Modern Command Line Tools

If you spend a lot of time in a terminal, GNU coreutils are probably part of your muscle memory. Commands like ls, cp, mv, rm, and cat have been around for a very long time. They are found on small embedded computers and the BSD version lives on all macOS systems. The reason they have been around so long and so widely used is for their reliability.

Still, many people do not spend a lot of time in a terminal especially now with so many apps available to make interacting with a computer easier with buttons and interfaces. In 2025 and 2026 I see a resurgence of terminal based workflows as many people rush to try out new agentic AI coding tools that were first released as terminal based applications. By far the most popular in 2026 is claude code.

This post is a practical guide to working in the terminal today while staying grounded in the Unix philosophy. Coreutils remain the foundation. Zsh is an enhancement over the more common Bash shell. Modern CLI tools improve day‑to‑day ergonomics without compromising portability or stability.

My goal for using these tools is to improve my productivity and I hope you find some of them useful whether you are just getting started working in a terminal or you have been using one for decades.

The Shell as the Platform: Zsh

Before talking about individual tools, it helps to be explicit about the shell itself.

Modern terminal workflows increasingly assume Zsh. Not because it is trendy, but because it has better defaults, smarter completion, and a mature ecosystem.

Example:

zsh --version

One distinction matters throughout this article:

Use coreutils in scripts and automation. They are stable, ubiquitous, and boring in the best way.

Use modern CLI tools at the keyboard. They are faster to read, easier to navigate, and optimized for interactive work.

Mixing those two worlds is how you end up with brittle scripts or a frustrating terminal.

I cover Zsh plugins, completions, and prompt theming in more detail in a previous post, but none of those plugins are required to take advantage of Zsh.

Zsh website

What Are GNU Coreutils?

GNU coreutils are a collection of essential user-space programs that provide basic file, text, and system manipulation capabilities. They are written in C, depend on almost nothing, and are designed to be stable for decades.

You may already know them:

Category	Examples
File operations	ls, cp, mv, rm, ln, stat
Permissions	chmod, chown, chgrp, umask
Text	cat, tac, nl, wc, head, tail
Disk & system	df, du, uname, id, whoami
Control & glue	xargs, watch, timeout, yes

These tools are:

• Predictable
• Scriptable
• Pipe-friendly
• Universally available

Example:

ls -lah

They are not interactive or pretty. But that’s intentional.

The Unix Philosophy

Coreutils exist because the Unix philosophy works.

Small tools that do one thing well, communicate through text, and compose cleanly are still the most reliable way to build systems. That model survives containers, remote servers, CI pipelines, and minimal rescue environments.

Where the model shows its age is not capability, but ergonomics. Long pipelines are hard to read. Output is optimized for machines, not humans. Performance depends heavily on how carefully you write the command.

Modern CLI tools do not abandon this philosophy. They refine it for people working in a terminal, while leaving the underlying model intact.

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Modern Replacements for Classic Commands

These tools don’t replace coreutils in scripts. They replace them at the keyboard.

Everything below is optional. Use whatever looks useful; skip the rest.

Text Search: ripgrep Instead of Recursive grep

Baseline: grep

grep -R "TODO" .

This works everywhere, but it:

• Walks directories serially
• Ignores .gitignore
• Is easy to slow down accidentally

Why it exists

grep -R works, but it is:

• Slow on large trees
• Blind to .gitignore
• Easy to misuse

ripgrep (rg) is a modern recursive search tool that:

• Is fast
• Respects .gitignore by default
• Uses parallelism
• Handles Unicode correctly

Out of everything on this post, I use this software the most.

rg "TODO"

Installation

macOS:

brew install ripgrep

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install ripgrep

Fedora:

sudo dnf install ripgrep

GitHub link

File search: fd Instead of find

Baseline: find

find . -type f -name "*config*"

Powerful, but brittle and hard to read for interactive use.

Why it exists

find is incredibly capable, but most interactive searches end up being longer than they need to be, and small syntax mistakes can produce surprising results.

fd is designed for interactive use and quick recall:

• Sensible defaults
• Cleaner syntax
• Fast traversal (written in Rust)
• Respects .gitignore by default

This is my number 2 pick behind rg. I use this all the time to explore my company’s massive codebases.

fd config

Some common patterns read nicely:

# Only search for files with a given extension
fd -e yaml

# Include hidden files/directories when you need them
fd -H config

Installation

macOS:

brew install fd

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install fd-find

Fedora:

sudo dnf install fd

(On Debian/Ubuntu, the binary may be fdfind.)

GitHub link

List files with eza

Baseline: ls

ls -lah

Why it exists

ls output is stable and script-friendly, but the flags are easy to forget and the default output is not optimized for scanning. In practice, people want “a good default listing” plus a couple of common add-ons (git status, a tree view, timestamps).

