Glossary — Plain-English Definitions

Every scary word in this course, explained like you're a smart person who simply hasn't met it before. Skim it now; come back when a term trips you up.

Terminal — A window where you type text commands instead of clicking buttons. Your command center.

Ghostty — The specific, nice-looking terminal app this course uses.

Command — An instruction you type and run by pressing Enter. e.g. ls.

Prompt — The line in the terminal waiting for you to type (usually ends in % or $). When you see it, the terminal is ready.

Directory — A fancy word for "folder." Exactly the same thing.

Path — The address of a file or folder. e.g. /Users/yourname/Downloads/report.pdf.

Home folder — Your personal top-level folder, /Users/yourname. Shortcut: ~.

cd (change directory) — Move the terminal into a folder.

ls (list) — Show what's in the current folder.

pwd (print working directory) — Show which folder you're currently in.

Working directory — The folder the terminal is currently "in" — the one pwd shows, and the one commands act on by default. "Working" just means "active right now."

Flag / option — An extra setting on a command, starting with -. e.g. the -la in ls -la. Tweaks how the command behaves.

Argument — The thing a command acts on. In cd Downloads, Downloads is the argument.

Tab completion — Press the Tab key to auto-finish a half-typed file or folder name. Saves time and prevents typos.

Standard output / standard error — The normal text a command prints back is its "output"; error messages come on a separate "error" channel. When this course says "check the output," it means the text the terminal printed.

Permission / "permission denied" — Your Mac (and your company's IT software) controls what you're allowed to touch. "Permission denied" means something tried an action that isn't allowed — often fixed by working inside your home folder, or it's an IT restriction to raise with them.

Homebrew — The "app store for the terminal." Installs software with one command. The command is brew.

Package / package manager — A "package" is a piece of installable software. A "package manager" (like Homebrew, or uv for Python) installs and tracks them for you.

Cask — Homebrew's word for a graphical app (with a window), as opposed to a command-line tool. Hence brew install --cask.

Install / uninstall — Add or remove software.

PATH — A behind-the-scenes list of places your terminal looks to find commands. When something says "command not found," it usually means it's not on the PATH yet. You rarely touch this directly.

VS Code (Visual Studio Code) — A free editor for viewing and editing files and code. Your "window" into projects.

Editor — A program for reading and writing files. VS Code is one.

Extension — An add-on that gives VS Code extra features.

Command Palette — VS Code's universal search box for actions (Cmd + Shift + P). When you forget how to do something, search here.

Git — A "save point" system for your projects. Lets you snapshot your work and rewind.

Repository ("repo") — A folder that Git is tracking.

Commit — A single save point; a snapshot of all your files at a moment.

Stage (add) — Choosing which changes go into the next commit.

Status — Git's summary of what's changed since your last commit.

Restore — Rewind files back to the last commit. Your undo button.

GitHub — A website for storing repos in the cloud. You're not using it in this course (and shouldn't put company work on a personal account).

Python — A programming language, great for files, spreadsheets, and data. The language most of your automations are written in.

uv — A modern tool that installs Python, creates projects, and manages packages. The one Python tool you need.

Project — A folder holding your automation code plus its setup. Created with uv init.

pyproject.toml — A file inside a project listing which packages it needs (its "ingredients list"). uv maintains it.

Dependency — A package your project depends on to work. Added with uv add.

Script / program — A file of code that does a task when you run it. e.g. main.py.

Run — Execute a program so it does its thing. e.g. uv run main.py.

Claude Code — The AI assistant you talk to in the terminal. Writes and runs code for you. Started with claude.

Node.js — The engine Claude Code runs on. You install it but never use it directly.

npm — Node's installer (came with Node). Used once to install Claude Code.

CLI (command-line interface) — Any tool you control by typing commands. Claude Code is one.

CLAUDE.md — A file you can put in a project with standing instructions Claude Code reads every time. Like a sticky note it always sees.

Plan mode — Asking Claude Code to plan a task before doing it, so you can review before anything changes.

Prompt (the AI kind) — The message you type to Claude Code describing what you want. Good prompts = good results (see Module 07).

Dry run — Running an automation in "preview" mode: it shows what it would do without actually doing it. Always dry-run risky things first.

Environment variable — A setting stored outside your code, used to keep secrets (like passwords) out of code files. The safe way to handle tokens.

API (Application Programming Interface) — A way for programs to talk to other software directly, like a SaaS tool (Salesforce, Google Drive, Jira). Needs approval at your company — you're not using these to start.

SaaS (Software as a Service) — A web app your company subscribes to and uses in the browser — a CRM, ticketing system, HR portal, document store, and so on. Think Salesforce, Jira, SharePoint, Google Drive.

Token / API key — A secret password-like string that grants a program access to a service. Treat like a password; never put in code or chats.

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) — Technology that reads text out of scanned images/PDFs. Useful when a PDF's text isn't selectable.

CSV (comma-separated values) — A plain-text spreadsheet: rows of values separated by commas. It opens in Excel, but underneath it's just text, which makes it easy to automate.

Excel file (.xlsx) — A spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel's format. Claude Code can read and write these for you (a built-in skill handles the messy details).

Don't see a word here? Ask Claude Code: "explain [word] like I'm new to this." It's the best glossary of all.