Questions tagged [prompt]
A string of characters displayed by interactive shells to signal the shell is waiting a user input.
657
questions
317
votes
25
answers
981k
views
Colorizing your terminal and shell environment?
I spend most of my time working in Unix environments and using terminal emulators. I try to use color on the command line, because color makes the output more useful and intuitive.
What options exist ...
- 19.8k
250
votes
11
answers
160k
views
Terminal prompt not wrapping correctly
I have an issue where if I type in very long commands in bash the terminal will not render what I'm typing correctly. I'd expect that if I had a command like the following:
username@someserver ~/...
- 2,610
206
votes
8
answers
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views
What color codes can I use in my Bash PS1 prompt?
I used several colors in my bash PS1 prompt such as:
\033]01;31\] # pink
\033]00m\] # white
\033]01;36\] # bold green
\033]02;36\] # green
\033]01;34\] # blue
\033]01;33\] # bold yellow
Where can I ...
- 42.1k
183
votes
3
answers
76k
views
Why ZSH ends a line with a highlighted percent symbol?
I've noticed this on occasion with a variety of applications. I've often thought it was because the output was cancelled early (ctrl+c, for example) or something similar, and zsh is filling in a new ...
- 2,226
98
votes
2
answers
36k
views
Why is my bash prompt getting bugged when I browse the history? [duplicate]
Often when I start looking at history of commands some of the characters from a command displayed aren't erased, for example:
What's happening:
prompt$ some_command
prompt$ some_commanother_command
...
- 1,571
97
votes
3
answers
186k
views
Awesome symbols and characters in a bash prompt
I just ran across a screenshot of someone's terminal:
Is there a list of all of the characters which can be used in a Bash prompt, or can someone get me the character for the star and the right arrow?...
- 39.7k
74
votes
5
answers
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views
How can I tell if I'm in a tmux session from a bash script?
I like to keep my bash_profile in a git repository and clone it to whatever machines I have shell access to. Since I'm in tmux most of the time I have a user@host string in the status line, rather ...
- 845
70
votes
7
answers
207k
views
How can I change my bash prompt to show my working directory?
I can print my current working dir like this
myPrompt$ pwd
/Users/me/myDir
I want my shell to look like this
/Users/me/myDir$ pwd
/Users/me/myDir
Is that possible? How can I do it?
- 6,655
59
votes
12
answers
41k
views
make my zsh prompt show mode in vi mode
I use bindkey -v (for bash-ers set -o vi I think that works in zsh too) or vi(m) mode. but it bugs me that I don't have any visual cue to tell me whether I'm in insert mode or command mode. Does ...
- 59.2k
56
votes
1
answer
33k
views
In which situations are PS2, PS3, PS4 used as the prompt?
When I log on into the shell I see the prompt whose value is stored in PS1.
I also encountered another prompt (but do not know which one) when I used the here-document syntax:
bc << HERE
>
...
- 26.7k
40
votes
5
answers
28k
views
tmux not colorizing PS1 prompt
I recently decided to change my PS1 variable to accommodate some pretty Solarized colors for my terminal viewing pleasure. When not in a tmux session, everything is great! Rainbows, ponies, unicorns ...
- 511
35
votes
5
answers
82k
views
How to make the terminal display user@machine in bold letters?
I have seen in some screen-shots (can't remember where on the web) that the terminal can display the [username@machine /]$ in bold letters. I'm looking forward to getting this too because I always ...
- 3,837
35
votes
7
answers
48k
views
How to make bash put prompt on a new line after cat command?
What I get:
host:~ user$ cat example.txt
some texthost:~ stas$
What I want to get:
host:~ user$ cat example.txt
some text
host:~ stas$
Is there a way I can make cat behave like this?
I'm using ...
35
votes
3
answers
11k
views
Using variables to store terminal color codes for PS1?
In my .bashrc, I use ANSI terminal color codes to colorize various bits. It looks like this:
PS1='\u@\h:\w\[\033[33m\]$(virtual_env)\[\033[32m\]$(git_branch)\[\033[0m\]$ '
where virtual_env and ...
- 535
34
votes
4
answers
36k
views
Shorten path in zsh prompt
Bash has the PROMPT_DIRTRIM option, e.g. when I set PROMPT_DIRTRIM=3, then a long path like:
user@computer: /this/is/some/silly/path
would show instead as:
user@computer: .../some/silly/path
Does ...
- 5,847
33
votes
7
answers
81k
views
How can I change what's displayed at a login shell?
I'm getting more familiar with tweaking the way things look in a shell via the prompt (.bashrc), but I'm now trying to change the initial stuff displayed when I first log in. On my EC2 instance, this ...
