Windows Compatibility Skill

Critical Rule: Bash Tool Uses Git Bash

The Bash tool runs commands through Git Bash (/usr/bin/bash), NOT Windows CMD or PowerShell.

This means:

• Use bash/POSIX syntax for all shell commands
• Do NOT use Windows CMD syntax (if not exist, copy, del)
• Do NOT use PowerShell syntax (Remove-Item, New-Item)

Command Syntax Reference

Directory Operations

File Operations

Conditional Operations

Path Handling

• Use forward slashes in bash: .claude/context/memory/
• Git Bash auto-converts Windows paths, but prefer forward slashes
• Quote paths with spaces: "path with spaces/file.txt"

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Windows CMD Multi-line If

# WRONG - Git Bash cannot parse this
if not exist "path" mkdir "path"
if not exist "other" mkdir "other"

✅ Bash Equivalent

# CORRECT - Use bash syntax
mkdir -p path other
# Or with explicit check:
[ -d "path" ] || mkdir -p path

❌ Touch Command Failure Handling

# WRONG - touch may not exist on Windows, fails silently
touch file.txt 2>/dev/null

✅ Portable Alternative

# CORRECT - echo works everywhere in bash
echo "" > file.txt
# Or use mkdir -p for directories (never fails if exists)
mkdir -p path/to/dir

Node.js Cross-Platform Tips

When writing JavaScript/Node.js code:

// Use path.join() for cross-platform paths
const filePath = path.join(__dirname, 'subdir', 'file.txt');

// Use fs.mkdir with recursive option
fs.mkdirSync(dirPath, { recursive: true });

// Check platform if needed
if (process.platform === 'win32') {
  // Windows-specific handling
}

Memory Protocol (MANDATORY)

Before starting:

cat .claude/context/memory/learnings.md

After completing: Record any new patterns or exceptions discovered.

ASSUME INTERRUPTION: Your context may reset. If it's not in memory, it didn't happen.