$ ls -la drwxr-xr-x docs/ $ run script
◆ Bash

Check for directory or file existence

This is real work, not a feature someone invented — it comes from real job ads and real questions people asked. Below are four ready AI prompts: get it done, make it easy for the next person to say yes to, work out the right move when you are stuck, and stop it coming back.

4prompts
See the prompt↓All Bash tasks

The same task, four prompts

today's deadline · the next reviewer · the stuck moment · the pattern
AExecute — do the immediate taskBefore my backup script tries to write to '/mnt/backup_archive', I need to check if that…+
Before my backup script tries to write to '/mnt/backup_archive', I need to check if that directory actually exists. If it doesn't, the script should exit gracefully.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
BImprove — make it easier to acceptBefore I deploy this script to production, make sure the check for '/var/log/app.log' is…+
Before I deploy this script to production, make sure the check for '/var/log/app.log' is robust. It needs to distinguish between the file not existing and it being a directory or some other type of file, because I only want to append to a regular file.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
CDecide — diagnose the stuck momentMy deployment script just failed because it tried to create '/opt/config' and it already…+
My deployment script just failed because it tried to create a directory that already existed as a file.
My deployment script just failed because it tried to create '/opt/config' and it already existed as a file from a previous botched deployment, causing an error. I'm afraid of leaving the server in an inconsistent state. I need to check if '/opt/config' exists, and if it's a file or a directory, so I can either create the directory or move the file out of the way. What's the best way to handle this?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
DBecome — change the patternI keep running into issues where my scripts assume a path is a directory when it might be a…+
I keep running into issues where my scripts assume a path is a directory when it might be a file, or vice-versa.
I keep running into issues where my scripts assume a path is a directory when it might be a file, or vice-versa, leading to unexpected errors in production. I usually just check for '-d' or '-f' separately. What habit should I change to write more robust checks for file system objects, considering all possible states of a given path?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Questions people actually ask

honest answers, no sign-up

Every task here was seen in the real world. Someone doing the job named it, a real job ad asked for it, or a lot of people asked about it online.

If nothing real showed a task, it is not on the page. That is the whole rule.

They are the same job approached four ways, because what you need depends on where you are.

Get it done today. Make it easy for the next person to say yes to. Work out the right move when you are stuck. Learn the pattern so the job stops coming back.

For most of these jobs it can carry the heavy thinking - draft it, sort it, check it, rehearse it with you.

It cannot sit in your chair, take the blame when a number is wrong, or notice what nobody wrote down. Let it do the first 80%. Keep the last 20% that is truly yours.

No. Copy any prompt and paste it into the AI you already use. No account, no score, no wall in the way.

Any of them. The prompts describe the work rather than naming a product, so they are not tied to one assistant.

That is also why they keep working when you switch.

Change it freely. Every prompt is a starting line, not a rule.

Put in your real numbers, your real names and your real deadline. The more you make it yours, the better the answer comes back.

The tasks come from real job ads, published job data and the questions people ask in public forums.

The steps come from Bash's own documentation, with practitioner sources for the traps the manual does not mention.

Push once. Ask it to sharpen the weakest part and to say what it assumed.

Most wrong answers come from a missing detail rather than a bad prompt - tell it the thing it could not know.