Adding git branch on the Bash command prompt

Question

I tried adding the git branch I'm currently working on (checked-out) on the bash prompt without success.. (while keeping my current path which shows the active directory/file intact) I have a .bashrc file on my home, but I also saw many people mentioning the .profile file..

Answer 1

git 1.9.3 or later: use __git_ps1

Git provides a shell script called git-prompt.sh, which includes a function __git_ps1 that

prints text to add to bash PS1 prompt (includes branch name)

Its most basic usage is:

$ __git_ps1
(master)

It also takes an optional format string:

$ __git_ps1 'git:[%s]'
git:[master]

How to Get It

First, copy the file to somewhere (e.g. ~/.git-prompt.sh).

Option 1: use an existing copy on your filesystem. Example (Mac OS X 10.15):

$ find / -name 'git-prompt.sh' -type f -print -quit 2>/dev/null
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/share/git-core/git-prompt.sh

Option 2: Pull the script from GitHub.

Next, add the following line to your .bashrc/.zshrc:

source ~/.git-prompt.sh

Finally, change your PS1 to call __git_ps1 as command-substitution:

Bash:

PS1='[\u@\h \W$(__git_ps1 " (%s)")]\$ '

Zsh:

setopt PROMPT_SUBST ; PS1='[%n@%m %c$(__git_ps1 " (%s)")]\$ '

git < 1.9.3

But note that only git 1.9.3 (May 2014) or later allows you to safely display that branch name(!)

See commit 8976500 by Richard Hansen (richardhansen):

Both bash and zsh subject the value of PS1 to parameter expansion, command substitution, and arithmetic expansion.

Rather than include the raw, unescaped branch name in PS1 when running in two- or three-argument mode, construct PS1 to reference a variable that holds the branch name.

Because the shells do not recursively expand, this avoids arbitrary code execution by specially-crafted branch names such as

'$(IFS=_;cmd=sudo_rm_-rf_/;$cmd)'.

What devious mind would name a branch like that? ;) (Beside a Mom as in xkcd)

More Examples

still_dreaming_1 reports in the comments:

This seems to work great if you want a color prompt with xterm (in my .bashrc):

PS1='\[\e]0;\u@\h: \w\a\]\n${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\03‌​3[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]$(__git_ps1)\$ ' 

Everything is a different color, including the branch.

In in Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon 64-bit:

PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[01;34m\] \w\[\033[00m\]$(__git_ps1) \$ ' 

---

As noted by J'e in the comments

Ubuntu

Modify PS1 assignments in your bashrc with,

PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]\033[0;32m$(__git_ps1 " (%s)")\033[0m\$ '

# ---AND--- 

PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u@\h:\w$(__git_ps1 " (%s)")\$ '

Answer 2

Follow the steps as below: (Linux)

Edit the file ~/.bashrc, to enter following lines at its end (In case, of Mac, file would be ~/.bash_profile)

# Git branch in prompt.
parse_git_branch() {
    git branch 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/ (\1)/'
}
export PS1="\u@\h \W\[\033[32m\]\$(parse_git_branch)\[\033[00m\] $ "

Now, start the new terminal window, and try entering to any git-repo. The current branch would be shown, with the prompt.

4 More Info - MAC/Linux

Answer 3

1- If you don't have bash-completion ... : sudo apt-get install bash-completion

2- Edit your .bashrc file and check (or add) :

if [ -f /etc/bash_completion ]; then
  . /etc/bash_completion
fi

3- ... before your prompt line : export PS1='$(__git_ps1) \w\$ '
(__git_ps1 will show your git branch)

4- do source .bashrc

EDIT :

Further readings : Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

Answer 4

Here is how I configured the prompt to display Git status:

Get git-prompt script:

curl -o ~/.git-prompt.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/git/git/master/contrib/completion/git-prompt.sh

And customize your prompt adding the following code in your .bashrc file:

