Display git branch in bash prompt

.bashrc

# If you work with git, you've probably had that nagging sensation of not knowing what branch you are on. Worry no longer!

export PS1="\\w:\$(git branch 2>/dev/null | grep '^*' | colrm 1 2)\$ "

# This will change your prompt to display not only your working directory but also your current git branch, if you have one. Pretty nifty!

# ~/code/web:beta_directory$ git checkout master
# Switched to branch "master"
# ~/code/web:master$ git checkout beta_directory
# Switched to branch "beta_directory"
# ~/code/web:beta_directory$ 

Why not simply use the __git_ps1 function ?

export PS1="\\w\$(__git_ps1 '(%s)') \$ "

__git_ps1 didn't work for me on my MacBook Pro.

-bash: __git_ps1: command not found

Resorted back to original post.

Added the hostname

export PS1="\h\w:$(git branch 2>/dev/null | grep '^*' | colrm 1 2)$ "

Thanks man.
So far I'm at:

export PS1="\[\033[36m\]\u\[\033[m\]@\[\033[32m\] \[\033[33;1m\]\w\[\033[m\] (\$(git branch 2>/dev/null | grep '^*' | colrm 1 2)) \$ "
# gives me:
wayne  ~/dev/lrn (master) $ # my name in green, curr dir in yellow, and branch in green

Still a WIP.

:)

Try

export PS1="\[\033[36m\]\u\[\033[m\]@\[\033[32m\] \[\033[33;1m\]\w\[\033[m\] (\$(git branch 2>/dev/null | grep '^*' | colrm 1 2)) \$  \n| => "
export PS2="| => "

Depending what directory you're in the line gets a bit long, this starts the actual in put on the line below.

how to color the branch name ?

I'll leave this here:

PS1='\[\033[0;32m\]\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\]\u\[\033[0;36m\] @ \[\033[0;36m\]\h \w\[\033[0;32m\]$(__git_ps1)\n\[\033[0;32m\]└─\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\] \$\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\] ▶\[\033[0m\] '

Now that's a nice one @vankasteelj...(__git_ps1) doesn't work in my terminal on xubuntu so I substituted it with this gists original display method and removed the chevron symbol (personal preference)

PS1='\[\033[0;32m\]\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\]\u\[\033[0;36m\] @ \w\[\033[0;32m\]\n$(git branch 2>/dev/null | grep "^*" | colrm 1 2)\[\033[0;32m\]└─\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\] \$\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\]\[\033[0m\] '

How to change (master) to [master]

if __git_ps1 is not working take a look here: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Git_quick_reference
I needed to add source /usr/share/git-core/contrib/completion/git-prompt.sh to my ~/.bashrc to get it work.

I like this! __git_ps1 seems to force () around my branch and adds a space in front of it. Your option allows me to not have that which looks cleaner to me. If clutter in the ps1 string isn't desirable then folks always have the option of putting it in a bash function.

git_branch() {
  git branch 2>/dev/null | grep '^*' | colrm 1 2
}

export PS1="\$(git_branch)"

Gone are the days of working on master by accident... Thanks again!

The problem with PS1="\$(git_branch)"' is that it displays the empty parenthesis () when the current dir is not a git one. I've tweaked it like this to get rid of them.

gb() {
        echo -n '(' && git branch 2>/dev/null | grep '^*' | colrm 1 2 | tr -d '\n' && echo  -n ')'
}
git_branch() {
        gb | sed 's/()//'
}

It needs two functions because if we pipe everything into one line, the last sed command that strips the () doesn't receive the right input (notice the &&).

I made a small modification to @vankasteelj version, with square brackets around the branch name:

PS1='\[\033[0;32m\]\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\]\u\[\033[0;36m\] @ \w\[\033[0;32m\] - [$(git branch 2>/dev/null | grep "^*" | colrm 1 2)\[\033[0;32m\]]\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\] \$\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\]\[\033[0m\] '

Yet another variant, with a couple of nice features. First, I use PROMPT_COMMAND instead of PS1 to get coloured info, second I use GIT_PS1_SHOWDIRTYSTATE=1, GIT_PS1_SHOWCOLORHINTS=1,GIT_PS1_SHOWUNTRACKEDFILES=1 to turn on all the features.

