Open a shell instead of dired - with the name of the git root directory if possible

dir-shells.el

;; In .emacs or init.el or whatever: (add-to-list find-directory-functions '(nav-to-shell))

(require 'vc)

;; Fails on tramp names
(defun vc-dir-shell-name (user-dir-name)
  (condition-case nil
      (let* ((dir-name (expand-file-name user-dir-name))
	     (maybe-git-dir-name (vc-call-backend (vc-responsible-backend dir-name) 'root dir-name)))
	(if maybe-git-dir-name
	    (file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name maybe-git-dir-name))
	  nil))
    (error nil))) ;; no VC or bad tramp filename or something

(defun stripped-dir-name (user-dir-name)
  (file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name user-dir-name)))

(defvar choose-dir-shell-name-functions 
  '(magit-dir-shell-name stripped-dir-name)
  "Functions to use to choose the name of a shell buffer for a directory")

;; For find-directory-functions: Spawn a shell (possibly with a different name than the folder)
(defun nav-to-shell (dir-or-list &optional switches)
  (condition-case nil
      (if (listp dir-or-list) ;; Don't mass-spawn shells
	  nil
	(let* ((dir-name 
		(concat 
		 (directory-file-name (if (listp dir-or-list)
					  (car dir-or-list) 
					dir-or-list))
		 "/")) ;; default-directory needs a trailing slash for shell -> make-comint-in-buffer
	       (buffer-name (run-hook-with-args-until-success 'choose-dir-shell-name-functions dir-name))
	       (default-directory dir-name))
	  (shell buffer-name)))
    (error 
     (progn 
       (message "nav-to-shell failed. Likely culprit - unshellable tramp folder.")
       nil))))

(message "dir-shells loaded")

(provide 'dir-shells)