what's the proper way to set a script to run on startup?

i tried to set protonvpn to connect automatically when i log in, and when it couldn't connect for the first time, cachy fully stopped booting lmfao

had to TTY in and delete the script just so it wouldnt hang on a black screen

am i an idiot for putting it in /etc/profile.d/ ? what's the safe way to go about it?

also open to good resources about bash scripting just for users, im not really doing any enterprise level shit and a lot of it seems geared towards that. i just wanna be a power user like i was with windows, 20 years of using that shit and i feel like a baby on linux :(

https://redd.it/1sh40jq
@r_bash

Shellac: Shell scripting library, a hands-on AI review

**TL;DR:** I used Claude Code for advancing a shell library project and was expecting bad times. Most things turned out better than expected.

---

**First, the links:**

* [Github repo](https://github.com/rawiriblundell/shellac)
* [Documentation](https://rawiriblundell.github.io/shellac/)
* There are a couple of dedicated pages in there that are relevant to this post:
* [Use of AI](https://rawiriblundell.github.io/shellac/docs/Use%20of%20AI/) <-- Has some performance metrics.
* [On Vibe Coding](https://rawiriblundell.github.io/shellac/docs/on_vibe_coding/) <-- Seriously, read this one.

I'm going to state upfront that the most obvious AI-slop is the single-shot use of ChatGPT to generate a logo. All other AI use was Claude Code with constraints that we'll get to soon. I'm also going to state upfront that I don't expect this project to go anywhere - it's just me itching a scratch for fun. If there's something in there that's of use to you, then that's great.

**Context:**

So as some regulars of this subreddit might recall, a few years back I dumped a bunch of code out of my code attic and structured it into a library framework. I also curated a list of similar shell library projects, which I've shared many times in this subreddit. Then life, work and the universe drew my attention away from that project and it spun down.

I was recently irked by the AI slop being blindly spammed across multiple technical subreddits. You know the ones: lots of emdashes, emojis, and predictable sentences promoting some low-effort vibe-coded mess.

But... don't knock it until you try it, as they say. I've actually been using Claude and Claude Code as a websearch-on-steroids, proof-reader, and [rubber duck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging) for some time now, so I figured: Why not point that rubber duck at my shell library project and let's see what happens?

I have to say I'm reasonably and conditionally impressed with the results, and I think that *how* I've used AI is specifically what makes the difference between this and some of the slop posts we've all seen in this subreddit and elsewhere.

**Achievements and metrics:**

More detail with tables and graphs can be found [here](https://rawiriblundell.github.io/shellac/docs/Use%20of%20AI/). Some highlights below.

In 23 active days:

* 315 commits
* Function count: 700-ish -> 828.
* Yeah, lots of batteries included. A kitchen sink full of them.
* 44 Github Issues opened, 59 closed (pre-existing ones were addressed/closed)
* I use GH issues as a task tracker and a way to maintain some independent state between Claude sessions.
* The integration is easy to setup and seamless to operate directly within Claude code.
* Stand up of BATS testing
* 84 bats test files created, covering 1432 tests
* 16 bugs were subsequently found and addressed.
* Review of 58 similar repos.
* Those with compatible licenses were reviewed for code that made sense to add to this one.
* Attribution is a strict non-negotiable for me
* Review against stdlibs of a handful of other languages to identify any coverage holes
* Multiple codebase-wide sweeps for standards compliance and several significant refactors
* Implementation of mkdocs with CI pipeline
* Time saved:
* ~13 months when compared to the previous cadence of "30 minutes a night, a couple nights a week"
* 3.5 months saved when compared to a stricter "30 minutes every night" cadence
* Force multiplier: Claude peaked at approx 75x at 6-7 days in, and that number will obviously go down as the codebase settles. It is currently sitting at 27x.