Modern alternative:

eza -lah --git

Adds:

• Git status
• Icons (with Nerd Fonts)
• Better defaults

Tree views are also built-in:

eza --tree -L 2

I simply have an alias for this to replace ls. (add alias ls=eza to your shell config) I use the tree view frequently.

Installation

macOS:

brew install eza

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install eza

Fedora:

sudo dnf install eza

GitHub link

Visualize disk usage for files with dust

Baseline: du

du -h --max-depth=1

Modern alternative:

dust

Why it exists

du is accurate and scriptable, but the output often needs extra sorting or formatting before it answers the question “what’s taking up all the space?”

dust is optimized for that interactive question:

• Visual file size comparisons
• Intuitive output
• Safe defaults

If you want “just a couple levels deep”:

dust -d 2

Installation

macOS:

brew install dust

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install dust

Fedora:

sudo dnf install dust

GitHub link

Show filesystem usage with duf

Baseline: df

df -h

Why it exists

df is reliable, but it is easy to miss the important bits when you have many mounts (containers, network volumes, external drives).

duf presents disk usage in a compact, readable table:

• Human-friendly columns
• Clear mountpoint and filesystem info
• Filtering and color for quick scanning

duf

Installation

macOS:

brew install duf

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install duf

Fedora:

sudo dnf install duf

GitHub link

Print the contents of a text file with bat

Baseline: cat

cat config.yaml

Why it exists

cat is perfect for piping and scripts. But when you’re reading a file in a terminal, you usually want a little more context.

Modern alternative:

bat config.toml

Adds:

• Syntax highlighting
• Line numbers
• Git-aware context

If you want it to behave more like cat (no paging, no decorations):

bat -p config.yaml

Installation

macOS:

brew install bat

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install bat

Fedora:

sudo dnf install bat

(On Ubuntu, the binary may be batcat.)

GitHub link

Tools by Task

These tools aren’t direct coreutils replacements, but they’re great for common terminal tasks.

Navigation

zoxide

Baseline: cd

cd ~/projects/my-app

Why it exists

cd is predictable, but it is also repetitive: you end up retyping long paths, or maintaining a mental map of where things live.

zoxide learns your navigation habits and lets you jump with short fragments:

z my-app

It shines when you:

• Work across many repos and subdirectories
• Bounce between a handful of directories all day
• Want fuzzy matching without leaving the shell

Installation

macOS:

brew install zoxide

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install zoxide

Fedora:

sudo dnf install zoxide

After you install, you need to add this to your Zsh profile:

eval "$(zoxide init zsh)"

I don’t use an alias for this one, I do not want to “train” myself that cd behaves the same.

GitHub link

Project Environments

direnv

Why it exists

Project-specific environment variables are useful, but exporting them in your shell profile tends to leak settings across projects.

direnv is a small shell extension that loads and unloads environment variables automatically when you enter/leave a directory (typically via a checked-in .envrc file). For safety, changes require explicit approval with direnv allow.

High-level Zsh setup:

eval "$(direnv hook zsh)"

Installation

macOS:

brew install direnv

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install direnv

Fedora:

sudo dnf install direnv

Here is an example of how I have used this software at work:

Imagine you have a production environment but you also have a staging/development environment. There are going to be slightly different environment variables needed for each of these environments.

I can put a .envrc file in my repo so that when I navigate to the directory for the staging environment, I load a variable like AWS_PROFILE=dev. If I have resources in another directory for the production environment, I can create a different .envrc file to load AWS_PROFILE=prod.

It can also work with a .env file that you do NOT check into git. You can avoid storing sensitive variables such as API tokens in the repo (I add .env to .gitignore) using this strategy.

GitHub link

Secrets and Credentials

pass

Why it exists

You need a way to store secrets securely while still being able to use them from scripts and the terminal. pass keeps each secret as a GPG-encrypted file under ~/.password-store/, which makes it easy to back up and (optionally) version with Git.

pass requires a GPG key. A quick way to create one:

gpg --full-generate-key
gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format=long

Then initialize your password store with the key ID:

pass init <YOUR_KEY_ID>

Installation

macOS:

brew install pass gnupg

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install pass gnupg

Fedora:

sudo dnf install pass gnupg2

This tool is a lot more exciting than it sounds. My biggest gripe with password managers is all the button clicking just to copy a single password. With pass I can easily generate new passwords with a single command and pass that right to the clipboard and paste it wherever. The same goes for retrieving a password.

