Help with git in zsh prompt

Question

So, I want to add git to my custom prompt. What I want it to do is:

1. Show the name of the branch
2. Change color of the name of the branch if there are uncommitted changes inside the repo

I know there are themes who already do this, but I haven't figured out to do it myself. And, I'd prefer to not use oh-my-zsh, just because I want my setup to be clean and as lightweight as it can be and I don't need all of its components

Answer 1

There are lots of guides and snippets around the web, primarily for Bash, but also for Zsh. For example this guide that uses the following code:

# Load version control information
autoload -Uz vcs_info
precmd() { vcs_info }

# Format the vcs_info_msg_0_ variable
zstyle ':vcs_info:git:*' formats 'on branch %b'

# Set up the prompt (with git branch name)
setopt PROMPT_SUBST
PROMPT='%n in ${PWD/#$HOME/~} ${vcs_info_msg_0_} > '

It relies on vcs_info from Zsh to give you information on the branch.

By doing a web search for "git prompt zsh" you'll find more. See also this question or this one or a more generic guide on vcs_info.