Also, with long prompt strings, you almost certainly want a newline in there near the end, so that there is plenty of space on each line.

So putting it all together:

export GIT_PS1_SHOWDIRTYSTATE=1
export GIT_PS1_SHOWCOLORHINTS=1
export GIT_PS1_SHOWUNTRACKEDFILES=1

export PROMPT_COMMAND=' __git_ps1 "\n[\e[33m][[\e[m]\A [\e[31m]\u[\e[m]@[\e[32m]\h [\e[34;01m]\l[\e[m] [\e[36m]\w[\e[m]" "[\e[33m]][\e[m]\n$ "'

which gives this sort of thing:

thanks guys ...helped me get what i was looking for

With brew install git:

source /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d/git-prompt.sh
export PS1="\w\$(__git_ps1 '[%s]') $ "

@gordboy somehow I've got a LOT of additional redundant empty brackets using your set up | definitely I messed up on something :)
threre is my old .bashrc

### Add Git Status to bash prompt
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)\[\033[00m\]\n$ "

#### Change terminal title
PROMPT_COMMAND='echo -ne "\033]0;${PWD}\007"'

@skimpa can you share your PS1 i liked the style that you have created and i want to use the same one.

@vankasteelj a year later still working like a charm on ubuntu 16.04, nicely done. thanks a lot

My version (Updated)
https://github.com/fritzmatias/ejercicios/tree/ejercicios-bash/bash

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

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

optional parenthesis 💯

Another version along with the status of your current branch (dirty, stashed content, etc)
http://digitalfortress.tech/tutorial/setting-up-git-prompt-step-by-step/

Using vankasteelj version on debian strech and working as expected. Thank you guys!!!

Use a different color for the branch name?

As an alternative, i wanted my Terminal (mac) window's title to display the branch as i navigated instead of the prompt. Added the https://raw.githubusercontent.com/git/git/master/contrib/completion/git-prompt.sh file to my home directory as .git-prompt-sh

Added to my .bash_profile:

if [ -f ~/.git-prompt.sh ]; then
  source ~/.git-prompt.sh
fi

function cd () { builtin cd "$@" && printf "\033]0;$(__git_ps1 '%s')\007"; }
function checkout () { git checkout "$@" && printf "\033]0;$(__git_ps1 '%s')\007"; }

I used this:

export PS1="\[\033[36m\]\u\[\033[m\]@\[\033[32m\] \[\033[33;1m\]\w\[\033[m\] (\$(git branch 2>/dev/null | grep '^*' | colrm 1 2)) \$ "

it worked fine for me but I want to shorten the path to this : [user]@[current directory](current branch) with the colors of course.

How can I do it !!

@khadijanazih, use the following (from @giannidk and @vankasteelj):
PS1='\[\033[0;32m\]\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\]\u\[\033[0;36m\] @ \w\[\033[0;32m\] - [$(git branch 2>/dev/null | grep "^*" | colrm 1 2)\[\033[0;32m\]]\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\] \$\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\]\[\033[0m\] '

@vankasteelj some color commands are not needed, removing gives the following prompt

PS1='\[\033[32m\]\u \[\033[36m\]@ \h \w\[\033[32m\]$(__git_ps1)\n└─ \$ ▶\[\033[0m\] '

You could even color the git prompt depending on the state of your repository. For example, "Red" if there are any changes in the repo, "Green" otherwise, etc...
Setup up Git prompt

We can now even copy paste emojis in the PS1 prompt string.
Added three emojis to the version specified by @vankasteelj

Screenshot:
https://screenshots.firefox.com/pOjRfrgZMXbnaUHP/null

Hi All. How do I do it like above ? Dont mind the emoji, I know its representing the user's machine name.

It shows only the repository name, (not including its path if it were to go into a subfolder), git:(current branch), and some x.
Tried to search online but could not find any.

So in short (user)@(repo name only)git:(current branch)(space)x

Sorry I forgot I am using zsh.
Please help! Thank you!

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] $ "

@vankasteelj working on Debian 16.04 and it's working like a charm. Thank you. However this change is not permanent in my case, I have to reload bash_profile every time I open a new terminal. Any fix for that?
PS: this thread is gold!

