Bashcrawl Entrance: Your First Terminal Commands

By IT-Journey Team

Learn pwd, ls, cd, and cat by exploring the Bashcrawl entrance — read the first scroll, get a hint from Merlin, and collect your brass key to proceed.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

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Table of Contents

The dungeon gate groans open. Cool air pours out carrying the scent of ancient scrolls. This is where every hero begins — four commands, a brass key, and the courage to type.

🎯 Quest Objectives

• Print your current location with pwd
• List the dungeon entrance contents with ls and ls -F
• Read the entrance scroll with cat
• Ask Merlin for a hint with the merlin command
• Collect the brass key and move to the cellar

�️ Quest Prerequisites

• A terminal with Bash (macOS, Linux, or WSL)
• Bashcrawl installed or running at bamr87.github.io/bashcrawl

⚡ Command Cheatsheet

Command	What It Does
pwd	Print working directory — shows where you are
ls	List directory contents
ls -F	List with type markers: / = dir, * = executable, @ = symlink
cat file	Print file contents to the terminal
cd dir	Change directory
cd ..	Go up one level
merlin	Ask the wizard for a context-aware hint
quest	Display current objectives

🗺️ Walkthrough

Step 1 — Where am I?

pwd
# Output: /home/<user>/bashcrawl/ENTRANCE  (or similar)

pwd always shows your absolute path. Use it whenever you feel lost.

Step 2 — What’s here?

ls
# Output: scroll  cellar

ls -F
# Output: scroll  cellar/

The trailing / after cellar tells you it is a directory (a doorway to the next chamber). scroll has no marker — it is a plain text file.

Step 3 — Read the scroll

cat scroll

The scroll contains the first piece of the dungeon’s story and a clue about the brass key. Read it carefully — items and hints mentioned here matter later.

Step 4 — Ask Merlin

merlin

Merlin reads your current location and delivers a context-sensitive hint. Whenever you are stuck, merlin is your first stop.

Step 5 — Check your objectives

quest

The quest log shows what you need to do in the current chamber.

Step 6 — Enter the cellar

cd cellar
pwd
# Output: .../ENTRANCE/cellar

Congratulations — you have left the entrance. Continue to the Cellar walkthrough or explore the Workshop first.

💡 Common Pitfalls

Problem	Cause	Fix
command not found: merlin	Not in the game shell	Run ./main.sh --interactive first
No such file: scroll	Wrong directory	Run pwd; navigate to ENTRANCE with cd
ls shows nothing	Empty directory	Make sure you are in ENTRANCE, not /
Path has spaces	Rare edge case	Wrap in quotes: cd "my dir"

✅ Validation

Before marking this side-quest complete, verify:

• You can explain what pwd returns without running it
• You know the difference between ls and ls -F
• You read the scroll and understand its clue
• You successfully navigated into cellar

➡️ Next Steps

You are now ready to explore deeper. Choose your path:

• Continue the main line → Cellar
• Side trip first → Workshop
• Back to hub → Bashcrawl Hub

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📚 External Resources

Continue your terminal adventure with these resources:

• Bashcrawl Web Demo — Play in your browser, no installation required
• Bashcrawl on GitHub — Source code, setup, and open contributions
• GNU Bash Manual — Official Bash reference for heroes
• IT-Journey Bashcrawl Hub — Full quest series and walkthroughs
• The Linux Command Line — Free book covering every command you’ll meet

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Four commands mastered. Hundreds to go. The dungeon opens before you. 🗝️