use-grealpath

Original：🇺🇸 English
Translated

Enforces using grealpath command for relative path calculations and absolute path conversions. Use when calculating relative paths between files, converting relative paths to absolute paths, or working with file path operations.

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npx skill4agent add totto2727-dotfiles/agents use-grealpath

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grealpath-usagepath-manipulationcommand-line-toolfile-path-conversion

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Use grealpath for Path Operations

Rule (CRITICAL)

ALWAYS use 
grealpath
command for:
  • Calculating relative paths between files/directories
  • Converting relative paths to absolute paths
  • Resolving symbolic links to absolute paths

Relative Path Calculation

Use 
grealpath --relative-to=<base>
to calculate relative paths:
bash
# Calculate relative path from base directory to target
grealpath --relative-to=/home/user /home/user/test
# Output: test

# Calculate relative path from current directory
grealpath --relative-to=. ./subdir/file.txt
# Output: subdir/file.txt

# Calculate relative path between two specific paths
grealpath --relative-to=/path/to/base /path/to/base/subdir/file.txt
# Output: subdir/file.txt

Absolute Path Conversion

Use 
grealpath
to convert relative paths to absolute paths:
bash
# Convert relative path to absolute path
grealpath ./subdir/file.txt
# Output: /home/user/project/subdir/file.txt

# Convert with current directory as base
grealpath file.txt
# Output: /home/user/project/file.txt

# Resolve symbolic links to absolute paths
grealpath symlink
# Output: /home/user/project/actual/path

Common Use Cases

Getting Relative Path Between Two Files

bash
# From file A to file B
grealpath --relative-to=/path/to/fileA /path/to/fileB

Converting Relative to Absolute

bash
# Simple conversion
grealpath relative/path/to/file

# With base directory
grealpath --relative-to=/base/dir relative/path

Resolving Paths with Symbolic Links

bash
# Resolve all symbolic links
grealpath -s symlink
# Or without -s flag (default behavior resolves symlinks)
grealpath symlink

Examples

Good: Using grealpath

bash
# Calculate relative path
grealpath --relative-to=/home/user /home/user/project/src/file.ts
# Output: project/src/file.ts

# Convert to absolute path
grealpath ./src/file.ts
# Output: /home/user/project/src/file.ts

# Resolve symbolic link
grealpath ./link-to-file
# Output: /home/user/project/actual/file.ts

Bad: Manual Path Manipulation

bash
# DO NOT manually calculate relative paths
# DO NOT use cd and pwd combinations
# DO NOT use string manipulation for paths

Notes

  • grealpath
    is the GNU version of 
    realpath
    (Mac uses BSD version by default)
  • Always use 
    grealpath
    instead of 
    realpath
    for consistent behavior
  • The 
    --relative-to
    option requires GNU coreutils
  • Paths are normalized (removes 
    .
    and 
    ..
    components)