- 39.7k
32
votes
7
answers
43k
views
oh-my-zsh's prompt is slow: how to fix this
I'm using macOS 10.15.2 with iTerm2, zsh 5.7.1 and oh-my-zsh (theme robbyrussell).
I noticed that the prompt print is slightly slow respect to the bash one. For example, if I press enter, cursor ...
- 455
32
votes
7
answers
51k
views
Show only current and parent directory in bash prompt
I'm new to bash and would like my prompt to show something that in tcsh was trivial, yet after a good google search I still cannot do.
I would like my prompt to include only the current and parent ...
- 463
30
votes
4
answers
108k
views
How to show the host name in Linux commandline prompt
I have several VMs and right now my command-line prompt looks like -bash-3.2$; identical on every VM, because it doesn't contain the host name.
I need to always see which VM I'm on using hostname ...
- 401
28
votes
4
answers
13k
views
Can I configure bash to execute "clear" before every command typed in the console?
I would like to configure bash to execute clear command every time I type some command in the terminal (before executing my command). How can I do that?
I'm using Debian Linux.
- 12.3k
26
votes
5
answers
13k
views
Better way of accepting variations of ‘Yes’ from a shell prompt
Usability testing of a shell script I wrote found that people had different expectations on how to answer a question that expected ‘yes’ as the answer. See variations in the below code example.
...
- 1,207
26
votes
1
answer
50k
views
How do I ask password by GUI prompt while using sudo in script?
I use Trisquel GNU/Linux with GNOME Flashback Desktop Environment. I need a GUI password prompt for user for executing command with sudo in script. Example consider following script:
zenity --...
- 24.6k
26
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Display command in xterm titlebar
My Bash Prompt is currently setting the xterm titlebar using the following sequence:
PS1='\033]0;\u@\h>\w\007'
Is there an easy way to display the current command in the titlebar. For example, if ...
- 29.7k
26
votes
2
answers
117k
views
executing if-statement from command prompt
In bash I can do the following:
if [ -f /tmp/test.txt ]; then echo "true"; fi
However, if I add sudo in front, it doesn't work anymore:
sudo if [ -f /tmp/test.txt ]; then echo "true"; fi
-bash: ...
- 2,595
24
votes
6
answers
13k
views
Abbreviated current directory in shell prompt?
vim has a really nice feature which it utilizes in its paths when they're a bit long:
It abbreviates the path to the document in the tab at the top. Is there a way to do something similar to this so ...
- 39.7k
24
votes
15
answers
8k
views
What customizations have you done on your shell profile to increase productivity?
I know some people have some startup scripts and some people personalise the prompt. One developer uses short aliases for the long path he often visits and the frequent commands he runs.
What are all ...
22
votes
3
answers
12k
views
PS1='$(pwd)' why this works and why is this different from PS1=$(pwd)
Why when I enter this command the prompt changes to my directory?
PS1='$(pwd)'
I am using single quotes, which means no interpolation , a.k.a echo '$(pwd)' ——→ $(pwd)
Furthermore, say that we ...
- 357
22
votes
2
answers
37k
views
Why is $ the default symbol for a user shell and # the default symbol for a root shell?
Operating a standard bash shell on a server, the PS1 prompt defaults to ending in a $ for non-root users, and # for root.
IE:
ubuntu@server:~$ sudo su
root@server:/home/ubuntu#
Why is this?
- 375
22
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Display stuff below the prompt at a shell prompt?
Lets's say my prompt looks like this (the _ represents my cursor)
~ % _
Is there any way I could make it look like this
~ % _
[some status]
The question was originally about zsh, but now has ...
- 59.2k
21
votes
5
answers
16k
views
Why do I sometimes get repeatedly prompted with ">" in the terminal?
Alright, when I run certain commands the wrong way, (misspelled, etc.) The terminal outputs this: > instead of computername:workingfolder username$, and when I type enter it goes like this:
>
&...
- 11.7k
21
votes
2
answers
86k
views
How to change the prompt in Linux?
The default prompt will be
root@monu dev]#
Can we change the "root@monu" part and give it a desired name?
- 1,735
20
votes
1
answer
25k
views
What is percent sign prompt in a shell?
While watching a video, I saw the following:
% more tinyUF.txt
10
4 3
3 8
6 5
What is this % sign before more command?
- 1,319
20
votes
2
answers
12k
views
How can I make commands appear bold in zsh?
I have set up my bash shell so that any commands I type appear in bold and the commands' output is shown in normal weight:
I did this by adding \e[01m at the end of my PS1 variable to turn on bold, ...
