Better Git Prompt String

A better bash prompt for git. bgps provides a convenient way to customize the PS1 prompt and to determine information about the current git branch. bgps can indicate if the branch has a clean or dirty working tree, whether or not it is tracking a remote branch, and the number of commits the local branch is ahead or behind the remote branch.

Note: Demo is currently outdated and will be updated.

Installation

1. Download bgps

You can choose to install bgps only for yourself or share it with other users on the system.

1a. Only for yourself, add bgps to your local bin directory.

1. Check if local bin directory exists. If it does not exist, then create the directory.

! [[ -d "~/bin" ]] && mkdir ~/bin

2. Download bgps to your local bin directory.

wget -O ~/bin/bgps https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mjsmith1028/bgps/master/bgps 

1b. All users, add bgps to the shared bin directory.

1. Download bgps to the shared bin directory.

sudo wget -O /usr/local/bin/bgps https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mjsmith1028/bgps/master/bgps

2. Configure bgps

2a. Only for yourself, add user configuration to your home directory.

Create ~/.bgps_config, if it does not exist. Modify it according to your preferences. See the configuration section for more information.

If you like what you see in the demo, copy my configuration:

wget -O ~/.bgps_config https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mjsmith1028/bgps/master/examples/mine

2b. All users, add global configuration to the etc directory.

Create /etc/bgps_config, if it does not exist. Modify it according to your preferences. See the configuration section for more information.

Note: configurations in the user configuration file, ~/.bgps_config, will take precedence over the configurations in the global configuration file, /etc/bgps_config.

3. Update ${PROMPT_COMMAND}

Modify PROMPT_COMMAND environment variable in startup file. I prefer to source my ~/.bashrc file from my ~/.bash_profile file. Then, modify the PROMPT_COMMAND in the ~/.bashrc file.

For example:

Add the following to ~/.bash_profile.

if [ -f "${HOME}/.bashrc" ] ; then
  source "${HOME}/.bashrc"
fi

Add the following to ~/.bashrc.

PROMPT_COMMAND="source bgps"

4. Reopen terminal

Source the file containing the updates to the PROMPT_COMMAND environment variable. If you followed my suggestion, then you will be sourcing ~/.bashrc. Alternativly, just open a new terminal window. You should now see the bgps prompt.

source ~/.bashrc

5. (Optional) Add git icon

1. Install the powerline symbols font. This package provides the git icon referenced in my configuration.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install fonts-powerline

2. Open a new terminal window. If you are using my configuration, then you should now see the git icon.

Configuration

• PS1_FORMAT
  • Format of PS1. %s is replaced with the contents of the git section. %( and %) provide additional formatting when %s is within the parentheses. Formatting within the parentheses is only applied to the PS1 when the current working directory is in a git repository.
  • Default Value: %(%s %)\[\033[0m\]\$
• GIT_AHEAD
  • Format of section that indicates the local branch is ahead of the remote branch. %s is replaced with the number of commits that the local branch has not yet merged into the remote branch.
  • Default Value: [ahead %s]
• GIT_BEHIND
  • Format of section that indicates the local branch is behind the remote branch. %s is replaced with the number of commits that the remote branch has not yet merged into the local branch.
  • Default Value: [behind %s]
• GIT_DIVERGED
  • Format of section that indicates the local branch has diverged from the remote branch. %a is replaced with the number of commits that the local branch has not yet merged into the remote branch. %b is replaced with the number of commits that the remote branch has not yet merged into the local branch.
  • Default Value: [ahead %a] [behind %b]
• GIT_POSTFIX
  • Optional section that is displayed before git section.
• GIT_PREFIX
  • Optional section that is displayed after git section.
• GIT_COLOR_ENABLED
  • If true, then enable color for git section.
  • Default Value: false
• GIT_COLOR_CLEAN
  • Color of git section when the branch has a clean working tree.
  • Default Value: \[\033[2;92m\] (green)
• GIT_COLOR_CONFLICT
  • Color of git section when the local branch is ahead or behind the remote branch.
  • Default Value: \[\033[0;33m\] (yellow)
• GIT_COLOR_DIRTY
  • Color of git section when the branch has a dirty working tree.
  • Default Value: \[\033[2;91m\] (red)
• GIT_COLOR_UNTRACKED
  • Color of git section when the branch has untracked files.
  • Default Value: \[\033[2;95m\] (purple)
• GIT_COLOR_NO_UPSTREAM
  • Color of git section when the local branch is not tracking a remote branch.
  • Default Value: \[\033[2;40m\] (gray)
• TEXT_COLOR
  • Color of text after PS1.
  • Default Value: \[\033[0m\] (reset)

Environment Variables

• BGPS_GLOBAL_CONFIG
  • Global configuration file that is shared between all users.
  • Default Value: /etc/bgps_config
• BGPS_USER_CONFIG
  • User-specific configuration file.
  • Default Value: ~/.bgps_config

Command-line Options

• --config-file
  • Path of the desired configuration file. Specifying the configuration file will override and ignore all configurations referenced in BGPS_GLOBAL_CONFIG and BGPS_USER_CONFIG.
  • Example: source bgps --config-file "/path/to/config/file"
• --ls-config
  • List the current configuration and environment variables.
  • Example: source bgps --ls-config

FAQ

My prompt is a shrug face ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. What is going on?

You are missing the bgps configuration file ~/.bgps_config. Make sure ~/.bgps_config exists and that it is properly configured. See the configuration section for more information.

Why do I have a weird symbol  for my git icon?

Powerline fonts is used to display the git icon. If you are using my configuration and the icon is incorrect, then you need to install the fonts-powerline package. See the add git icon section for instructions.

Compatibilty

bgps has been tested with the following:

• Operating System: 20.6.0 Darwin Kernel Version 20.6.0
• Bash: 5.1.16(1)-release (x86_64-apple-darwin20.6.0)
• Git: 2.37.0