Ever wondered what's really happening inside your computer? Let's explore the secret world where all your files live!
Your iPad hides something from you. Let's take a peek behind the apps...
What you see
What's really there
Tap any app icon on the iPad to see where its files actually live on the device.
A computer is like a giant filing cabinet. Everything is organized in folders that contain files.
Folders are like drawers or boxes. They hold things inside them — files, or even more folders! Also called "directories."
Files are the actual things — a photo, a song, a note, a web page, or code. Every file has a name and an extension (like .jpg or .txt).
A path is like an address. It tells the computer exactly where to find something. Slashes / separate each folder, like: /Photos/Vacation/beach.jpg
Every file system starts at the very top, called the root, written as just /. It's like the front door of the entire computer. Everything lives inside it.
Click on folders to open and close them. Click on any item to see its path.
Drag each item into the correct bucket!
Can you put the pieces in the right order to make the path?
This is how coders navigate files — by typing commands. Try some below!
Let's see what you've learned!
Here's why all of this matters for Claude Code
Claude Code is an AI helper that lives in your terminal. You talk to it in plain English, and it reads, writes, and edits files for you — right inside the file system you just learned about!
Because you now understand folders, files, and paths, you can tell Claude exactly where to put things, and you'll understand what it's doing!
"Read the file at /src/app.js"
"Create a new folder called tests"
"Move photo.jpg into the images folder"
"What files are in this project?"
• Every project lives in a folder
• Claude needs to know the path
• / means the root (top of everything)
• .. means "go up one folder"
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| | | | | MISSION COMPLETE
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You now understand how file systems work. Ready for the next adventure?