Showing current Git branch for the project in command prompt
It’s always a nice idea to add something to your workflow which can enhance your productivity. Even if it’s as small as showing the current Git branch for your project in command prompt like so.
amitmerchant@hp-notebook:~/workspace/amitmerchant1990.github.io (master)$
As you can see, the prompt shows the branch (master in my case) on which the project is right now at the end of the prompt. It’s subtle and it’ll be always there and this way you don’t have to git status every now and then just to check on which branch you’re currently on.
So, how would you add this in your command prompt? Well, the magic lies in the .bashrc file of your terminal which holds all the configurations for the same. I’m using Ubuntu 18.04, so in my case it was there in home directory. You might need to find it differently according to your operating system.
Open the .bashrc, spot the following lines.
if [ "$color_prompt" = yes ]; then
PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]\$ '
else
PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u@\h:\w\$ '
fi
For the safe side, comment these lines and add following,
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
The magic lies in the parse_git_branch method, which try to check the current branch for the directory and if it’s able to get the branch it’ll get appended to the prompt.
Save it and you’re done! This all you’ll need to do. Now, once you restart your terminal and move to your project’s directory, it’ll show you the current branch like so.
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