Project Link

Structured Data

jq and yq

Baseline: sed + awk

cat data.json | sed -n '1,5p'

Why it exists

Regex-based parsing works for plain text, but JSON/YAML are structured formats. When you parse them with sed/awk, you can end up with commands that break as soon as whitespace, ordering, or nesting changes.

jq and yq let you query structured data directly:

jq '.items[] | .name' data.json
yq '.services.web.port' config.yaml

They are especially handy for:

• Extracting a value to feed into another command
• Pretty-printing machine output for debugging
• Writing small “data plumbing” one-liners

Installation

macOS:

brew install jq yq

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install jq yq

Fedora:

sudo dnf install jq yq

• jq GitHub link
• yq GitHub link

Networking and Downloads

httpie

Baseline: curl

curl -X POST https://api.example.com/items \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"test"}'

Why it exists

curl is the universal baseline and is perfect for scripts. For interactive API work, though, many people want less punctuation and more readable responses.

Modern alternative:

http POST https://api.example.com/items name=test

Provides:

• Readable syntax
• Automatic JSON formatting
• Sensible defaults

Installation

macOS:

brew install httpie

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install httpie

Fedora:

sudo dnf install httpie

GitHub link

aria2

Baseline: curl

curl -O https://example.com/file.iso

Why it exists

curl can download anything, but for large files and unreliable networks you quickly start caring about resuming, retries, and throughput.

aria2 handles multi-connection downloads and supports HTTP, FTP, BitTorrent, and SFTP.

aria2c https://example.com/file.iso

Installation

macOS:

brew install aria2

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install aria2

Fedora:

sudo dnf install aria2

If I want to download something and I already have a link, this tool is easier than messing with curl.

GitHub link

Interactive Selection

fzf

Baseline: pipes + grep + sed

ls | grep conf

Why it exists

Pipelines like ls | grep work, but they require you to know what you’re looking for ahead of time.

Zsh, combined with fzf, turns the shell into an interactive interface rather than just a prompt.

fzf is a general-purpose fuzzy finder that turns lists into interactive interfaces.

Examples:

ls | fzf

It pairs well with other modern tools:

rg --files | fzf

Common uses:

• File selection
• Command history search
• Git branch selection
• Process picking

fzf is optional but once integrated into your shell it becomes addictive. I do miss it on systems that do not have it.

Installation

macOS:

brew install fzf

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install fzf

Fedora:

sudo dnf install fzf

GitHub link

Documentation

tldr

Baseline: man

man tar

Why it exists

man pages are comprehensive, but they are not optimized for “show me an example”.

When you’re in the middle of something, you often want one working example more than you want a full reference guide.

tldr pages show the most common examples first:

tldr tar

Installation

macOS:

brew install tldr

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install tldr

Fedora:

sudo dnf install tldr

If your distro doesn’t package tldr, use the Rust client:

cargo install tlrc --locked

GitHub link

Editing

Neovim

Baseline: vi

vi exists everywhere and edits bytes well, but it is difficult to extend the capabilities and add features like real-time linting and debugging.

Why it exists

Neovim modernizes Vim’s model without abandoning its principles:

• Terminal-native
• Scriptable with Lua
• Built for composition
• Fast on remote systems
• A strong ecosystem for LSP, linting, formatting, and debugging

Example:

nvim .

Installation

macOS:

brew install neovim

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install neovim

Fedora:

sudo dnf install neovim

For newer releases on Ubuntu, use the Neovim PPA or AppImage.

GitHub link

Sessions and Monitoring

zellij

Baseline: tmux

tmux

Why it exists

tmux is the classic answer for persistent terminal sessions, but it often requires configuration before it feels comfortable.

zellij ships with rich defaults and a plugin system, so you can get panes, tabs, and sessions with less setup and more on-screen discoverability.

Example:

zellij

Installation

macOS:

brew install zellij

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install zellij

Fedora:

sudo dnf install zellij

GitHub link

btop

Baseline: top

top

Why it exists

top is universal, but it is dense. When you’re troubleshooting, you often want patterns (spikes, trends, per-core behavior) more than raw columns.

btop provides a visual, interactive view of CPU, memory, disk, and network usage that’s easier to scan at a glance.

Example:

btop

Installation

macOS:

brew install btop

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install btop

Fedora:

sudo dnf install btop

GitHub link

Containers

ctop

Baseline: docker stats

docker stats

Why it exists

docker stats is a good baseline, but once you have more than a couple containers you usually want filtering, quick selection, and the ability to drill in without re-running commands.

ctop gives you a top-like dashboard for local containers.

