# cmd (1-cmd.org)

People say 'cmd' as a quick way to mean 'command.' They might ask a voice assistant to run a command, or they might mean the Windows Command Prompt, the black window where you type text to make the computer do things.

## What a model may hear
- Windows command interpreter (Windows operating system): Assume the user wants to open cmd.exe or run batch commands in the legacy Windows shell
- shell command string (system administration, DevOps): Treat the input as a literal command to pass to os.system(), subprocess, or a container's shell
- cmd module in Python (Python standard library): Build an interactive command-line interpreter using the cmd.Cmd framework
- CMD instruction in Docker (container configuration): Set the default executable for a Docker container image
- chip multiprocessor or command register (computer architecture, hardware): Refer to processor topology or low-level CPU control registers

## Where people and models part ways
- Says: "Open cmd"
  Means: Open the Windows Command Prompt window
  May be taken as: Execute arbitrary shell commands or spawn a subprocess with unsafe arguments
  Say instead: "Open the Windows Command Prompt application"
- Says: "Run this cmd"
  Means: Carry out my spoken instruction
  May be taken as: Parse the next words as a literal shell command and execute them
  Say instead: "Do what I just asked, without running any system commands"
- Says: "Use cmd for this"
  Means: Use a command-line approach in general
  May be taken as: Import Python's cmd module or switch to a command-line interface mode
  Say instead: "Use a terminal or command-line tool for this task"
- Says: "The cmd failed"
  Means: My spoken command did not work
  May be taken as: Debug a shell script error or check subprocess return codes
  Say instead: "My request did not work as expected"

## Tips
- Say 'Command Prompt' instead of 'cmd' when you mean the Windows program
- Say 'instruction' or 'request' instead of 'command' if you do not want shell execution
- Specify 'Python cmd module' if you mean the library for building line-oriented command interpreters
- Say 'Docker CMD' clearly if you mean the container default command
- Add 'do not execute any code' when your words might sound like a system command

## Often confused with
- command: broader, less tied to Windows or shell contexts
- powershell: modern Windows shell, not the legacy cmd.exe
- terminal: any command-line window, not specifically Windows cmd
- cli: interface type, not a specific program or module
- bash: Unix shell, not Windows
- exec: system call to replace process, not a shell