- 242k
18
votes
7
answers
4k
views
Compact bash prompt when using a directory tree / filename
In a system with Ubuntu 14.04 and bash, I have the PS1 variable ending with the following contents:
\u@\h:\w\$
so that the prompt appears as
user@machinename:/home/mydirectory$
Sometimes, however, ...
- 4,905
18
votes
4
answers
16k
views
Showing GNU screen session name and window title in shell prompt
Is there a way to present the GNU Screen session name and window title in the prompt of the shell (let us say, the Bash prompt defined by PS1)?
- 2,884
17
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Stateful bash function
I’d like to implement a function in Bash which increases (and returns) a count with every call. Unfortunately this seems non-trivial since I’m invoking the function inside a subshell and it ...
- 3,769
17
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Why does this PS1 value cause unexpected behaviour? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why is my bash prompt getting bugged when I browse the history?
I have set my PS1 variable in .bashrc to be the following:
PS1='\e[35m[\W]:\e[0m '
It achieved what it was ...
- 391
16
votes
2
answers
11k
views
Meaning of \[\e]0; in PS1 in .bashrc
In .bashrc
case "$TERM" in
xterm*|rxvt*)
PS1="\[\e]0;${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u@\h: \w\a\]$PS1"
;;
*)
;;
esac
I understand ${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u@\h: \w, but not \...
- 2,836
16
votes
2
answers
31k
views
How to change tty login prompt?
To be clear, I am not referring to /etc/issue (shown before the prompt) or /etc/motd (shown after login), but the prompt itself, which is currently
hostname login:
For good measure, I am running ...
- 203
15
votes
5
answers
50k
views
In bash how can I change the color of my command prompt? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to customize .bashrc to configure command prompt?
When I run a command, I often times have trouble finding the beginning of the command output. An easy fix to this would ...
- 755
14
votes
4
answers
14k
views
Bash prompt execute command every time a new prompt is displayed
I have the following prompt in bash which shows the current git branch:
PS1+="$(git_prompt)" #git_prompt is a function in my .bashrc
which works when I source the .bashrc, but not when I change the ...
- 485
14
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Save cursor position and restore it in terminal
I am playing with some terminal capabilities to create async prompt output on bash. I want to get something like this: while outputting string in PROMPT_COMMAND, save terminal cursor position, print ...
- 343
14
votes
2
answers
17k
views
change prompt color depending on user or root in zsh
in zsh you can have a %# in your PS1 (or whatever PROMPT variable) which basically means display % if user or display # if root. I'm wondering if there is any way to affect this so that the % or # ...
- 59.2k
14
votes
4
answers
2k
views
tell if last command was empty in PROMPT_COMMAND
In bash, from inside PROMPT_COMMAND, is there a way to tell if the user just hit 'return' and didn't enter a command?
- 357
13
votes
5
answers
29k
views
Colored Prompt in KornShell
According to this StackOverflow post, it is possible have a colored prompt in KornShell. I have not been able to figure out how to do this. I am able to use color:
echo -e "\033[34mLinux\033[00m"
...
- 979
13
votes
3
answers
6k
views
How to include commands in Bash's PS1 without breaking line length calculation?
Tonin pointed out a bug in my default prompt. Minimal example:
Set PS1:
PS1='$(exit_code=$?; [[ $exit_code -eq 0 ]] || printf %s $(tput setaf 1) $exit_code $(tput sgr0) " ")$ '
At this point, the ...
- 51.5k
12
votes
2
answers
5k
views
How do you make RPROMPT in zsh update itself on every enter?
My RPROMPT is set to display svn info using vcs_info. It reads RPROMPT=${vcs_info_msg_0_}. vcs_info is called using precmd(). However, RPROMPT doesn't update when I change directories. It works only ...
user5383
12
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Which stream does Bash write its prompt to?
I am trying to redirect all output from bash (prompt, user input, results) to a file
Example:
/bin/bash > file.txt 2>&1
I thought that would work, but I'm not getting the prompt. Can ...
Fran Fitzpatrick
12
votes
5
answers
5k
views
PS1 prompt to show elapsed time
I currently use this to display the current time in my bash prompt:
PS1=\[\e[0;32m\]\t \W>\[\e[1;37m\]
20:42:23 ~>
Is it possible to display the elapsed time since the previous prompt?
Such ...
- 223
12
votes
1
answer
817
views
PS1='\\ $ ' and PS1='\\\\ $ ' are the same in bash
Both PS1='\\ $ ' and PS1='\\\\ $ ' produce visually the same prompt, \ $ in both cases.
Why? Is it a bug or documented behavior?
Tested on bash 5.2.021 and dash 0.5.12. I have only observed it in ...
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