---
type: challenge
title: "The Scripter"
xp: 100
duration: 35
difficulty: 3
---

# The Scripter

> **[INCOMING — Mission Control, Earth]**
>
> Cadet, time to combine commands. Bash lets you embed the output of
> one command inside another using `$(...)` — *command substitution*:
>
> ```bash
> echo "Today is $(date '+%Y-%m-%d')"
> # → Today is 2026-05-04
> ```
>
> When your script runs, a directory `supplies/` exists with several
> files. Produce `report.txt` containing exactly two lines:
>
> ```
> Date: <today in YYYY-MM-DD format>
> Files in supplies: <count of entries in supplies/>
> ```
>
> Two helpers:
>
> - `date '+%Y-%m-%d'` — today in the right format
> - `ls supplies | wc -l | tr -d ' '` — entry count, whitespace stripped
>
> [END TRANSMISSION]

## Your Task

In `starter/starter.sh`, use `echo` + `$(...)` substitution to
produce the two-line report.

## Objectives

- `report.txt` exists
- Line 1 matches `Date: <today>`
- Line 2 matches `Files in supplies: <count>`