Self-imposed ban – a lightweight bash script to block commands

Summary

Self-imposed ban A lightweight Bash script to help you block yourself from using time-wasting or distracting commands until a specified date with optional reasons and friendly reminders. Perfect for developers and terminal junkies trying to reclaim their focus. Install Simply download the ban script into your ~/bin directory or any directory in your $PATH and make it executable. mkdir -p ~ /bin curl -o ~ /bin/ban https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alex-moon/ban/refs/heads/main/ban chmod +x ~ /bin/ban Usage When you ban a command, attempting to run it will result in a friendly reminder that you have banned it, along with any reasons you provide, and a date the ban will be lifted. Reasons and expiration dates are both optional - if the date is not provided, the ban will expire 40 days from now. # these are all valid commands: ban steam ban steam ' I have been spending too much time playing games ' ban steam ' I have been spending too much time playing games ' 2025-08-20 To unban a command, simply remove the command from your ~/.bans directory: rm ~ /.bans/steam To see a list of all your current bans, simply index the ~/.bans directory: ls ~ /.bans Uninstall To uninstall the ban script, simply remove the ban file from your ~/bin directory and delete the ~/.bans directory. rm ~ /bin/ban rm -rf ~ /.bans Contributing Contributions are welcome! If you have suggestions for improvements or new features, please open an issue or submit a pull request.