Place your git branch name and status in your Bash / Terminal prompt

.bashrc

# Adding git-specific info to prompt
update_git_cwd() {
    if git status > /dev/null 2>&1 && local BRANCH=`git branch | grep '^*' | cut -c3-`; then
        if ! git status 2>/dev/null | grep 'working directory clean' > /dev/null 2>&1 ; then
            BRANCH="$BRANCH\033[31m*"
        fi
        PS1=`printf '[local:\W (\033[32m%s\033[0m)] \$ ' "$BRANCH"`
    else
        PS1='[local:\W ] \$ '
    fi
}
PROMPT_COMMAND="update_git_cwd; $PROMPT_COMMAND"

silly me...if you have bash autocompletion setup for git, then you can just call the __git_ps1 function in your prompt variable!