Example:

ctop

Installation

macOS:

brew install ctop

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install ctop

Fedora:

sudo dnf install ctop

GitHub Link

lazydocker

Why it exists

If you work with containers locally, lazydocker brings the same benefits Lazygit brings to Git:

• Inspect containers, images, and volumes
• View logs without context switching
• Perform common actions safely

Example:

lazydocker

Installation

macOS:

brew install lazydocker

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install lazydocker

Fedora:

sudo dnf install lazydocker

GitHub link

Cloud Sync

rclone

Why it exists

rsync is fantastic for machines you can SSH into. Once you add “cloud storage” to the mix, you need credentials, APIs, and provider-specific behavior.

rclone syncs files to S3, Google Drive, and many other providers using an rsync-like interface, which makes it a practical tool for backups and bulk transfers.

Example:

rclone listremotes

Installation

macOS:

brew install rclone

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install rclone

Fedora:

sudo dnf install rclone

GitHub link

Codebase Metrics

scc

Baseline: wc

find . -type f -name "*.go" | xargs wc -l

Why it exists

Counting lines with find + wc works, but it quickly turns into a mini-project once you need language detection, exclusions (vendor/build output), and a summary you can compare over time.

scc scans a directory and summarizes lines of code per language. I do not use it often but once in a while it is useful to analyze your project.

Example:

scc .

Installation

macOS:

brew install scc

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install scc

Fedora:

sudo dnf install scc

If your distro doesn’t package scc, use:

go install github.com/boyter/scc/v3@latest

GitHub link

Version Control

git

Why it exists

Modern workflows assume Git is present because it gives you:

• A history you can inspect and rewind
• Branching for experimentation
• A common interface for collaboration (reviews, CI, and releases)

Git integrates with:

• Editors
• Search tools
• CI systems
• Prompts and terminals

Example:

git status

I would not be willing to work anywhere that does not use git or some kind of version control system. It is also useful for personal projects, you do not need to save every version of your project when git can look back at the history of a file.

Installation

macOS:

brew install git

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install git

Fedora:

sudo dnf install git

Project link

delta

Why it exists

git diff is the universal baseline, but diffs can get hard to scan once changes are large or files have syntax. delta is a pager that makes diffs easier to read with syntax highlighting and better layout.

Installation

macOS:

brew install git-delta

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install git-delta

Fedora:

sudo dnf install git-delta

A small ~/.gitconfig snippet:

[core]
  pager = delta

[interactive]
  diffFilter = delta --color-only

[delta]
  navigate = true

Now when you run git diff you will see the new interface provided by delta.

GitHub link

lazygit

Why it exists

Git is powerful, but some tasks (staging hunks, browsing history, switching branches, resolving conflicts) can involve a lot of small commands.

lazygit provides a terminal UI for Git that puts common operations at your fingertips. It does not replace Git, but it can speed up the most common workflows day-to-day.

Example:

lazygit

Installation

macOS:

brew install lazygit

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install lazygit

Fedora:

sudo dnf install lazygit

GitHub Link

Terminal Setup

Nerd Fonts

Coreutils assume plain text. Modern tooling layers meaning on top of it.

Why it exists

Many modern prompts and tools use icons as compact labels (git state, diagnostics, file type). Without a Nerd Font, those glyphs either render as squares or disappear.

A Nerd Font provides:

• Git status glyphs
• Diagnostics icons
• File-type indicators

These icons are built right into the font and do not require any special software to render.

Example:

fc-list | grep -i "nerd"

Installation

Installation varies by font; most are available via Homebrew Cask or direct download on Linux.

Nerd Fonts

Ghostty

Coreutils only assume a TTY. Modern terminals dramatically improve feedback and performance.

Why it exists

If you spend hours a day in a terminal, the terminal emulator becomes part of your toolchain: rendering speed, Unicode correctness, font handling, and copy/paste behavior all affect how frictionless the command line feels.

All of this lives inside a terminal.

For a modern, GPU-accelerated, terminal, I recommend Ghostty. Check out a previous post for info to set up Ghostty.

Example:

ghostty --version

Installation

See ghostty.org for installers and releases.

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Where GNU Coreutils Still Win

Despite all of the tooling covered here, coreutils are not obsolete.

They are still the right choice when you are writing shell scripts, bootstrapping systems, working in constrained environments, or doing anything that must run unchanged across machines you do not control.

Modern tools assume context. Your dotfiles, your terminal, your preferences. Coreutils assume nothing. That is not a limitation. It is the reason they have lasted.

The goal of a modern command‑line workflow is not to replace coreutils, but to recognize where they shine and where interactive tools make day‑to‑day work faster and clearer.

Closing thoughts

I believe that all of the software I looked at today is open-source and I know there are thousands of other projects out there. I don’t have time to test them all but I encourage you to share open-source projects that you rely on with others and in 2026, creating your own project is easier than ever with AI coding tools.

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Disclaimer: I used an LLM to help create this post. Opinions expressed are likely from me and not the LLM.