**So, how/why is this any different to any other vibe-slop post?**

Very simply:

* I started with a whole bunch of existing code, standards and a structure already.
* I have curated Claude code's configuration. These are covered at a high level in [the documentation](https://rawiriblundell.github.io/shellac/docs/Use%20of%20AI/#guiding-inputs):
* `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md` (95% [Karpathy's

CLAUDE.md](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/forrestchang/andrej-karpathy-skills/refs/heads/main/CLAUDE.md))
* `~/.claude/rules/deslop.md` General deslop guidance using [this resource](https://www.mooch.agency/deslop-a60e4b10f9df43f3bf6ea366eed1b31f)
* `~/.claude/rules/shell-scripting.md` Shell style guidelines and rules.
* `~/.claude/rules/shellac.md` Project-specific guidelines
* The above two files have been merged into a [CLAUDE.md in the project root](https://github.com/rawiriblundell/shellac/blob/main/CLAUDE.md).
* I was intentionally clear with my instructions, and firm when necessary, giving less room for Claude Code to go off on tangents
* I tried to remain consciously in the loop, rather than letting Claude completely have at it

By defining my expectations for coding style, standards, edge case handling etc, Claude Code behaved a lot closer to my expectations. In other breaking news: computer does as it's bloody told.

And I really think that's it: [Don't vibe code](https://rawiriblundell.github.io/shellac/docs/on_vibe_coding/), AI is a tool, configure the damn tool and use it properly.

**Now, my concerns:**

I do genuinely believe that if I were to lean back and rely on AI more, then my comprehension level would fade. I might learn the odd thing here and there, but those would be stored in my head as vague memories rather than baked into muscle memory. I have personally lost half a dozen languages, both programming and spoken, through non-use and subsequent atrophy. And I don't know about you guys, but I think that there's a fun-side to shell scripting; in the challenge of making it work well despite its warts and limitations. Just blindly handing that over to an LLM kinda sucks the joy out of it.

Without a deeper understanding first of a knowledge domain, AI has an almost immeasurable ability to misguide. Those using AI to learn `bash` will still pick up crappy habits, just faster and more confidently than they would have from blindly copying out of StackOverflow like a lot of us probably did. These days, if I see a submission that includes the Unofficial Strict Mode, I see that as a vibe-coding red-flag.

I estimate that Claude Code was abjectly wrong about 5% of the time, and required pushbacks and clarifications maybe another 5% of the time. And that's Claude Code that has been intentionally setup!

**So let's bring this in to land:**

I shared this experience because I do think that the skill-atrophy risk is perhaps under-discussed. Most AI concerns seem to revolve around poor quality outputs, negative impacts on upskilling newcomers and potential job losses. These are certainly real concerns, but they're also kinda abstract if you're not directly impacted. Losing your own hard-earned skills is more insidious, in my view.

The [Handyman's Invoice](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/know-where-man/) story might resonate here, too. The value isn't in knowing how to chalk the mark, it's in knowing _where_ to chalk it. AI is the same: if you don't fluently understand the domain, you can't catch it out when it's wrong.

So feel free to have a poke around the codebase, ask questions, give feedback etc. Give my mind something to do so that it doesn't dissolve to a sedentary mush :)

https://redd.it/1shex3u
@r_bash

Bash arithmetic is more capable than you might expect.

I love to tinker with Bash and its ever more impressive feature set. If you ever want to convert hex-based color values (like "#1ea54c") into the correct ANSI escape sequences, or binary numbers into decimal numbers, just use the standard Bash arithmetic tools:

Hex to ANSI color converter:

hta() {
  local input="${1#"#"}"
  local r g b

  r=$((16#${input:0:2}))
  g=$((16#${input:2:2}))
  b=$((16#${input:4:2}))

  eval "echo $'\e[38;2;${r};${g};${b}m'"
}

You can give it any hex-based color, and it converts it into the correct ANSI escape sequences, so you can use it inline like this:

green="#1ea54c"

echo "$(hta $green)This text is green"

The 16# is where you set your base. So if you want to convert binary into decimal, this is easily done by just switching the base to 2#:

Binary to decimal converter:

btd() {
  local input=$1
  echo $((2#$input))
}

# Example:
# $ btd 1101
# 13

---

Just wanted to yap about Bash for a sec.

https://redd.it/1shkx8q
@r_bash

git from - selectively pull files into your CWD from any Git repo, treating repos as modules

I created a Bash tool that lets you treat any Git repository as a package/module that you can selectively install from.

