Create Symlink

Instructions

1. Detect Operating System

1. Check system information in environment variables: e.g.

   process.platform

   (in Node.js environment)
2. Analyze the path format provided by the user:
   • Windows path:

     C:\\Users\\...

     or

     D:\\...

   • macOS path:

     /Users/username/...

     or

     ~/...

   • Linux path:

     /home/username/...

     or

     ~/...

3. Ask the user directly: When it cannot be determined, ask the user which operating system they are currently using

• Windows:

  win32

• macOS:

  darwin

• Linux:

  linux

2. Create Directory Symbolic Link

New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "目标路径" -Target "源路径"

mklink /D "目标路径" "源路径"

ln -s "源路径" "目标路径"

3. Create File Symbolic Link

New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "目标文件路径" -Target "源文件路径"

mklink "目标文件路径" "源文件路径"

ln -s "源文件路径" "目标文件路径"

4. Create Hard Link (File)

mklink /H "目标文件路径" "源文件路径"

ln "源文件路径" "目标文件路径"

Usage Scenarios

• Needs to share the same directory or file across different locations
• Wants to create a shortcut while retaining the original path reference
• Needs to access files across directories without copying
• Wants to uniformly manage configuration files or resources
• Links dependency directories in the development environment
• Needs to migrate large folders while keeping the original path available

Notes

Permission Requirements

• Windows: Creating symbolic links usually requires administrator privileges (can be exempted in Developer Mode)
• macOS / Linux: Regular users can create symbolic links, but may require permissions to link to certain system directories

Path Format

• Windows: Use full path, e.g.

  C:\\Users\\name\\folder

  or

  "C:\\Users\\name\\folder"

• macOS / Linux: Use full path, e.g.

  /home/user/folder

  or

  ~/folder

• Avoid using relative paths, especially in scripts

Target Existence

• The source path must exist to create a symbolic link
• The target path must not already exist (file or directory)

Cross Filesystem

• Symbolic links can be created across filesystems
• Hard links cannot be created across filesystems

Examples for Each Platform

Windows Example

Create Directory Symbolic Link

New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "D:\\shared\\tools" -Target "C:\\tools"

Create File Symbolic Link

New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "C:\\Users\\Public\\Desktop\\config.json" -Target "D:\\MyConfigs\\main-config.json"

macOS Example

Create Directory Symbolic Link

ln -s /Users/username/Documents/work /Users/username/Desktop/work-link

Create File Symbolic Link

ln -s ~/.config/app/settings.json ~/Desktop/settings-link.json

Linux Example

Create Directory Symbolic Link

ln -s /home/user/projects/myapp /var/www/myapp

Create File Symbolic Link

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/my-site /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/my-site

Verify Links

Windows

# 查看链接详情
Get-ChildItem "链接路径"

# 查看是否为符号链接
(Get-Item "链接路径").Attributes

macOS / Linux

# 查看链接详情
ls -la "链接路径"

# 验证链接指向
readlink "链接路径"

# 查看链接和源文件
ls -la "链接路径" "源路径"

Delete Symbolic Links

Windows

# 删除软链接（不要加 -Recurse，否则会删除源文件）
Remove-Item "链接路径"

macOS / Linux

# 删除软链接（不要加 -r，否则会删除源文件）
rm "链接路径"

# 或
unlink "链接路径"

Usage Guide

Quick Start

Detailed Guide

• Various trigger keywords
• Complete conversation examples
• Common usage scenarios
• Notes and reminders