mv | Alison's LLM Skills Marketplace | Alison's LLM Skills Marketplace

Files

SKILL.mdagentsreferences

Install

Install only this skill with npx skills

npx skills add alisonaquinas/llm-shared-skills --skill 'mv' -g -y

Install the containing skill bundle

/plugin install shared-skills@llm-skills

Download mv-skill.zip

This skill is bundled inside shared-skills. Use npx skills when you only want this skill, or install the bundle once to make every included skill available through the plugin marketplace flow. Browse the full skill bundle repository at github.com/alisonaquinas/llm-shared-skills.

Invoke

Invoke this skill after installation

/shared-skills:mv

SKILL.md

name: mv description: > Move or rename files and directories with mv. Use when the agent needs to rename a file or directory in place, relocate files to a different directory, reorganise a directory tree, or safely replace a destination file with an atomic move on the same filesystem.

mv

Move or rename files and directories, with control over overwrite behaviour and backup creation.

Quick Start

Verify availability: mv --version (GNU) or man mv
Rename a file: mv old-name.txt new-name.txt
Move to a directory: mv file.txt /target/dir/

Intent Router

references/cheatsheet.md — Rename, move single and multiple files, overwrite control, verbose mode
references/advanced-usage.md — Atomic replacement, backup suffixes, cross-filesystem behaviour, moving directory trees
references/troubleshooting.md — Cross-filesystem errors, permission denied, destination-exists edge cases

Core Workflow

Confirm source path and destination before running — mv is not undoable without a backup
Use -i (interactive) to prompt before overwriting, or -n to refuse to overwrite
Use -v to confirm each move in batch operations
For cross-filesystem moves, be aware that mv falls back to a copy-then-delete internally
Verify result with ls -l on the destination

Quick Command Reference

mv old.txt new.txt                  # Rename a file in place
mv file.txt /target/dir/            # Move file to directory
mv file.txt /target/dir/new.txt     # Move and rename in one step
mv -i source.txt dest.txt           # Prompt before overwriting
mv -n source.txt dest.txt           # Never overwrite an existing destination
mv -v *.log /archive/               # Verbose: print each file moved
mv -b source.txt dest.txt           # Back up destination before overwriting
mv --backup=numbered src dest       # Numbered backups (GNU)
mv dir/ /new/parent/                # Move entire directory
man mv                              # Full manual

Safety Notes

Area	Guardrail
Irreversible by default	Unlike `cp`, `mv` removes the source. There is no built-in undo. Verify destination before running, especially in scripts.
Silent overwrite	`mv` overwrites the destination without warning by default. Use `-i` interactively or `-n` in scripts to prevent accidental data loss.
Cross-filesystem	When source and destination are on different filesystems, `mv` performs a copy-then-delete. If interrupted, data can be left in both or neither location. Use `rsync` with `--remove-source-files` for safer cross-filesystem moves.
Directory trailing slash	`mv src dest` where `dest` is an existing directory moves `src` inside `dest`. Omit the trailing slash or check with `test -d dest` to confirm intent.
Root-owned files	Moving files you do not own requires elevated privileges. Prefer `sudo mv` only after confirming the operation.

Source Policy

Treat man mv and mv --help as runtime truth. GNU and BSD mv differ slightly.
For large or cross-filesystem moves where atomicity matters, use rsync --remove-source-files.
In scripts, check exit code and destination before deleting any backup.

mv