C++ Talent Tree

Your LearnCpp progress, as a terminal talent tree.

Work through lessons, unlock talents, keep notes, and return to your current quest without leaving the keyboard. Built for learners who enjoy Vim navigation—and for anyone who wants to make their progress visible on stream.

Python 3.10+ · Linux / macOS · No runtime packages · MIT

Install · First run · Keys · Streaming · Uninstall · Contribute

Rendered from the app's demo mode. Try it with cpp-tree --demo.

What it does

• Track the path: 356 lesson entries across 35 chapters, with separate main, side-quest, and archive views. The main path contains 331 entries.
• Stay on your quest: pin a lesson with f; return to it with F.
• Make it yours: save lesson and chapter notes, search titles or lesson IDs, and open the selected article in your default browser.
• Keep progress safe: automatic saves, a previous-save backup, and undo/redo for completion changes within the current session.
• Share your progress: stream view hides note contents and controls; a small stream.txt file gives OBS your current chapter and lesson.

The tracker works offline. Opening an article needs an internet connection. The branches are visual guides: you can mark any lesson complete, with no enforced prerequisites. “Unlocking” records your progress; it does not unlock website access.

This is an independent companion to LearnCpp, not an official LearnCpp project. It bundles an outline, not the tutorials. The outline is a snapshot and may differ from the live site; see attribution.

Install

You need Python 3.10 or newer with curses, plus curl for the command below. The app targets Linux and macOS. On Windows, use a Linux distribution inside WSL; native Windows is not supported. Python must be available as python3.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RidaCode/cpp-tree/main/install.sh | sh

Then launch:

cpp-tree

The installer builds a single executable at ~/.local/bin/cpp-tree. It needs no sudo, pip packages, or virtual environment. It does not edit your shell settings or touch your progress. It downloads the current main branch of this repository.

Command not found? Run ~/.local/bin/cpp-tree directly, or add this line to your shell configuration (~/.bashrc for Bash or ~/.zshrc for Zsh), then reopen the terminal:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Inspect the installer, install from source, or choose another location

Download and inspect the script before running it:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RidaCode/cpp-tree/main/install.sh -o install.sh
less install.sh
sh install.sh

From a downloaded or cloned repository, installation is one command:

python3 scripts/install.py

Use a different executable directory:

python3 scripts/install.py --bin-dir "$HOME/bin"

Or pass CPP_TREE_BIN_DIR to the online installer:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RidaCode/cpp-tree/main/install.sh | CPP_TREE_BIN_DIR="$HOME/bin" sh

You can also run the source checkout without installing anything:

python3 -m cpp_tree

Contributors may install it into a virtual environment with python3 -m pip install -e .. The project does not need to be published on PyPI for any of these methods.

First run

1. Open cpp-tree, or try cpp-tree --demo without reading or changing your saves.
2. Move with h j k l or the arrow keys. Press Enter to open a chapter.
3. Press o to open a lesson. When you finish it, press Enter to mark it complete.
4. Press f to pin your current lesson, and F whenever you want to return to it.
5. Press e for notes, Ctrl-S to save them, and q to quit the tree.

Use a terminal at least 72 columns × 22 rows. A larger window shows more of the tree; the detail sidebar appears at 118 columns. Press ? for the in-app key guide.

Keys

Tree and lessons

Key	Action
h j k l / arrows	Move between nodes; up/down move one grid row
Enter / Space	Open a chapter, or toggle lesson completion
Esc / Backspace	Return to the chapter map
o	Open the lesson in your browser; on a chapter, open its next incomplete lesson
/	Search all lessons by title or ID
f / F	Pin a lesson / return to your pinned lesson
n	Go to the next incomplete node in the current view
e / E	Edit the selected lesson's notes / its chapter's notes
b	Toggle a whole chapter, after confirmation
u / r or Ctrl-R	Undo / redo completion changes in this session
Tab / Shift-Tab	Switch between main, side quests, and archive
[ / ]	Previous / next chapter
gg / G	First / last node
Ctrl-D / Ctrl-U	Page down / up
s	Toggle stream view
?	Show help
q	Save the current view and quit

Search and notes

Context	Key	Action
Search	Arrows / Ctrl-N / Ctrl-P	Select a result
Search	Enter	Jump to the result in the tree
Search	Ctrl-O	Open the result in your browser
Search	Ctrl-F	Return to the pinned quest
Search	Ctrl-U	Clear the query
Notes	Ctrl-S	Save and close
Notes	Enter / arrows	New line / move the cursor
Search or notes	Esc	Cancel; unsaved note edits are discarded

Notes support up to 20,000 characters each. Completion autosaves immediately; note edits save when you press Ctrl-S. Undo/redo applies to completion changes, not notes or quest pins, and resets when you close the app.