Basic usage:

git from https://github.com/anthropics/skills --include skills/skill-creator --target .claude

That pulls only the "skill-creator" skill from the repo into ".claude" in your local directory. Nothing else comes along.

You can combine --include and --exclude to carve out exactly the slice you want. There's an optional .gitfrom file that lives in the source repo defining default distribution rules (which files to include/exclude, what to run after copying). Think of it as the publisher saying "here's the intended slice."

The --perform flag runs a command after the files land. Useful for symlinking, setting permissions, running a setup script.

It's a slightly fancier curl | bash. With the same security model :)

Git From: Git Repositories as a Module System – Al Newkirk
https://alnewkirk.com/projects/git-from

alnewkirk/git-from: Git Repositories as a Module System
https://github.com/alnewkirk/git-from

https://redd.it/1shm586
@r_bash

Something better than alias? or is this peak.

These all all the alias i have so far...

I work most in backend and infra side, to make my life easier i decided to do this, is there something more better i can do here, so is this peak?

https://redd.it/1siekh2
@r_bash

Capturing exit codes reliably in an interactive shell session

I’m working on capturing terminal sessions step by step (commands, outputs, etc.), and one tricky part has been reliably getting exit codes for each command.

Right now I’m using a small marker injected via PROMPT_COMMAND / precmd (bash/zsh) that prints something like `__TT_RC__:<code>` before the next prompt, and then parsing it out from the stream.

It works, but feels a bit hacky.

Curious if there are better or more robust ways to capture exit codes in an interactive session without breaking normal shell behavior?

https://redd.it/1sikx3i
@r_bash

I made my first bash script! It opens vim with a file name and a shebang already set!

I've been wanting to get further into bash scripting as I've started using the terminal more and more, so I did some research (shout out to the bash manual (not the one in the epstein files) and YSAP) and took what I know from messing around in python, and made this simple little script:

\#!/usr/bin/env bash

read -p "what is the name of the script? " name

while true; do

if [[ $name == *" "* \]\]; then

echo "please, no spaces."

sleep 3

read -p "what is the name of the script? " name

continue

elif [[ -n "$name" \]\]; then

touch $name

echo '#!/usr/bin/env bash' >> $name

vim $name

else

echo "aight, suit yerself. here's vim with nothing, ig."

sleep 5

vim

fi

break

done

https://redd.it/1sj4fcx
@r_bash

Why doesn’t this Bash script exit even with set -e?

I came across an interesting Bash behavior while experimenting with error handling:

set -e

echo "Starting deployment..."

build_project && deploy_project

echo "Deployment complete"

At first glance, expected that if `build_project` fails, the script should exit immediately because of `set -e`.

But the actual output is:

Deployment complete

From what I understand, `set -e` doesn’t trigger an exit when a failing command is part of a **conditional context** like `&&`, `||`, `if`, etc.

So in this case:

* `false` fails
* But since it’s inside an `&&` chain, Bash treats it as expected control flow
* And continues execution


I’ve been digging deeper into these kinds of edge cases lately (especially from an interview perspective).
If anyone’s interested, I’ve written a more detailed breakdown with examples — happy to share

https://redd.it/1sjdkv5
@r_bash

How to print input if command returns nothing?

I have a command which is supposed to find audio files with no cover image.

What I currently have is

find /srv/media/Music/ -type f -regex '.*\.\(mp3\|flac\|m4a\|opus\)' \
-exec bash -c ' ffprobe -hide_banner -loglevel error \
-select_streams v -show_entries stream=codec_type -of csv=p=0 "$0" \
' {} \;

which gives an output of 'video' if a cover image is attached and no output if no cover image is attached.

How can I expand this so that I get all files with no cover images listed?

