IDEALIT Passport
Menu

Passport search

Find a lesson or fix

Type at least two characters.

    Browse help by symptomBrowse all references
    How to start
    Public course previewThis is not your assigned passport. No identity, answers, or completion progress are stored here.How to start your passport
    Guided lesson
    01 / 04About 10 minutesno external change

    Start And Resume Your Passport

    Open the working Passport on this computer and reopen the same lesson list. A public course preview lets you explore; it cannot save or submit work.

    Where you will workOn this web page and your computer
    1. 1Understand
    2. 2Try it yourself
    3. 3Check and submit

    Before you start#

    The Passport itself runs locally. Its launcher starts a local server, a program serving the page from your computer. A terminal is the application containing a text prompt; a shell is the program reading its commands. No separate Bash application is needed. Keep the server terminal open; use another for commands.

    What you see Where it lives What it establishes
    Draft answers This computer Work you can resume; no official pass
    Submitted exercise GitHub The requested safe record awaiting assessment
    Passed result GitHub automatic Passport check Official completion for that submission

    Git records file history; GitHub hosts shared code and review. NAS means network-attached storage for approved durable shared data. Blade is a shared remote Windows computer for graphical software. Euler is an ETH Zurich service that schedules research calculations on managed computers. Later lessons teach their access separately.

    Close and reopen this Passport. Check that the lesson list returns before answering the questions. An old browser address is not the way to start it.

    Why the old local address may stop working

    Stopping the server closes that address, not the saved Passport. Run gh passport open to start or reuse its process and open the current address. Do not clone again or create a second learning record.

    Use a command terminal for lesson commands and wait for the official GitHub result after submission.

    Start the practice

    Practice

    Work through the decisions

    Follow in order

    Steps

    Confirm local mode and this computer, then reopen the same Passport. A public preview cannot save or submit.

    Optional: using the terminal

    A command is a line of text that tells a computer to do one task. You paste it into a terminal, the text application used for commands. A shell is the part inside that application that reads the command. PowerShell, zsh, and Bash are shells. Open only the application named for your computer below; it starts its configured shell. Follow the shell named below. You do not need to install a separate Bash or zsh application.

    Your computer or local means the laptop or desktop in front of you. Remote means another computer reached through the network. A command affects whichever computer the step names, so check that label before pasting.

    • Windows: press the Windows key, type PowerShell, and open the result named PowerShell. Do not use Command Prompt, Git Bash, or WSL for a block labelled PowerShell.
    • macOS: press Command+Space, type Terminal, and press Return. Terminal normally starts the zsh shell. If it uses another shell, run zsh for this session.
    • Linux: open the app named Terminal from the applications menu. It normally starts the Bash shell. If it uses another shell, run bash for this session.

    The prompt is the text beside the blinking cursor. For each card, check the named computer, choose Copy, paste only the command after the prompt, press Enter once, and wait for the prompt to return.

    If you have never done this before, first run the harmless terminal-ready practice on the start page. It lets you practise copying, pasting, pressing Enter, and reading output before a setup command.

    Practise one harmless command firstHow to open a terminal and run a command
    1. 01

      Confirm the page mode

      Read and answer on this web page

      Read the banner at the top of the page. Your working copy must say that this is your local Passport. A page labelled Public course preview is only an example and cannot save or submit work.

      Look forThe banner identifies your local Passport.

      Explanation and help
      What this means
      Continue to the computer check.
      Safe recovery
      Return to How to start and launch your Passport before continuing.
    2. 02

      Check your operating system

      Read and answer on this web page

      Open the Passport progress page and confirm that it names the operating system on the computer in front of you: Windows, macOS, or Linux.

      Look forThe operating system shown on the progress page matches this computer.

      Explanation and help
      What this means
      Continue to the command basics.
      Safe recovery
      Stop before platform-specific work, submit one help request without private information, and return later. Keep this Passport; do not create a second one or alter its files.
    3. 03

      Learn where commands run

      Read and answer on this web page

      Use the machine and shell label above each command. Open PowerShell on Windows or Terminal on macOS/Linux. A terminal is the text application; a shell is the program inside it that reads commands. PowerShell, zsh and Bash are shells. You do not need to install a separate Bash or zsh application. Paste after the prompt, the cursor showing readiness, press Enter once and read the result. A path is a file or folder address. Keep the server terminal open; use another terminal for lesson commands.

