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(efaq)Shell mode loses the current directory

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Why does shell mode lose track of the shell's current directory?
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   Emacs has no way of knowing when the shell actually changes its
directory.  This is an intrinsic limitation of Unix.  So it tries to
guess by recognizing `cd' commands.  If you type `cd' followed by a
directory name with a variable reference (`cd $HOME/bin') or with a
shell metacharacter (`cd ../lib*'), Emacs will fail to correctly guess
the shell's new current directory.  A huge variety of fixes and
enhancements to shell mode for this problem have been written to handle
this problem.  Check the Lisp Code Directory (Note: Finding a package
with particular functionality).

   You can tell Emacs the shell's current directory with the command
`M-x dirs'.