Guide · Tools

The terminal

A small bash with pipes and redirects, about 60 commands, framework chips, history and Ctrl-C.

How it works

iOS does not let an app start other programs, so Pythilo's terminal is a small bash built into the app. It reads a line the way bash does (quotes, variables, globs, pipes and lists) and runs each command as part of Pythilo, on the real files of your project and with the same Python that runs your code. A command or option that is not built in says so, rather than being ignored. Type help for the list, and COMMAND --help for a command's options.

The prompt shows the folder you are in. cd moves around inside the project and stays where you left it; cd on its own goes back to the project root. A non-zero exit code is shown as [exit N]. Smart punctuation from the iOS keyboard is undone before a line runs, so a long dash typed by the keyboard becomes -- again and curly quotes become straight ones.

The terminal after pytest -q reported 2 passed, with command keys for python, pip, npm, pytest, git and ls — pytest in the terminal, and a Django project with its command chips.

A Django development server running in the terminal, with a Django is running banner and an Open site button — pytest in the terminal, and a Django project with its command chips.

Keys, history and Ctrl-C

Above the input line is a row of keys: python, pip, npm, pytest, git and ls type the word and a space; Ctrl-C stops what is running; ↑ steps back through the commands you ran since you opened the panel. While something runs, the field reads Running. Ctrl-C stops it; you can type the next line already and it waits for Return. When a program asks for input(), the prompt changes to > and the line you type goes to the program.

Pipes, redirects and variables

Write	Means
`ls \| grep py`	A pipe: the first command's output is the second one's input.
`pytest && git commit -m ok`, `a \|\| b`, `a ; b`	Run the next command if this one succeeded, if it failed, or either way.
`> file`, `>> file`, `< file`	Write output to a file, append to it, or read input from it.
`2> file`, `2>&1`, `&> file`	Send errors to a file, together with the output, or both to a file.
`$NAME`, `~`, `*.py`	Variables, the home folder and globs expand. `export`, `unset` and `NAME=value command` set variables; `$?` is the last exit code.

Background jobs (&) and programs that are not built in are not available.

File commands

Commands	Notes
`ls`, `cd`, `pwd`, `tree`	`ls -a` shows hidden files, `-l` sizes and dates.
`cat`, `less`, `head`, `tail`	`head` and `tail` take `-n N`.
`find`, `stat`, `du`, `file`	`find . -name "*.py"`, sizes, and what kind of file something is.
`touch`, `mkdir`, `rm`, `rmdir`, `mv`, `cp`, `ln`, `chmod`	`mkdir -p`, `rm -r`, `cp -r`. `rm` refuses to delete the project itself.
`basename`, `dirname`, `realpath`	Parts of paths.
`zip`, `unzip`, `tar`, `gzip`, `gunzip`	Pack and unpack archives.

Text tools

echo, printf, grep, sed, awk, sort, uniq, cut, tr, wc, diff, tee, seq, rev, nl, xargs, base64, sha256sum and md5sum work on files and in pipes, for example:

grep -rn "TODO" . | sort | uniq -c
cut -d, -f1 people.csv | sort | uniq
ls *.py | xargs wc -l

Also there: env, printenv, date, sleep, time, whoami, uname, which, clear and help.

curl and wget

curl URL prints a response and wget URL saves it to a file, so you can try your API or download data. They also reach your own server while it runs, for example curl http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/tasks.

python

python and python3 are the same interpreter, the one inside the app.

python with nothing after it opens an interactive prompt. Stop ends the session.
python file.py runs a file; a folder with __main__.py runs too.
python -m module runs a module: pip, pytest, http.server, json.tool…
python -c "code" runs code given as text, and python - runs code piped in: cat script.py | python -.
-i opens the interactive prompt after the program, with its variables; -q skips the banner; -W sets a warning filter; -X sets an option; -B writes no .pyc files. python --version prints the version.
python -m venv is not needed and says so: each project already has its own package folder.

Django, Flask and Uvicorn

python manage.py <command> and django-admin <command> work as on a computer. runserver runs without the autoreloader (iOS cannot start the child process it needs), so stop and run again after a change. dbshell is refused, because it starts an external database program.
flask --app hello run runs a Flask app. The reloader and --debug are refused for the same reason.
uvicorn main:app serves a FastAPI or Starlette app on 127.0.0.1:8000; --host and --port change that. --reload and --workers start extra processes and are refused.

When a server starts, Pythilo shows it and offers Open site. See Web servers and the preview.

Framework chips

Pythilo looks at the project and puts its framework's commands one tap away, above the terminal and below the output after a run:

Project has	Chips
`manage.py`	Django: `runserver`, `migrate`, `makemigrations`, `createsuperuser`, `test`, `check`. Commands that need an argument, such as `startapp`, fill in the line instead of running. After `python manage.py` lists its commands once, All N commands opens every one, grouped by app.
`Flask(` in app, main, hello, wsgi, asgi or server.py	Flask: `run`, `routes`
`FastAPI(` or `Starlette(`	Uvicorn: `uvicorn main:app`
`test_*.py` or `tests/`	`pytest -q`
`package.json`	NPM: `install`, and `build`, `dev` or `start` when the project defines them

pip, pytest, sqlite3, git and npm

pip installs into the project. See Packages.
pytest runs as on a computer, with your arguments.
sqlite3 db.sqlite3 opens a database. See SQLite.
git covers init, status, add, reset/restore, commit -m, log, diff, branch, switch/checkout, merge, rebase, remote, fetch, pull, push and config. Clone from the Projects screen. See Git.
npm installs from the npm registry and builds with esbuild; npx esbuild works too. See npm and esbuild.

While a server runs

A server keeps Python busy. If you type a command while a server you started from the terminal is running, Pythilo stops the server, runs the command and starts the server again; the field says Command (restarts the server). If some other program is running, the terminal asks you to stop it first.