LinuxLab — Learn Linux in your browser

A fully sandboxed Linux terminal inside Chrome. Practice real commands, pipes and permissions with zero risk.

LinuxLab is a real Linux shell that runs entirely inside your browser. No container, no virtual machine, no account, no network connection. Type a command and it behaves the way it would on a real machine — including when it refuses. WHY IT IS DIFFERENT Most "terminal simulators" match a list of commands against canned output. LinuxLab has an actual shell: a quote-aware tokenizer, a recursive-descent parser, a virtual filesystem with permissions and inodes, and pipelines whose stages run concurrently. "yes | head -3" stops after three lines for the same reason it does on Linux — the reader closes the pipe. WHAT YOU CAN DO • 40+ commands: ls, cd, pwd, mkdir, touch, rm, mv, cp, cat, echo, head, tail, grep, find, tree, stat, chmod, chown, ln, wc, sort, uniq, yes, sleep, which, whoami, hostname, date, env, export, alias, history, man, and more • Real shell syntax: pipes, > and >> redirection, < input, quoting, escaping, $VARIABLES, globbing, && and || and ; • A persistent virtual filesystem with permissions, ownership, timestamps, hidden files and symbolic links — it survives restarting your browser • Authentic errors: "No such file or directory", "Permission denied", "command not found", with the correct exit codes • Tab completion for commands, paths and environment variables • Full manual pages for every command, with worked examples LEARN BY DOING Nine guided missions take you from "where am I?" to pipelines and file permissions, awarding badges as you go. Progress is checked against the actual filesystem, so any command that achieves the goal counts — there is no single "correct" answer to memorise. OPTIONAL AI ASSISTANT Type "explain docker compose up", "fix npm install" or "learn grep" for a plain-language answer. Bring your own key for OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini, or use a local model through Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint (Ollama needs OLLAMA_ORIGINS=chrome-extension://* set). LinuxLab ships no key and talks to nobody by default. Common topics are answered offline. MADE FOR EVERYDAY USE • Four themes: Ubuntu Dark, Light, Dracula, Solarized • Terminal tabs and a Ctrl+K command palette • Chrome side panel, so a shell can sit beside your documentation • Adjustable font, cursor, opacity and prompt • Export, import and snapshot your filesystem PRIVACY No telemetry. No analytics. No servers. Only two permissions (storage and sidePanel) and no access to the websites you visit. Everything you type stays in your browser profile. The only data that ever leaves is what you send to an AI provider you configure yourself.