I tried to switch STDERR and STDOUT and use a pipe with `$?` to catch this, but couldn't make it work. I always get all the files, not just the ones with no cover image. Command used was `... "$0" 1>&2 | if [[ $? = 0 ]]; then echo "$0"; fi ' {} \;`.

https://redd.it/1sjefve
@r_bash

I wrote a stupid simple progress bar in pure BASH (source in comments)
https://redd.it/1sjg2di
@r_bash

Cannot use jq to separate in every iteration

Hello!

I need help to put delimiter between pairs of values, like this:
1,a;2,b

or like this:

1,a
2,b

What i have:

[
{
"name": "1",
"argument": "a"
},
{
"name": "2",
"argument": "b"
}
]

What i am doing now to get what i want:

cat file.txt | jq -r -c 'map(.name, .argument) | join (";")'

What is output of this command:

1;a;2;b

Without "join":

cat file.txt | jq -r -c 'map(.name, .argument)

["1","a","2","b"]

Seems like jq thinks that input in one array.

https://redd.it/1sjrr58
@r_bash

Quick help comparing files in two directories?

Long story short, know for a fact that I have duplicates between two directories, but we're talking hundreds of files here and I know at least a few files are in one directory but not the other.

I'd ideally like to have something quickly compare file name & size between the two directories, then spit out the files that are named the same but sized differently, as well as files which are in one directory but not the other.

https://redd.it/1skc8wu
@r_bash

Seeking Practice for Shell Scripting (Specifically POSIX sh / Bash)

Hello everyone !

I’ve been working through some great tutorials (like YouTube : yousuckatprogramming or LearnLinuxTv), but

I’ve hit a wall where I feel like I’m just "passively" absorbing information. I’m currently preparing for a technical school entrance exam so I’m looking for practice cases or problems. (ideally bin/sh or POSIX-compliant bash)

Specifically:

\- Practice Platforms: Are there any sites like DataLemur that have a strong focus on shell scripting ?

\- Real-World Scenarios: For those of you who aren't currently in a DevOps/SysAdmin role, how do you find "mini-projects" to build? I want to move past "Hello World" and into actual file manipulation, parsing, and automation.

My goal is to stop watching and start doing. If you have any "scripts you wish you had when you started" or repos with challenges, please drop them below!

Thanks in advance!

Note: I'm currently on Linux Mint Cinnamon (started using like 1 week ago)...always been a Windows user before.

https://redd.it/1skyhb1
@r_bash

IP Identification Open Source Intel script

This is just a quick script I created because I am constantly having to lookup the information for IP addresses and this one will give you the SOA record for the server the IP is hosted on the whois information for the domain that the IP points as well as the nameservers and a few other relative bits of information. I called it IPID but I feel like there is something similar already out there with the same name so I am not taking credit for the name.

as with any bash script you will need to add it to PATH if you want to use it as a local shell command.


hope someone finds it useful.

https://preview.redd.it/b81ewoinv6vg1.png?width=1033&format=png&auto=webp&s=fce2610c2248e6d61d630e4280714b4b721bfc2a

#!/bin/bash

# Define colors for a cleaner, readable output
GREEN='\0330;32m'
CYAN='\033[0;36m'
RED='\033[0;31m'
YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
NC='\033[0m' # No Color

# Check if an argument is provided; if not, display the usage template
if [ -z "$1" ; then
echo -e "${RED}Error: No IPv4 address supplied.${NC}"
echo -e "Usage: ${GREEN}ipid <ipv4address>${NC}"
echo -e "Example: ${GREEN}ipid 8.8.8.8${NC}"
exit 1
fi

TARGETIP=$1

# Basic IPv4 validation
if ! [ $TARGET_IP =~ ^[0-9{1,3}\.0-9{1,3}\.0-9{1,3}\.0-9{1,3}$ ]]; then
echo -e "${RED}Error: '$TARGETIP' does not look like a valid IPv4 address.${NC}"
exit 1
fi

echo -e "${YELLOW}Gathering intelligence for IP: ${TARGETIP}...${NC}\n"

