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:
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