Why aren't you using git symbolic-ref HEAD --short instead of git branch and grepping for stars?

@hansfn, that is indeed better than git branch. 'git branch` can be visibly slow to show the prompt on large repos with lots of branches.

@Sibasish19 you can add this to your ~/.bashrc instead if you'd like.

vankasteelj wrote on Mar 7, 2016

I'll leave this here:

PS1='\[\033[0;32m\]\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\]\u\[\033[0;36m\] @ \[\033[0;36m\]\h \w\[\033[0;32m\]$(__git_ps1)\n\[\033[0;32m\]└─\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\] \$\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\] ▶\[\033[0m\] '

Isn't there just too much going on? Even more unreadable than normal ;-) The following should be the same.

PS1='\[\033[0;32m\]\u\[\033[0;36m\] @ \[\033[0;36m\]\h \w\[\033[0;32m\]$(__git_ps1)\n\[\033[0;32m\]└─\[\033[0;32m\] \$\[\033[0;32m\] ▶\[\033[0m\] '

If you in addition remember that a color sticks until is changed or reset, we get:

PS1='\[\033[0;32m\]\u\[\033[0;36m\] @ \h \w\[\033[0;32m\]$(__git_ps1)\n└─ ▶\[\033[0m\] '

I'm just mentioning this in case people copies vankasteelj code and tries to understand it ...

PS! Reading Bash Prompt HOWTO: Colors and https://bash.cyberciti.biz/guide/Changing_bash_prompt is very useful.

All I wanted is a simple, colored one-line prompt. @vankasteelj provided a nice one, I just extended it by not displaying brackets when outside a repo:

PS1='\[\033[0;32m\]\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\]\u\[\033[0;36m\] @ \w\[\033[0;32m\]$(if git rev-parse --git-dir > /dev/null 2>&1; then echo " - ["; fi)$(git branch 2>/dev/null | grep "^*" | colrm 1 2)\[\033[0;32m\]$(if git rev-parse --git-dir > /dev/null 2>&1; then echo "]"; fi)\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\] \$\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\]\[\033[0m\] '

Is possible to add the current branch name on all the timestamp lines? Something like this:

FROM:

[18:37:39] Starting 'build-js'...
[18:37:49] finished 'build-js'...

TO:

[18:37:39 - **current-branch-name** ] Starting 'build-js'...
[18:37:49 - **current-branch-name** ] finished 'build-js'...

Thanks.

I like this one, thanks:

PS1='[\033[0;32m][\033[0m\033[0;32m]\u[\033[0;36m] @ [\033[0;36m]\h \w[\033[0;32m]$(__git_ps1)\n[\033[0;32m]└─[\033[0m\033[0;32m] $[\033[0m\033[0;32m] ▶[\033[0m] '

I like this short directory formatting:

function shortwd() {
    num_dirs=3
    pwd_symbol="..."
    newPWD="${PWD/#$HOME/~}"
    if [ $(echo -n $newPWD | awk -F '/' '{print NF}') -gt $num_dirs ]; then
        newPWD=$(echo -n $newPWD | awk -F '/' '{print $1 "/.../" $(NF-1) "/" $(NF)}')
    fi 
    echo -n $newPWD
}

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

PS1='\n\e[38;5;211m$(shortwd)\e[38;5;48m $(git_branch)\e[0m$'
export PS1

I like this better:

Git Aware Prompt - https://github.com/jimeh/git-aware-prompt

export GITAWAREPROMPT=~/.bash/git-aware-prompt
source "${GITAWAREPROMPT}/main.sh"

PS1

export PS1="[$txtblu]\w [$txtgrn]$git_branch[$txtred]$git_dirty[$txtrst]$ "

I use iTerm2, so I can go into the preferences and change $txtblu with a nice UI color picker.

pt_user_co() {
    if [ "$(id -u)" == "0" ]; then
        echo -en "\033[1;31m"
    else
        echo -en "\033[1;32m"
    fi
}

pt_host_co() {
    if [[ ${SSH_CLIENT} ]] || [[ ${SSH2_CLIENT} ]]; then 
        echo -en "\033[1;35m"
    else
        echo -en "\033[1;34m"
    fi
}