# Load Git functions
source ~/.git-prompt.sh

# Syntactic sugar for ANSI escape sequences
txtblk='\e[0;30m' # Black - Regular
txtred='\e[0;31m' # Red
txtgrn='\e[0;32m' # Green
txtylw='\e[0;33m' # Yellow
txtblu='\e[0;34m' # Blue
txtpur='\e[0;35m' # Purple
txtcyn='\e[0;36m' # Cyan
txtwht='\e[0;37m' # White
bldblk='\e[1;30m' # Black - Bold
bldred='\e[1;31m' # Red
bldgrn='\e[1;32m' # Green
bldylw='\e[1;33m' # Yellow
bldblu='\e[1;34m' # Blue
bldpur='\e[1;35m' # Purple
bldcyn='\e[1;36m' # Cyan
bldwht='\e[1;37m' # White
unkblk='\e[4;30m' # Black - Underline
undred='\e[4;31m' # Red
undgrn='\e[4;32m' # Green
undylw='\e[4;33m' # Yellow
undblu='\e[4;34m' # Blue
undpur='\e[4;35m' # Purple
undcyn='\e[4;36m' # Cyan
undwht='\e[4;37m' # White
bakblk='\e[40m'   # Black - Background
bakred='\e[41m'   # Red
badgrn='\e[42m'   # Green
bakylw='\e[43m'   # Yellow
bakblu='\e[44m'   # Blue
bakpur='\e[45m'   # Purple
bakcyn='\e[46m'   # Cyan
bakwht='\e[47m'   # White
txtrst='\e[0m'    # Text Reset

# Prompt variables
PROMPT_BEFORE="$txtcyn\u@\h $txtwht\w$txtrst"
PROMPT_AFTER="\\n\\\$ "

# Prompt command
PROMPT_COMMAND='__git_ps1 "$PROMPT_BEFORE" "$PROMPT_AFTER"'

# Git prompt features (read ~/.git-prompt.sh for reference)
export GIT_PS1_SHOWDIRTYSTATE="true"
export GIT_PS1_SHOWSTASHSTATE="true"
export GIT_PS1_SHOWUNTRACKEDFILES="true"
export GIT_PS1_SHOWUPSTREAM="auto"
export GIT_PS1_SHOWCOLORHINTS="true"

If you want to find out more, you can get all the dotfiles here: https://github.com/jamming/dotfiles

Answer 5

For mac, this works really well: http://martinfitzpatrick.name/article/add-git-branch-name-to-terminal-prompt-mac/:

# Git branch in prompt.
parse_git_branch() {
    git branch 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/ (\1)/'
}

export PS1="\u@\h \W\[\033[32m\]\$(parse_git_branch)\[\033[00m\] $ "

Answer 6

root:~/project#  -> root:~/project(dev)# 

add the following code to the end of your ~/.bashrc

force_color_prompt=yes
color_prompt=yes
parse_git_branch() {
git branch 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/(\1)/'
}
if [ "$color_prompt" = yes ]; then
PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[01;31m\]$(parse_git_branch)\[\033[00m\]\$ '
else
PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u@\h:\w$(parse_git_branch)\$ '
fi
unset color_prompt force_color_prompt

Answer 7

At first, open your Bash Profile in your home directory. The easiest way to open & edit your bash_profile using your default editor.

For example, I open it using the VS Code using this command: code .bash_profile.

Then just paste the following codes to your Bash.

parse_git_branch() {
     git branch 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/ (\1)/'
}

export PS1="\u@\h \W\[\033[32m\]\$(parse_git_branch)\[\033[00m\] $ "

The function

parse_git_branch()

will fetch the branch name & then through PS1 you can show it in your terminal.

Here,

\u = Username

@ = Static Text

\h = Computer Name

\w = Current Directory

$ = Static Text

You can change or remove these variables for more customization.

---

If you use Git for the first time in terminal or instantly after configuration, maybe sometimes you can not see the branch name.

If you get this problem, don't worry. In that case, just make a sample repository and commit it after some changes. When the commit command will execute once, the terminal will find git branch from then.

