type

Show the type of a command

$ type [command]

$ type -a [command]

$ type -t [command]

$ type -P [command]

$ type -t [cd]

$ type -p [command]

$ type -f [command]

type [-afptP] name...

type is a shell builtin that displays how a command name would be interpreted. It identifies whether a name is an alias, shell keyword, function, builtin command, or external executable file.
Without options, type prints a descriptive message showing the command type and location. With -t, it outputs just the type category as a single word, useful for scripting.
The -a option shows all interpretations of a name, revealing if multiple commands exist with the same name (e.g., an alias shadowing an executable). The -P option forces a PATH search, useful for finding the executable even when an alias or function exists.
type is more informative than which because it understands shell internals like aliases, functions, and builtins, not just files in PATH.

-a

Display all locations containing an executable; includes aliases, builtins, and functions

Suppress shell function lookup

Return disk file path only if type would return "file"; empty otherwise

Force PATH search even for aliases, builtins, or functions

Output single word: alias, keyword, function, builtin, file, or empty

Identify command types

$ $ type ls
ls is aliased to `ls --color=auto'

$ type cd
cd is a shell builtin

$ type -t for
keyword

0

All names were found

One or more names were not found

type is a shell builtin, so its behavior may vary slightly between shells (bash, zsh, etc.). For POSIX compatibility, use command -v instead. The -a option includes aliases which only exist in interactive shells.

The type command has been a shell builtin since the Bourne shell in early Unix. It was designed to help users understand command resolution, especially important as shells gained features like aliases and functions that could shadow executables. The command is specified in POSIX.

which(1), command(1), whereis(1), bash(1)