Command-line options

cpp-tree --demo                    # Try sample progress without touching your files
cpp-tree --name "C++ ADVENTURER"    # Set a remembered display name
cpp-tree --stream                  # Start with notes and controls hidden
cpp-tree --summary                 # Read-only progress summary; no terminal needed
cpp-tree --state-path              # Print the active progress file location
cpp-tree --state ~/study/cpp/progress.json  # Use a separate profile
cpp-tree --color truecolor         # Force the full RGB palette
cpp-tree --color 256               # Use indexed terminal colors
cpp-tree --ascii                   # Use ASCII borders and symbols
cpp-tree --version
cpp-tree --help

A separate profile should have its own directory: stream.txt is written next to its progress file. --stream hides note text, but names, lesson titles, progress, and note indicators can still appear on screen.

Your progress

The default location is:

~/.local/state/cpp-tree/progress.json

If XDG_STATE_HOME is an absolute path, the location is $XDG_STATE_HOME/cpp-tree/progress.json. --state overrides either default. Use cpp-tree --state-path to see the path on your machine.

File	Purpose
progress.json	Completed lesson IDs, notes, pinned quest, name, and last view
progress.json.bak	The previous successful save, replaced on each subsequent save
progress.json.lock	Prevents two app instances from writing the same profile
stream.txt	Current chapter and lesson for an OBS text source

The app replaces saves atomically and refuses to silently reset malformed data. An existing .lock file is normal: the operating system releases the lock when the app exits. --summary can read the file while the app is open.

Back up: close the app and copy its state directory somewhere safe. This single previous-save backup is not a long-term backup history.

Restore: close every instance, copy the damaged file aside, then copy a known good backup over the progress file. See troubleshooting for exact commands and custom paths.

Moving from the old single-file script

The state path, version-1 JSON format, lesson keys, notes, and quest pins are compatible with the original cpp-tree-dev.py / cpp-tree.py script. No import or reset is needed. Keep using the same --state argument if you used a custom file.

If the installer finds an older script at ~/.local/bin/cpp-tree, it refuses to overwrite it. After confirming that is your old tracker, rename it, then install:

mv -i "$HOME/.local/bin/cpp-tree" "$HOME/.local/bin/cpp-tree.legacy"
python3 scripts/install.py

Run that install command from this repository, or rerun the online install command. Existing aliases or shell functions named cpp-tree can also mask the new command; check with type -a cpp-tree.

Streaming

Start with cpp-tree --stream, or press s inside the app. Note contents and the normal control footer are hidden. The app still responds to the same tree keys.

For an OBS text source, enable Read from file and choose stream.txt next to your progress file. With the default state location, that is:

~/.local/state/cpp-tree/stream.txt

The file contains two lines: the chapter title and the lesson title. It uses your pinned quest, or the first incomplete main-path lesson when no valid quest is pinned. It updates when you start the app and after a successful save. It contains no notes. Demo mode never writes it. The pinned quest stays pinned after completion; press f on your next lesson to change it.

Update

Close the app and rerun the install command. The installer verifies the new archive before atomically replacing its executable. Your state files remain in place. From a checkout, update the checkout and run python3 scripts/install.py.

Uninstall

For the one-command or source-script installer:

cpp-tree --uninstall

If it is not on your PATH, use ~/.local/bin/cpp-tree --uninstall.

This removes the executable and keeps your progress, notes, backups, and OBS text file. No administrator privileges are needed. To erase those files too, note the location with cpp-tree --state-path before uninstalling, close the app, and remove the files listed in Your progress. Custom profiles must be removed separately.

For a pip install, use python3 -m pip uninstall cpp-tree inside the same environment; for pipx, use pipx uninstall cpp-tree. An uninstalled source checkout can simply be deleted. Remove any PATH line or legacy executable you added manually only if you no longer need it.

Contribute

Small, focused contributions are welcome: bug reports, documentation improvements, lesson-link corrections, and fixes for terminal behavior. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, then see the architecture.

python3 -m unittest discover -s tests -v

The application and tests use the Python standard library. Formatting and linting use the optional tool in requirements-dev.txt. See the code of conduct and security policy before reporting sensitive issues.

License and credits

Project code and original documentation are licensed under the MIT License. Created by RidaCode.

Thanks to the authors of LearnCpp for the learning material this tracker points to. Tutorial content remains with its authors; see NOTICE.md. Project setup follows the practical guidance in Open Source Guides.