Plain-English terms you might bump into. Scan when a word throws you.
/chat list
See your saved conversations.
/chat resume <name>
Pick up a conversation you saved earlier.
/chat save <name>
Save your current conversation under a name you can come back to.
/clear
Wipe the screen if it gets cluttered. Your conversation isn't lost; only what's visible.
/exit
Leave the tutor cleanly. Same as /quit.
/help
Show the list of all available commands. Same as
/?.
/quit
Leave the tutor cleanly. Same as /exit.
/restore
Undo the last thing the AI changed in your files. The safety net for "I let it do something and I'd like it back the way it was."
AI model
The "brain" of the AI: the part that does the actual thinking. Different companies have their own families: Claude (Anthropic), GPT (OpenAI, the one inside ChatGPT), and Gemini (Google, the one your tutor uses). New versions come out every few months; bigger version numbers are newer.
Approval mode
The setting that controls when Gemini asks you before doing things. Yours is set to "auto_edit": it reads and changes files silently, but asks before running terminal commands or reaching out to the internet (the genuinely risky stuff). The tutor pauses in chat before any meaningful change so you can review it there. Later, you can change this if you want more — or less — flow.
Bookend (step-2 / step-10a bookend)
The deliberate plan to make the same tiny thing twice: once at step 2 (with one or two untaught prompts) and again at step 10a (with everything you've learned). The before and after sit side by side in your repo so you can see how much you've grown.
cd
"Change directory": moves you into a different folder in the
terminal. For example, cd ~/Documents/my-game takes you
into the my-game folder. cd .. takes you back up one
level.
Claude
Anthropic's AI model family. Comes in tiers: Opus (the most capable, slower, pricier), Sonnet (middle ground), and Haiku (smallest and fastest). You'll often see version numbers attached (Claude Sonnet 4.6, Opus 4.8); higher numbers are newer.
Command
Text you type to make something happen. Some commands go in the
terminal (like gemini), some go in the tutor and start
with / (like /help).
Continue learning
What you type to the tutor to pick up where you left off, after you've reopened it for a new session. The tutor reads your progress and carries on.
Ctrl+C
The terminal's "cancel" key. In Git Bash it interrupts whatever's running. Inside your tutor, one press cancels what Gemini is doing; two presses in a row quit. It does not copy text; see the install page for the actual copy shortcut.
curl
A little tool, built into your terminal, that fetches things from the internet. The setup command in step 5 of the install guide uses it to download your tutor.
End lesson
What you type to the tutor when you want to stop for the day. The tutor saves your progress, gives you your pick-up-next-time reminder, and tells you it's safe to close the window. A full stop or other punctuation on the end is fine: "End lesson." works just the same.
Esc
The "cancel" or "clear" key inside your tutor. One press closes a popup or menu. Press it twice quickly to wipe what you've typed and start over.
Folder
The same thing as a Windows folder: a container for files on your computer. Sometimes called a directory.
Gemini (the AI model)
Google's AI model family, the one your tutor uses. Comes in tiers like Pro (most capable) and Flash (faster, lighter). Version numbers (e.g. Gemini 2.5) go up as Google updates it. Different from Gemini CLI, which is the tool that runs Gemini on your computer.
Gemini CLI
The free Google tool that runs the tutor in your terminal. "CLI" stands for "command-line interface": you talk to it by typing.
GEMINI.md
A text file that tells Gemini how to behave. Your tutor's lives
inside your project folder at
~/Documents/my-gemini-project/GEMINI.md. Gemini reads
it every time you launch the tutor. Don't edit it:
if you change it, the tutor breaks. In future projects you can add
your own GEMINI.md to each project folder to customise
Gemini's behaviour there; the tutor's closing lesson walks you
through how to ask for one.
Git
A tool that quietly tracks every change to your files so you can go back to any earlier version. The tutor handles the git work for you.
Git Bash
The terminal window you use on Windows. Comes with Git. Open it from the Start menu.
GPT
OpenAI's AI model family, the one inside ChatGPT. Different versions like GPT-4 and GPT-5; the "mini" and "nano" variants are smaller and faster but less capable.
Install
Put a piece of software onto your computer so you can use it.
ls
"List": shows everything in your current folder. Handy when you can't remember what a folder or repo is called and want to see your options.
LTS
"Long-Term Support": the stable version of software, recommended for most people. You'll see it on the Node.js download page.
Node.js
The engine Gemini CLI runs on. Has to be installed before Gemini.
npm
Node.js's installer for adding extra tools. The tutor's setup uses it once, to install Gemini.
progress.md (the tutor's memory)
A file the tutor keeps in your project folder, at
~/Documents/my-gemini-project/progress.md. It remembers
where you got to. You can open it in Notepad; no magic, just a text
file.
Project folder
The single folder where your learning lives, at
~/Documents/my-gemini-project. The tutor creates it on
day one. For now, everything goes here.
Prompt
What you type to the AI to tell it what you want.
Repo (repository)
A folder that git is tracking changes for. Your project folder is a repo. ("Repo" is just short for "repository"; same thing.)
Resume kit
The phrases for getting back into the tutor after a break (open
Git Bash, type tutor, then type
Continue learning). The Helpful notes page has the
full text.
Save-point
A snapshot of your work you can return to if something goes wrong. Git makes these for you (the technical name is a "commit"). The tutor takes care of making save-points as you work.
Session log
The running list of past sessions inside progress.md:
what was covered, how it went, anything to remember next time. The
tutor writes a fresh entry at the end of each session.
Slash command
A command you type to the tutor that starts with
/: like /help, /quit,
/restore. The tutor recognises these and acts on them
instead of treating them as a normal message.
Tab
The autocomplete key in the terminal. Start typing a folder or filename, press Tab, and the terminal finishes the name for you. Saves typos.
Tangent tolerance
Whether you'd rather the tutor stick strictly to the path it's teaching, or feel free to mention interesting side-paths when they come up. You answer this in the session 1 diagnostic; the tutor respects your choice.
Terminal
A text window where you type commands instead of clicking. On Windows you'll use Git Bash as your terminal.
Thinking mode (effort)
Some AI models can be asked to "think harder" before answering; they take longer but reason more carefully. You'll hear it called different things: extended thinking (Claude), reasoning (GPT), deep think (Gemini). The trade-off is always the same: slower in exchange for more thorough. Your tutor uses Gemini's normal mode for now; that's plenty for learning.