---

Answer 8

I wanted a clean solution that appended to the existing prompt instead of replacing it. As with other solutions, add this to the bottom of your .bashrc

# function
parse_git_branch() {
  if [ -n "$(git rev-parse --git-dir 2> /dev/null)" ]; then
    echo ">> $(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD) >>"
  fi
}

# environment customization
export PS1="\$(parse_git_branch)\n$PS1"

This setup yields a prompt that looks like

>> branchname >>
user@host:~/current/path$

Additionally I like to add a bit of color to the prompt so it stands out better like so

export PS1="\e[0;36m\$(parse_git_branch)\e[0m\n$PS1"

which causes the name of the branch to appear in CYAN

Answer 9

vim ~/.bash

parse_git_branch() {
     git branch 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/ (\1)/'
}

export PS1="\u@\h \[\033[32m\]\w\[\033[33m\]\$(parse_git_branch)\[\033[00m\] $"

To reflect latest changes run following command

source ~/.bashrc

Output:-

chandrakant@NDL41104 ~/Chandrakant/CodeBase/LaravelApp (development) $

Answer 10

If you use the fish shell its quite straight forward. fish is an interactive shell which comes with lots of goodies. You can install it using apt-get.

sudo apt-get install fish

you can then change the prompt setting using

> fish_config 
Web config started at 'http://localhost:8001/'. Hit enter to stop.
Created new window in existing browser session.

now go to http://localhost:8001/ open the prompt tab and choose the classic + git option

Now click on the use prompt button and you are set.

Answer 11

parse_git_branch() {
    git branch 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/ (\1)/'
}
export PS1='\[\e]0;\w\a\]\n\[\e[32m\]\u@\h \[\e[33m\]\w\[\e[0m\]$(parse_git_branch)\n\$ '

Answer 12

Follow the below steps to show the name of the branch of your GIT repo in ubuntu terminal:

step1: open terminal and edit .bashrc using the following command.

vi .bashrc

step2: add the following line at the end of the .bashrc file :

parse_git_branch() {
git branch 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/ (\1)/' }

export PS1="\u@\h \W\[\033[32m\]\$(parse_git_branch)\[\033[00m\] $ "

step3: source .bashrc in the root (home) directory by doing:

/rootfolder:~$ source .bashrc

Step4: Restart and open the terminal and check the cmd. Navigate to your GIt repo directory path and you are done. :)

Answer 13

Here is a simple clean version that I use: link

Answer 14

check this repo: https://github.com/magicmonty/bash-git-prompt
This prompt is a port of the "Informative git prompt for zsh"

via Git clone Clone this repository to your home directory.

git clone https://github.com/magicmonty/bash-git-prompt.git ~/.bash-git-prompt --depth=1

Add to the ~/.bashrc:

if [ -f "$HOME/.bash-git-prompt/gitprompt.sh" ]; then
    GIT_PROMPT_ONLY_IN_REPO=1
    source $HOME/.bash-git-prompt/gitprompt.sh
fi

Answer 15

Using ZSH I usually do:

export PROMPT="\$vcs_info_msg_0_"
# outputs the name of the branch like `[develop]`

Where you can obviously add your other stuff

Another workaround is:

curr_branch() {
    # get current branch
    git branch --show-current
    # outputs just the name of the branch, like `develop`
}
# bash
export PS1="\$(curr_branch)"
# zsh
export PROMPT="\$(curr_branch)"

Answer 16

I have tried a small script in python that goes in a bin folder.... 'gitprompt' file

#!/usr/bin/env python
import subprocess, os
s = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), '.git')
def cut(cmd):
    ret=''
    half=0
    record = False
    for c in cmd:
        if c == "\n":
            if not (record):
                pass
            else:
                break
        if (record) and c!="\n":
            ret = ret + c
        if c=='*':
            half=0.5
        if c==' ':
            if half == 0.5:
                half = 1
        if half == 1:
            record = True
    return ret
if (os.path.isdir(s)):
    out = subprocess.check_output("git branch",shell=True)
    print cut(out)
else:
    print "-"

Make it executable and stuff

Then adjust the bash prompt accordingly like :

\u:\w--[$(gitprompt)] \$