_git_repo() {
    if type -p __git_ps1; then
#        branch=$(__git_ps1 '%s')
        branch=$(__git_ps1)
        if [ -n "$branch" ]; then 
            subdir=$(git rev-parse --show-prefix 2>/dev/null)
            subdir="${subdir%/}" 
            predir="${PWD%/$subdir}"
            echo -ne "${predir#~}/${subdir}"
        else
            echo -ne ""
        fi
    fi
}

_git_repo_path() {
    if type -p __git_ps1; then
#        branch=$(__git_ps1 '%s')
        branch=$(__git_ps1)
        if [ -n "$branch" ]; then 
            n_remote="$(git remote | wc -l)"
            if [ $n_remote -eq 0 ]; then 
            # no remote repo, no backup red
                c_rem="[1;31m"
            elif [ $n_remote -eq 1 ]; then
            # single remote repo green
                c_rem="[1;32m"
            else
            # multiple remote repo purple
                c_rem="[1;35m"
            fi

            status=$(git status 2> /dev/null)
            if $(echo $status | grep 'added to commit' &> /dev/null); then
            # If we have modified files but no index (blue)
               c_stat="[1;34m"
            else
                if $(echo $status | grep 'to be committed' &> /dev/null); then
                # If we have files in index (red)
                   c_stat="[1;31m"
                else
                # If we are completely clean (green)
                   c_stat="[1;32m"
                fi
            fi

            subdir=$(git rev-parse --show-prefix 2>/dev/null)
            subdir="${subdir%/}" 
            predir="${PWD%/$subdir}"
            echo -ne "\033[01;34m~${predir#~}\033${c_rem}/${subdir}\033${c_stat}"
        else
            echo -ne "\033[01;34m"
        fi
    fi
}

# detect working directory relative to working tree root
pt_git_co() {
    if type -p __git_ps1; then
#        branch=$(__git_ps1 '%s')
        branch=$(__git_ps1)
        if [ -n "$branch" ]; then 
            if [ -n "$1" ]; then
                printf "$1" "${branch}"
            else
                printf "\n%s" "${branch}"
            fi
        else
            printf "%s" "~${PWD#~}"
        fi
    else
        printf "%s" "~${PWD#~}"
    fi
}

# set a fancy prompt (non-color, unless we know we "want" color)
case "$TERM" in
    xterm-color|*-256color) color_prompt=yes;;
esac

# uncomment for a colored prompt, if the terminal has the capability; turned
# off by default to not distract the user: the focus in a terminal window
# should be on the output of commands, not on the prompt
force_color_prompt=yes

if [ -n "$force_color_prompt" ]; then
    if [ -x /usr/bin/tput ] && tput setaf 1 >&/dev/null; then
	# We have color support; assume it's compliant with Ecma-48
	# (ISO/IEC-6429). (Lack of such support is extremely rare, and such
	# a case would tend to support setf rather than setaf.)
	color_prompt=yes
    elif [ "$TERM" = "cygwin" ]; then
	color_prompt=yes
    else
	color_prompt=
    fi
fi


if [ "$color_prompt" = yes ]; then
    #excape \[ non pritable char \]
    PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[$(pt_user_co)\]\u\[\033[0m\]@\[$(pt_host_co)\]\h\[\033[0m\]:\[$(_git_repo_path)\]$(pt_git_co)\[\033[0m\]\$ '
#    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\n$(_git_repo)$(__git_ps1)\$ '
#    PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u@\h:\w\$ '
fi
unset color_prompt force_color_prompt

# If this is an xterm set the title to user@host:dir
case "$TERM" in
xterm*|rxvt*)
    PS1="\[\e]0;${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u@\h:\w\a\]$PS1"
    ;;
*)
    ;;
esac

how come none of these git branch 2> things are working.. the only way i get my branch is with git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD... thankfully someone else showed that method...https://trueskawka.github.io/blog/programming/2018/01/17/git-branch-in-your-prompt.html

PS1='\n\033[1m** Luis Solorzano \033[1m\u@\h (@) \033[1m** \n\033[1m\w [\033[0;36m]\033[1m$(__git_ps1)\n[\033[01;32m]└─[\033[01;32m]$[\033[0;32m] [\033[0m]'

@carinlynchin git branch only shows if you have a commit present in the git repo. I had the same problem and found the answer here.

