dir

Overview

Where cd shows one folder, dir helps you understand a whole project. For example, dir 2 displays two levels, dir .js finds JavaScript files and dir -sum adds file counts, directory counts and total size. dir is a separate module; simple navigation works with the lighter cd alone.

Read a directory tree with purpose

Use dir when you need to locate something in nested folders or understand a project layout. Masks narrow the results, -F keeps directories, -f keeps files and -p prints full paths. Recursive scans have depth and entry limits; use disk -r when you need actual recursive disk usage.

Syntax

dir [depth] [path] [mask] [options]

Reference

Columns and sorting

Every option begins with -. In each sort pair, the lowercase flag sorts ascending and the matching uppercase flag sorts descending. -d/-D also shows modification time, -s/-S shows size and -u adds the filesystem owner. Metadata appears immediately before the name/tree column. Date, size and owner stay compact on the left, while names and paths receive the remaining width. -G/-g groups entry types without changing the selected sort key.

Filters and masks

-F limits output to real directories and -f to regular files; symbolic links remain a distinct entry type. A mask such as "*.php" filters files while retaining the parent directories needed to show where matches were found. -p expands displayed names to full lil-terminal paths.

Limits

Depth is limited to 20 and a single run scans at most 5000 entries. Symbolic-link directories are displayed but never followed recursively.

dir .js: show files with a .js extension; A real .js directory takes precedence over the extension shortcut.

Install and manage

Install the current compatible version. Choose Base for the complete feature set or Minimum for the reduced package; use upgrade to update a module that is already installed.

Base and Minimum are two packages of the same current module release, not separate command versions.

Examples

Examples are copyable command lines, not actions executed by this website. Review paths, permissions and destructive flags before running them on a real project.

archives
config
  .env.example
  app.ini
  app.json
data
  sample.csv
  sample.txt
  users.json

/sandbox/archives
/sandbox/config
/sandbox/data
/sandbox/feed.xml
/sandbox/images

src
  Calculator.php
  index.php
scripts
  task.py

archives
config
data
db
images
logs
public
scripts
tmp
workspace

README.txt
feed.xml
new.txt
test.txt

2026-08-04 23:20:34    archives
2026-08-08 23:20:40    config
2026-08-08 20:18:28    new.txt

 39 KB    123.jpg.tar
37.4 KB    123.jpg
1.3 KB    feed.xml

www-data    archives
www-data    config
www-data    feed.xml

archives
config
data
...

Directories  10
Files  18
Links  0
Size  44.2 KB

Conflicting filters

public/
  assets/
    app.js

README.txt
current.txt
draft.txt
new.txt

config/
data/
db/
images/
logs/
public/
scripts/
src/
tmp/
workspace/
README.txt
feed.xml

README.txt
feed.xml
config/
data/
db/
images/
logs/
public/
scripts/
src/
tmp/
workspace/

new.txt
draft.txt
current.txt
README.txt

page.htm
app.yml
app.xml
app.toml
app.properties
app.json
app.ini
app.conf

new.txt
draft.txt
current.txt
README.txt

new.txt
draft.txt
current.txt
README.txt

sandbox/
├── config/
├── data/
├── public/
├── scripts/
├── src/
└── workspace/

lil-terminal documentation sandbox

This directory is part of the server tree: website_e36e9fed/sandbox/.
It is never included in generated lil-terminal downloads and direct HTTP access is blocked.
The documentation renderer reads only explicitly allow-listed files from here and
uses them to show real, reproducible command examples.

The fixtures are intentionally small and contain no secrets. They cover PHP, HTML,
CSS, JavaScript, JSON, INI, SQL, Python, shell, XML/SVG, CSV, plain text, logs,
images, .lil workflows, archives and temporary work paths.

During module review, examples may be refined together with the command. Keep paths
stable whenever possible because public documentation links refer to them.

Related documentation