The shell scripting reference that looks like it was printed in 1984.
ShellRef is a beautifully crafted offline reference for Bash 5+ and Zsh, styled as a 1980s technical manual. Whether you're writing your first script or reaching for the exact syntax of an associative array declaration, ShellRef puts the right answer in your hands — no browser tab, no search engine, no noise.
15 Sections. Hundreds of Topics.
Every topic is written with enough context to understand not just the syntax, but why it works the way it does:
• History of Bash — from Bell Labs and the GNU Project to today
• Shell fundamentals — variables, quoting, arithmetic, special variables
• Control flow — if/elif/else, case, for, while, until, break, continue
• Functions — parameters, return values, local scope, recursion
• Strings and arrays — expansion, substitution, indexed and associative arrays
• File I/O — redirection, file descriptors, heredocs, here-strings
• Processes — job control, signals, traps, subshells, process substitution
• Best practices — strict mode, ShellCheck, defensive scripting patterns
• Zsh — extended globbing, powerful arrays, prompt and completion config
• Command reference — text processing, file operations, system commands
Three Themes. All Retro.
Aged Paper, Phosphor Green, and Phosphor Amber bring the look of a 1980s Bell Labs terminal to your iPhone and iPad. These settings work great for iOS light and dark mode configuration and you can set preferred text size.
Fast. Focused. Fully Offline.
Bookmark any topic as a Quick Ref with a single tap. Search across all content instantly. No account. No subscription. No internet required — ever.
ShellRef is for developers, sysadmins, students, and anyone who has ever typed man bash and wished for something better.
ShellRef is a beautifully crafted offline reference for Bash 5+ and Zsh, styled as a 1980s technical manual. Whether you're writing your first script or reaching for the exact syntax of an associative array declaration, ShellRef puts the right answer in your hands — no browser tab, no search engine, no noise.
15 Sections. Hundreds of Topics.
Every topic is written with enough context to understand not just the syntax, but why it works the way it does:
• History of Bash — from Bell Labs and the GNU Project to today
• Shell fundamentals — variables, quoting, arithmetic, special variables
• Control flow — if/elif/else, case, for, while, until, break, continue
• Functions — parameters, return values, local scope, recursion
• Strings and arrays — expansion, substitution, indexed and associative arrays
• File I/O — redirection, file descriptors, heredocs, here-strings
• Processes — job control, signals, traps, subshells, process substitution
• Best practices — strict mode, ShellCheck, defensive scripting patterns
• Zsh — extended globbing, powerful arrays, prompt and completion config
• Command reference — text processing, file operations, system commands
Three Themes. All Retro.
Aged Paper, Phosphor Green, and Phosphor Amber bring the look of a 1980s Bell Labs terminal to your iPhone and iPad. These settings work great for iOS light and dark mode configuration and you can set preferred text size.
Fast. Focused. Fully Offline.
Bookmark any topic as a Quick Ref with a single tap. Search across all content instantly. No account. No subscription. No internet required — ever.
ShellRef is for developers, sysadmins, students, and anyone who has ever typed man bash and wished for something better.
Show More
