How to Create a CD: Easy Step-by-Step Guide

Mastering the “Cd-Create” Workflow: Combine Directory Creation and Navigation

If you spend any time working in a command-line terminal, you have likely typed this sequence a million times:

mkdir my-new-project
cd my-new-project

While it only takes a few seconds, repeating these two steps—first creating a folder with mkdir and then immediately changing into it with cd—is a textbook example of redundant developer friction.

Enter “cd-create” (often implemented as a custom mkcd function): the ultimate terminal habit that merges folder creation and navigation into a single, seamless motion.

Why the Friction Exists

By design, Unix shells separate these concerns:

• cd is a shell builtin command responsible for changing the current working directory.
• mkdir is an independent binary executable file used to build directories.

Because they operate independently, the shell doesn’t natively bundle them into a single cd-create command out of the box. However, because developers love optimizing their workflows, bridging this gap takes only a few lines of configuration.

How to Build Your Own “Cd-Create” Shortcut

You can easily bake a shortcut directly into your terminal environment (whether you use Bash or Zsh).

Open your shell configuration file (such as ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.config/fish/config.fish) and add a tiny helper function:

mkcd() {
  mkdir -p -- "$1" && cd -P -- "$1"
}

What makes this snippet tick:

1. mkdir -p -- "$1": The -p flag tells the terminal to create the directory and any necessary parent directories along the path without throwing errors if they already exist. The -- safely handles folder names that might start with hyphens.
2. &&: This ensures the second command only runs if the first command succeeds. No broken pipes or accidental misfires.
3. cd -P -- "$1": Instantly teleports you into your newly created workspace.

Level Up Your Terminal Game

Once you adopt a cd-create mindset, you can expand the concept to suit your daily needs:

• Project Scaffolding: Write a slightly larger function that not only creates and enters a folder, but also kicks off a template repository or runs git init.
• Instant Cleanup: Combine creation with automated file generation so you can spin up an isolated test environment instantly.

By eliminating minor redundancies, you keep your focus where it belongs: writing great code instead of fighting repetitive keystrokes.