# 1. Reverse DNS / Hostname
echo -e "${CYAN}+ Hostname & Reverse DNS Lookup${NC}"
if command -v host &> /dev/null; then
host "$TARGETIP"
else
echo -e "${RED}[!] 'host' command not found. Skipping reverse DNS.${NC}"
fi
echo ""

# 2. Server Location, ASN, and ISP Details (via ipinfo.io)
echo -e "${CYAN}[+] Server Location & ISP Details${NC}"
if command -v curl &> /dev/null; then
# Fetching JSON data and displaying it cleanly
curl -s "https://ipinfo.io/${TARGETIP}/json" | grep -v 'readme'
else
echo -e "${RED}! 'curl' command not found. Skipping location details.${NC}"
fi
echo ""

# 3. WHOIS Organization & Network Info
echo -e "${CYAN}+ WHOIS Organization & Domain Info (Summary)${NC}"
if command -v whois &> /dev/null; then
# Grepping the most relevant fields so the terminal isn't flooded with legalese
whois "$TARGETIP" | grep -iE '^(OrgName|Organization|NetName|NetRange|CIDR|Country|StateProv|City|RegDate|Updated|ASName)' | sort -u | head -n 15

# If the summary is empty, the whois server might use different formatting
if [ ${PIPESTATUS[0]} -ne 0 ]; then
echo "Could not parse standard WHOIS summary. Try running 'whois $TARGETIP' manually."
fi
else
echo -e "${RED}! 'whois' command not found. Install 'whois' to see domain registration info.${NC}"
fi
echo ""

echo -e "${YELLOW}Scan complete.${NC}"

https://redd.it/1slf4ua
@r_bash

[Release] I built a bulletproof Screen Time / Parental Control script for Linux Mint (Cinnamon) that fixes the idle-tracking bug.
/r/linuxmint/comments/1slpro5/release_i_built_a_bulletproof_screen_time/

https://redd.it/1slpsez
@r_bash

Bash script to determine if I have a routable IP address

At my home I have a dynamic IP address which changes at least daily. I have an arrangement with my ISP to always have a routable IP. However, sometimes they mess up and give me a non-routable IP. I would like to be able to detect this from within a shell script so that the shell script can notify me and take other action.

Here's what I'm doing now: I have a remote Raspberry Pi set up with a reverse SSH tunnel to my iMac at home. I can easily detect whether that tunnel is up or not. If it is not up, then it is likely, but not 100% sure, that the cause is a non-routable IP at home. The router at home is a Deco X20.

Is there a better way to determine whether or not my home IP address is routable or not?

https://redd.it/1slznt2
@r_bash

Bash scripts to set up your Yubikey to work with GitHub (OpenGPG, SSH)

https://github.com/andrinoff/yubikey-github


A pretty straightforward guide, as well as 2 automatic scripts, that you can run to set it up for you (could be buggy)

Look forward to contributions!

https://redd.it/1snevss
@r_bash

Persistent Sidebar Pane within TMUX that tracks your AI Agent Sessions
https://redd.it/1snrhxc
@r_bash

slate — one command to theme your terminal + prompt + CLI tools in sync (Rust, macOS/Linux)

Built this over the last few months, tagged 0.1.1. One command sets up a coordinated palette across your shell prompt (via Starship), bat, delta, eza, lazygit, fastfetch, tmux, and your terminal emulator (Ghostty/Kitty/Alacritty).
For bash specifically, slate adds a single marker-block to your \~/.bashrc(or \~/.bash_profile on macOS) that sources a managed env file. `slate clean` removes that block cleanly — no orphaned exports, no leftover state.


`cargo install slate-cli` or `brew install MoonMao42/homebrew-tap/slate-cli`

Repo: https://github.com/MoonMao42/slate

Happy to hear feedback on the shell integration — especially the marker-block approach vs alternatives like a standalone rc snippet file.

https://redd.it/1so42dt
@r_bash

I made a Flatpak GUI using Bash + YAD

https://redd.it/1sobuj3
@r_bash