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Track: Modern CLI Tools

Fast, composable command-line tools for searching, filtering, and transforming data. These replace slow, arcane UNIX defaults with modern alternatives and make operational debugging significantly faster.

Goals

  • Replace find with fd, grep with ripgrep, interactive selection with fzf
  • Process and transform JSON fluently with jq (and YAML with yq)
  • Compose tool pipelines for operational tasks (kubectl + jq, rg + fzf, etc.)
  • Use regex confidently for text extraction and transformation
  • Build muscle memory for daily CLI workflows

Prerequisites

  • Comfortable with bash pipes and redirection
  • Basic familiarity with JSON format
  • Recommended: completion of Foundations track

Learning Path

Module 1: Modern Shell Replacements

Step Activity Resource
1 Read the overview topics/modern-cli/primer.md
2 Read fd primer topics/fd/primer.md
3 Read fzf primer topics/fzf/primer.md
4 Practice drills drills/atomic/cli.fzf-interactive-selection.md
5 Review street ops topics/fzf/street_ops.md, topics/fd/street_ops.md

Module 2: JSON Processing with jq

Step Activity Resource
1 Read jq primer topics/jq/primer.md
2 Study real-world patterns topics/jq/street_ops.md
3 Learn the footguns topics/jq/footguns.md
4 Practice jq drill drills/atomic/cli.jq-json-processing.md
5 Flashcard review knowledge/data/cards/jq.tsv

Module 3: Text Search with ripgrep

Step Activity Resource
1 Read ripgrep primer topics/ripgrep/primer.md
2 Study real-world patterns topics/ripgrep/street_ops.md
3 Learn the footguns topics/ripgrep/footguns.md
4 Practice drills drills/atomic/cli.ripgrep-code-search.md

Module 4: Regex & Composable Workflows

Step Activity Resource
1 Read regex primer topics/regex-text-wrangling/primer.md
2 Study workflow patterns topics/modern-cli-workflows/primer.md
3 Practice modern CLI drills drills/modern_cli_drills.md
4 Self-assess skillchecks/modern-cli-tools.skillcheck.md
5 Review cheat sheet cheatsheets/modern-cli.cheatsheet.md

Suggested Pace

  • Intensive: 1 module per 2 days (1 week total)
  • Steady: 1 module per week (4 weeks total)
  • Daily drills: 5 jq one-liners + 5 ripgrep searches per day