# realpath
> Source:
> Published: 2026-07-23 22:35:00+00:00
Quick note post. I wanted to document this handy little Unix command for spitting out the absolute path of a file:
```
cd ~/projects//docs
ls
thing.md
realpath thing.md
/path/to/home/projects//docs/thing.md
```
So, if `thing.md`
lives at ~/projects//docs/thing.md, we'd get something like...
```
/path/to/home/projects//docs/thing.md
```
Especially when dealing with LLMs (needing to reference paths on your machine for the LLM to read), this is a handy one to have floating around your brain.
My only gripe is this has that old school linux command naming style when it should be something like `ap`
or `abspath`
. Aliases to the rescue!
```
alias ap="realpath"
alias abspath="realpath"
alias absolute_path="realpath"
```
Pop this in your Bash or ZSH config and open a new terminal:
```
cd ~/projects//docs
ls
thing.md
ap thing.md
/path/to/home/projects//docs/thing.md
```
Enjoy!