefix then `[`, then `v` select, `y` copy to clipboard
Reload tmux config	prefix then `r`
Install tmux plugins (TPM)	prefix then `I`

Sessions survive terminal restarts via tmux-resurrect/continuum: reattach with tmux attach.

Modern CLI Tools (installed by this setup)

Faster, friendlier replacements for classic commands. All are installed by terminal-setup.

Tool	Replaces / Purpose	Example
`fd`	`find`	`fd '\.py$'` - find files by regex, fast
`rg`	`grep -r`	`rg "TODO" src/` - recursive code search
`bat`	`cat`	`bat file.py` - view with syntax highlighting
`fzf`	interactive filter	`history \\| fzf` - fuzzy-pick from any list
`lazygit`	git UI	`lazygit` - stage, commit, and browse visually
`delta`	`diff` pager	used by git automatically for readable diffs
`jq`	JSON processor	`curl api \\| jq .items[0]` - query JSON
`yq`	YAML processor	`yq .jobs ci.yml` - query/edit YAML
`xh`	`curl` for APIs	`xh get api.example.com/users` - clean HTTP
`sd`	`sed` replace	`sd 'old' 'new' file` - simple find/replace
`ast-grep`	structural search	`ast-grep -p 'if ($X) $S'` - code-aware matching
`just`	task runner	`just test` - run project recipes
`typos`	spell checker	`typos src/` - find typos in code and docs
`tree`	directory tree	`tree -L 2` - visualize folder structure
`direnv`	per-dir env vars	auto-loads `.envrc` when entering a directory
`uv`	Python tooling	`uv run script.py` - fast installs and runs
`node`	JavaScript runtime	`node script.js` - run JS; `npm install` for packages
`shellcheck`	shell linter	`shellcheck deploy.sh` - catch script bugs

Python in WSL is uv-managed: python and python3 in ~/.local/bin point to the latest uv-installed CPython (the system /usr/bin/python3 stays untouched for OS scripts). Node.js is installed user-locally in ~/.local at the same major version as Windows.

Navigation

Command	Description
`pwd`	Print working directory (show current location)
`cd <dir>`	Change directory
`cd -`	Go back to the previous directory
`cd ~` or `cd`	Go to home directory
`cd ..`	Go up one directory
`pushd <dir>`	Push directory onto stack
`popd`	Pop directory from stack
`ls`	List directory contents
`ls -la`	List all files with details
`ls -lh`	List with human-readable file sizes
`ls -R`	List recursively
`ls --color=auto`	Colorize output

File Operations

Command	Description
`touch <file>`	Create a new file or update timestamp
`mkdir <dir>`	Create a new directory
`mkdir -p a/b/c`	Create nested directories
`cp <src> <dst>`	Copy a file
`cp -r <src> <dst>`	Copy a directory recursively
`mv <src> <dst>`	Move or rename a file
`rm <file>`	Remove a file
`rm -i <file>`	Remove with confirmation
`rm -r <dir>`	(!) Remove a directory recursively
`rm -rf <dir>`	(!) Force-remove recursively - use with extreme caution
`rmdir <dir>`	Remove an empty directory
`ln -s <target> <link>`	Create a symbolic link
`cmp <file1> <file2>`	Compare two files byte by byte
`diff <file1> <file2>`	Show differences between two files

File Viewing

Command	Description
`cat <file>`	Display file contents
`less <file>`	View file with a pager (`j`/`k` scroll, `f`/`b` page, `/` search, `q` quit)
`head <file>`	Show first 10 lines
`head -n 20 <file>`	Show first 20 lines
`tail <file>`	Show last 10 lines
`tail -f <file>`	Follow file changes in real time
`nano <file>`	Edit file with nano
`vim <file>`	Edit file with Vim (`i` insert, `Esc` normal, `:wq` save and quit)

Text & Output

Command	Description
`echo "text"`	Print text to terminal
`echo "text" > file`	Overwrite file with text
`echo "text" >> file`	Append text to file
`grep <pattern>`	Search for a pattern in text or piped output
`grep -r "text" <dir>`	Search recursively in directory
`grep -i "text"`	Case-insensitive search
`grep -n "text"`	Show line numbers
`grep -v "text"`	Invert match
`awk '{print $5, $9}'`	Print specific columns from output
`sed 's/old/new/g' <file>`	Replace text in output
`sed -i 's/old/new/g' <file>`	Replace text in place
`sort <file>`	Sort lines
`uniq <file>`	Remove duplicate lines
`wc <file>`	Count lines, words, and bytes
`cut -d: -f1 <file>`	Cut columns by delimiter
`tr 'a-z' 'A-Z'`	Translate characters
`jq`	Pretty-print and query JSON
`curl <url>`	Download or interact with URLs/APIs
`wget <url>`	Download a file from the internet

