Don't Even Bother with Terminal prefixes

Never worry about accidentally copying those pesky command prompt symbols again.

debt is a cross-platform command-line utility that strips the $ and > prefixes from terminal commands you copy from the web. It solves that frustrating moment when you paste a command from Stack Overflow or documentation that includes the prompt symbol, resulting in "command not found" errors.

# Without debt, this happens:
$ $ ls -la
-bash: $: command not found

# With debt installed:
$ $ ls -la
# Works as if you typed: ls -la

$ nix profile install github:jeebuscrossaint/debt

• C compiler (GCC, Clang, MSVC, etc.)
• CMake 3.10 or higher

$ git clone https://github.com/jeebuscrossaint/debt.git
$ cd debt
$ mkdir build && cd build
$ cmake ..
$ make
$ sudo make install

After installation, you can use debt in three ways:

$ debt ls -la

$ debt $ ls -la
$ debt > echo "hello world"

The installation creates symbolic links named $ and > that point to the debt executable. This allows you to directly paste commands with prefixes:

$ $ ls -la
# Works as if you typed: ls -la

$ > npm install express
# Works as if you typed: npm install express

When you install debt, it:

1. Creates symbolic links (or copies on Windows) named $ and > that point to the debt executable
2. When you run a command prefixed with $ or >, debt:
   • Detects if it's being called via these special names
   • Strips the prefix
   • Executes the rest of the command efficiently using your system's shell

debt is designed to be lightweight with minimal overhead:

• Direct execution without intermediate shells when possible
• Falls back to shell execution for complex commands with pipes, redirects, etc.
• Efficient signal handling to ensure proper behavior with Ctrl+C

# From a tutorial:
$ npm install express
$ node server.js

# You can copy-paste directly:
$ $ npm install express
$ $ node server.js

> cd project
> npm start

# Copy-paste directly:
$ > cd project
$ > npm start

• undollar (github.com/xtyrrell/undollar): The original inspiration, written in JavaScript. debt builds on this concept with cross-platform support, performance optimizations, and support for both $ and > prefixes.

• Other shell aliases: Many users create shell aliases like $='command', but these don't work across shells and can have unexpected behavior. debt works regardless of your shell and provides consistent behavior.

• Inspired by undollar by xtyrrell
• Thanks to everyone who's ever been frustrated by copying terminal commands with prefixes 😄

Q: Why is it called "debt"? A: Don't Even Bother with Terminal prefixes. Also, the dollar sign ($) is often associated with money and debt, and we're getting rid of it!

Q: Will this work on all platforms? A: Yes! debt is designed to work on Linux, macOS, BSD, and Windows systems.

Q: Is it secure to use? A: debt simply forwards commands to your system's default shell. It doesn't modify the command other than removing the leading $ or >.

Q: Why not just create a shell alias? A: Shell aliases only work in specific shells, need to be configured for each user, and don't handle complex edge cases. debt works anywhere, for any user, consistently.