ASMter - A Minimal Assembly Terminal / Shell

A lightweight, minimal, and unique terminal (shell alternative) written entirely in x86_64 Assembly (NASM) for Linux.

It interacts directly with the Linux kernel using native syscalls, bypassing high-level libraries like libc.

Features

• Dynamic Colored Prompt: Shows username: current_directory$ using ANSI colors (extracted from stack environment variables).
• Filesystem & File Operations:
  • pwd - Print current working directory.
  • ls & ls -la - List files (with size details using sys_newstat).
  • cd <path> - Change directory.
  • mkdir <dir> - Create folder.
  • rmdir <dir> - Delete empty folder.
  • rm <file> & rm -r <dir> - Remove file or directory.
  • touch <file> - Create an empty file.
  • cat <file> - Print file content.
  • cp <src> <dest> - Copy a file.
  • mv <src> <dest> - Move or rename a file.
• System Commands:
  • whoami - Output current logged-in user.
  • sleep <seconds> - Delay terminal execution.
  • uptime - Read system uptime in seconds (via sys_sysinfo).
  • chmod <octal> <file> - Change file permissions.
  • kill <pid> - Send SIGTERM to a PID.
• Unique ASM/Hardware Features:
  • cpuid - Retrieve CPU Brand information directly from processor registers.
  • matrix - Falling green binary code (digital rain) animation utilizing TSC (Time Stamp Counter) random numbers.

Project Structure

• main.asm - The main shell orchestrator and REPL loop.
• Makefile - Assembles and links the code using nasm and ld.
• src/ - Separate modules for each command:
  • src/utils.asm - Assembly string helpers (strcmp, print_cstring, etc.)
  • Command implementations (src/ls.asm, src/cp.asm, src/matrix.asm, etc.)

Building and Running

Prerequisites

Ensure you have nasm (Netwide Assembler) and standard GNU binutils (ld) installed:

sudo apt install nasm build-essential

Build

Compile the codebase:

make

Run

Launch the terminal:

./terminal

Github Repository

This project is configured for https://github.com/RobbyTSP/ASMter.git.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.