Terminal undo on Linux

May 2026

Linux shells can recall commands, edit lines, and stop processes. They do not provide a general undo for filesystem changes caused by rm, mv, git reset --hard, or redirects.

What undo needs

Real terminal undo needs a copy from before the destructive command. For tracked files, git can help. For untracked files, generated assets, local notes, and config, you need a local backup before the command runs.

How oops works on Linux

oops installs shell hooks for bash, zsh, and fish. The hook detects destructive commands, backs up the target files to ~/.oops/trash/, and records metadata for restore.

$ rm -rf tmp/reports $ oops show will restore tmp/reports/ $ oops ✓ restored tmp/reports/

Cleanup and disk usage

Backups auto-clean after the configured retention window and respect the max trash size. On Linux, oops cleanup-service install can install a user-level systemd timer for hourly cleanup.

Install

curl -fsSL oops-cli.com/install.sh | bash

After installing, run oops doctor to verify the shell hook. For macOS specifics, read terminal undo on Mac.