Permissions & Execution

Command	Description
`chmod +x <file>`	Make a file executable
`chmod 755 <file>`	Set permissions to rwxr-xr-x
`chown <user>:<group> <file>`	Change file owner and group
`which <command>`	Show path to a command executable
`whereis <command>`	Show executable, source, and man page locations
`file <file>`	Determine file type
`stat <file>`	Display file status
`man <command>`	Open manual page for a command
`whatis <command>`	Show a short summary of a command
`alias name='command'`	Create a command shortcut

Users & System

Command	Description
`whoami`	Show current username
`id`	Show user ID and groups
`sudo <command>`	Run command with superuser privileges
`adduser <username>`	Add a new user
`useradd <username>`	Add a new user (low-level)
`su <username>`	Switch to another user
`exit`	Exit current shell or user session
`sudo userdel -r <username>`	(!) Remove a user and home directory
`passwd`	Change your password
`uname -a`	Show system information
`hostname`	Show hostname
`uptime`	Show system uptime
`neofetch`	Show system info in a nice format
`ip addr show`	Show network/IP addresses (WSL/Linux; use `ipconfig` in Windows PowerShell)
`ping <host>`	Check if a host is reachable
`free -h`	Show memory usage (human-readable)
`df -h`	Show disk usage (human-readable)
`du -h --max-depth=1`	Show subdirectory sizes
`ps aux`	Show all running processes
`pgrep <name>`	Find process ID by name
`kill -9 <pid>`	(!) Force kill a process by ID
`pkill -f <name>`	(!) Kill processes by name
`killall <name>`	(!) Kill all processes by name
`top`	Dynamic process viewer
`htop`	Interactive process viewer
`systemctl status <service>`	Check service status
`systemctl start <service>`	Start a service
`systemctl stop <service>`	Stop a service
`systemctl restart <service>`	Restart a service
`systemctl list-units --type=service --state=running`	List running services

Package Management (Debian/Ubuntu)

Command	Description
`sudo apt update`	Update package lists
`sudo apt install <package>`	Install a package
`sudo apt remove <package>`	Remove a package
`sudo apt upgrade`	Upgrade installed packages

Archives & Search

Command	Description
`zip -r <archive>.zip <dir>`	Compress a directory into a zip
`unzip <archive>.zip`	Extract a zip file
`unzip <archive>.zip -d <dir>`	Extract to a specific directory
`tar -czvf <archive>.tar.gz <dir>`	Create a tar.gz archive
`tar -xzvf <archive>.tar.gz`	Extract a tar.gz archive
`find <path> -name "*.jpg"`	Find files by name
`find <path> -type d -name "dev"`	Find directories by name
`locate <name>`	Quick file search (uses prebuilt database)

Network & Remote

Command	Description
`curl <url>`	Transfer data from/to a URL
`wget <url>`	Download a file
`ping <host>`	Test connectivity
`dig <domain>`	DNS lookup
`ssh user@host`	Connect to remote host via SSH
`scp <file> user@host:/path`	Secure copy to remote host
`rsync -avz <src> <dst>`	Sync files efficiently
`ss -tulpn`	Show listening ports
`lsof -i :80`	Show what is using port 80

Background Jobs

Command	Description
`cmd &`	Run command in background
`bg`	Resume suspended job in background
`fg`	Bring background job to foreground
`jobs`	List background jobs
`nohup cmd &`	Run command immune to hangups

History & Shortcuts

Shortcut	Description
`Ctrl + L`	Clear screen
`Ctrl + A`	Move cursor to start of line
`Ctrl + E`	Move cursor to end of line
`Shift + Home`	Select from cursor to start of line (project custom zsh binding)
`Shift + End`	Select from cursor to end of line (project custom zsh binding)
`Ctrl + C`	Interrupt current command
`Ctrl + D`	Exit shell (send EOF)
`↑` / `↓`	Cycle through previous/next command
`Tab`	Autocomplete file or directory names
`history`	Show command history
`history 1`	Show full command history (in zsh)
`exit`	Close the terminal