      Optional: terminal basics if the prompt is unfamiliar

      Look forYou can distinguish a terminal from a shell and identify the machine named above a command.

      Explanation and help
      What this means
      Continue to the system map.
      Safe recovery
      Reopen How to start and read Before step 1 before running any command.
    4. 04

      Meet the systems used by the lab

      Read and answer on this web page

      Use the system map above to distinguish code history, durable data, graphical software and scheduled computation. A CPU is the general-purpose processor; a GPU is an accelerator for compatible programs. Do not connect to any remote system in this step.

      Optional: compare the lab systems

      Look forYou can state in one sentence what GitHub, NAS, Blade, and Euler are used for.

      Explanation and help
      What this means
      Review why each lesson was assigned to you.
      Safe recovery
      Read the linked system map before choosing or removing a responsibility.
    5. 05

      Review your assigned lessons

      Read and answer on this web page

      Read the lesson list from top to bottom. Each lesson teaches and checks one practical skill. Related lessons are grouped by topic. The Passport automatically adds any earlier lessons needed for the work you selected. Check that the list covers what you expect to do in the lab.

      Look forYou can explain why each optional group of lessons appears.

      Explanation and help
      What this means
      Continue when the lesson list matches your work.
      Safe recovery
      Use the help request without private information if a required responsibility is missing or an irrelevant one was assigned.
    6. 06

      Know where progress is stored

      Read and answer on this web page

      Use the three progress states above. Check my work verifies locally; Submit lesson sends only the requested safe exercise record. Wait for the official GitHub result before treating a lesson as passed.

      Look forYou can distinguish a local draft, a public submission record, and the automatic GitHub result.

      Explanation and help
      What this means
      Continue to the resume test.
      Safe recovery
      Re-read the status explanation before submitting any lesson.
    7. 07

      Close and reopen the Passport

      On your computer

      The Passport page is provided by a small local server: a program running on this computer in the terminal you kept open. Close this browser tab. Return to that terminal. Hold the Ctrl key and tap C once; do not type the characters Ctrl+C. This asks the local server to stop. Wait until the normal PowerShell, zsh, or Bash prompt returns, then paste and run the open command below. Do not reinstall the extension or clone another repository.

      RunPowerShell on Windows
      gh passport open
      RunTerminal on macOS (zsh)
      gh passport open
      RunTerminal on Linux (Bash)
      gh passport open

      Look forThe first local server stops, then the browser reopens the same Passport and lesson list from a new local server.

      If this differsIf Ctrl+C does not return a prompt, open one new terminal. Run gh passport doctor there, then request help without including private information if the same Passport cannot be found.

      Explanation and help
      What this means
      Return to this lesson and select Check my work.

    Practise

    One practice question. It does not affect your progress.

    01Tomorrow the old localhost browser bookmark does not open. How do you resume?
    See an explanation

    The local address belongs to a running process. The launcher finds your saved Passport and starts or reuses that process; a stale address does not mean your progress was lost.

    Finish the lesson

    Questions to submit

    Answer these 3 questions, then confirm the work you checked.

    To pass: 80% and every safety question. Completion appears after the automatic GitHub check passes.

    01An instruction says Your computer / PowerShell. Where do you run its command?
    02Which source proves that submitted work passed?Safety-critical
    03How do you reopen the real passport later?
    Before submitting
    Open my real passport first

    You can check sample answers here. Open your local Passport to check your practice files and submit the lesson.

    Preview onlyYou can try the questions here. This page does not store or submit your answers.
    Need help?Open recovery steps and AI-review guidance

    If Blocked#

    If gh passport open stops, run gh passport doctor. Keep only its non-secret check names and statuses. Do not delete the Passport folder, regenerate SSH keys, reset Git, or change file permissions. Use Request help without posting secrets on the progress page if the named recovery step does not resolve the problem. The public issue is assigned to the lab maintainer for asynchronous triage; nobody needs to be online when you submit it.

    Use the glossary when a term is unfamiliar.

    Useful references:

    Understand Before Accepting AI Output#

    An AI tool cannot determine which systems, project data, or responsibilities your supervisor approved. Do not let it invent access, edit passport.json, or claim that the trusted check passed when you did not observe that result.