I used this, yet i can't figure out how to get it to leave out the [ ] if I'm not in a repo.

PS1='[\033[1;32m][\033[0m\033[1;32m]\u[\033[1;33m] @ \w[\033[1;32m] - [$(git branch 2>/dev/null | grep "^*" | colrm 1 2)[\033[1;32m]][\033[0m\033[1;32m] $[\033[0m\033[1;32m][\033[0m] '

where is __git_ps1 created?

https://github.com/yx8/Add-git-branch-name-in-the-Bash-command-prompt-for-Windows/blob/master/README.md

here is the tutorial for Windows

ZSH + OMZ
beautiful and easy with lots of plugins.

(Don't bash me for a non-bash answer))

Ok, so I post mine enhanced by some of nice extensions found here:

PS1="\n\[\033[35m\] \$(/bin/date)\n\[\033[1;31m\]\u@\h: \[\033[1;34m\]\$(/usr/bin/tty | /bin/sed -e 's:/dev/::'): \[\033[1;34m\]\$(pwd) \[\033[1;36m\]\$(/bin/ls -1 | /usr/bin/wc -l |
/bin/sed 's: ::g') files \[\033[1;33m\]\$(/bin/ls -lah | /bin/grep -m 1 total | /bin/sed 's/total //')b\[\033[0m\] \[\033[0m\] \[\033[0;32m\][git:$(git_branch)]\n\[\033[0;32m\] └─\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\] ▶\[\033[0m\]"

Here is Gargula, if anyone of you guys wants to give it a try:

Gargula adds colors after a theme is defined and adds git status, git branch both are displayed only when git is initialized in a working directory.

Gargula is displaying info that is useful to keep it as much minimalistic as possible.

You can grab it here ---> https://github.com/auniverse4/gargula

a slight color adjustment for some of the suggestions above. Show the branch if we're in a git repo. Show a brown repo name if there's no changes or red if there are changes in the repo.

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

acolor() {
  [[ -n $(git status --porcelain=v2 2>/dev/null) ]] && echo 31 || echo 33
}

export PS1="\u@\[\033[32m\]\w\[\033[\$(acolor)m\]\$(git_branch)\[\033[00m\]\$ "

Without sed:

git_branch() { git describe --contains --all HEAD 2>/dev/null; }

Here is a simple clean version that I use: link

Hello lads,
Ubuntu GNOME default terminal settings looks like:

If you need to keep this configuration and only add Git branch recognizer:

You can use export command bellow:
export PS1='\[\033[01;32m\]\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\]\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]$(__git_ps1)$ '
Just add a line into end of the .bashrc file
vi ~/.bashrc
and don't forget to open a new terminal session!

Hello lads,
Ubuntu GNOME default terminal settings looks like:

If you need to keep this configuration and only add Git branch recognizer:

You can use export command bellow:
export PS1='\[\033[01;32m\]\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\]\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]$(__git_ps1)$ '
Just add a line into end of the .bashrc file
vi ~/.bashrc
and don't forget to open a new terminal session!

Work for me, Thank you!

@archenroot so I really like your setup, but the git branch doesn't appear, and can you make it show the status too? thanks

What I learnt:

• git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD returns HEAD instead of branch name, if you do not have at least one commit.
• git describe --contains --all HEAD returns nothing, if you do not have at least one commit.
• git branch 2>/dev/null | grep '^*' returns nothing, if you do not have at least one commit.
• git symbolic-ref HEAD --short always returns branch name, if you even if you do not have any commits.

So, I use git symbolic-ref HEAD --short

I use the following code.

export GIT_PS1_SHOWDIRTYSTATE=1 export PS1='\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[01;34m\] \w\[\033[01;33m\]$(__git_ps1)\[\033[01;34m\] \$\[\033[00m\] '

Hello lads,
Ubuntu GNOME default terminal settings looks like:

If you need to keep this configuration and only add Git branch recognizer:

You can use export command bellow:
export PS1='\[\033[01;32m\]\[\033[0m\033[0;32m\]\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]$(__git_ps1)$ '
Just add a line into end of the .bashrc file
vi ~/.bashrc
and don't forget to open a new terminal session!

Work for me, Thank you!

Thanks mate