Command-line Editing

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl + A`	Move cursor to start of line
`Ctrl + E`	Move cursor to end of line
`Shift + Home`	Select from cursor to start of line (project custom zsh binding)
`Shift + End`	Select from cursor to end of line (project custom zsh binding)
`Backspace`	Delete selection or character before cursor
`Delete`	Delete selection or character under cursor
`Ctrl + U`	Delete from cursor to start of line
`Ctrl + K`	Delete from cursor to end of line
`Ctrl + W`	Delete previous word
`Alt + D`	Delete next word
`Ctrl + Y`	Paste the last deleted text

Starship Prompt (project config)

Single-line prompt configured in ~/.config/starship.toml.

Segment	Example	Meaning
Directory	`~/projects/terminal`	Current directory, truncated to repo root
Git branch	` main`	Current Git branch
Git status	`!?`	`!` modified, `?` untracked, `+` staged, `⇡` ahead, `⇣` behind, etc.
Duration	`took 30s`	Last command duration (shown when over 500 ms)
Character	`>` or `>` in red	Prompt; red means last command failed
Jobs	`✦1`	Background jobs (only shown when present)

Pipes & Redirection

Operator	Description
`\\|`	Pipe output of one command into another
`>`	Redirect output to a file (overwrite)
`>>`	Redirect output to a file (append)
`2>&1`	Redirect stderr to stdout
`tee <file>`	Write output to file and stdout
`xargs`	Build arguments from stdin

Hardware & Disk Info

Command	Description
`lscpu`	Show CPU information
`lsblk`	List block devices
`lspci -tv`	Show PCI devices in a tree
`lsusb -tv`	Show USB devices in a tree
`lshw`	List hardware configuration
`cat /proc/cpuinfo`	Detailed CPU info
`cat /proc/meminfo`	Detailed memory info
`free -h`	Show free and used memory
`df -h`	Show disk space usage
`df -i`	Show free inodes
`du -sh`	Show total size of current directory
`du -ah`	Show sizes of all files and directories
`fdisk -l`	List disk partitions
`mount`	Show mounted file systems
`findmnt`	Show target mount points

File Compression

Command	Description
`tar cf archive.tar <file/dir>`	Create an uncompressed archive
`tar xf archive.tar`	Extract a tar archive
`tar czf archive.tar.gz <file/dir>`	Create a gzip-compressed archive
`tar xzf archive.tar.gz`	Extract a .tar.gz archive
`gzip <file>`	Compress a file with gzip
`gunzip <file.gz>`	Decompress a gzip file
`bzip2 <file>`	Compress a file with bzip2
`bunzip2 <file.bz2>`	Decompress a bzip2 file
`zip -r archive.zip <dir>`	Create a zip archive
`unzip archive.zip`	Extract a zip archive

Shell Variables

Command	Description
`export VAR=value`	Set an environment variable
`declare VAR=value`	Declare a shell variable
`let "VAR=1+2"`	Assign an integer value
`set`	List all shell variables/functions
`unset VAR`	Remove a variable
`echo $VAR`	Display a variable value

Shell Command Management

Command	Description
`alias name='command'`	Create a command shortcut
`unalias name`	Remove an alias
`watch -n 2 <command>`	Run a command repeatedly every N seconds
`sleep 5 && <command>`	Delay a command
`at <time>`	Schedule a one-time job (Ctrl+D to finish)
`man <command>`	Open the manual page
`whatis <command>`	Show a short summary
`history`	Show command history
`source <file>`	Execute a file in the current shell
`clear`	Clear the terminal screen
`!!`	Run the last command again

More Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Description
`Ctrl + W`	Cut the word before the cursor
`Ctrl + U`	Cut the line before the cursor
`Ctrl + K`	Cut the line after the cursor
`Ctrl + Y`	Paste the cut text
`Ctrl + R`	Search command history interactively
`Ctrl + O`	Run the recalled history command
`Ctrl + G`	Exit history search without running
`Ctrl + Z`	Suspend the current process

Safety Notes

⚠️ rm -rf can destroy your system. Double-check paths before running.
⚠️ kill -9, pkill -f, and killall terminate processes immediately without cleanup.
⚠️ sudo userdel -r permanently deletes a user and their home directory.
Always use rm -i or review commands with --dry-run equivalents when available.