Create a custom PS1 variable for your Bash.
The prompt is a short piece of text that is displayed in the Bash shell prompting you to enter a command.
It usually contains some useful information about the current user, the working directory, etc.
The PS1 environment variable determines what information the prompt contains and how it is displayed.
The default value may vary between different distributions and versions.
Setting the PS1 variable yourself (e. g. by appending the line PS1='[\u@\h \w]\$ ' to your ~/.bashrc file) allows you to customize your prompt.
The syntax of the PS1 variable allows versatile customization options.
In addition to the information displayed, colors as well as other display attributes can be adjusted.
However, this syntax is difficult to read by humans and manual customization is therefore extremely tedious.
For this reason, this project provides a way to create a prompt via a GUI without having to modify the PS1 variable itself.
When you visit the website for the first time, you have the option to either create a new prompt from scratch or import your current prompt for adjustment.
A prompt consists of multiple so-called elements.
You can click on one of the elements on the left (Prompt Elements) to add it to your prompt.
If you choose to import your existing prompt, paste the output of echo $PS1 (e. g. [\u@\h \w]\$ ) into the text field and the according elements will be automatically added to your prompt.
The Your Prompt sections lists all elements that are currently part of your prompt.
You can always add more elements from the Prompt Elements section on the left, reorder the elements in your prompt using drag and drop or remove them.
The trash icon will remove all elements from your prompt, letting you start from scratch.
The command for setting the PS1 variable is displayed in the Output section, along with an example preview of how your prompt might look like.
The clipboard icon will copy the full command to your clipboard.
If you run the generated command in your terminal, you will immediately see the changes to your prompt.
These changes will be lost when you close your terminal, however.
In order to make the changes permanent, you have to add the command to your ~/.bashrc file.
Note that the preview will most likely differ from the actual prompt in your terminal because the environment (such as the current user, hostname, etc.) is different.
You can click on the lightbulb icon to toggle between a dark and a light background for the preview.
All elements can be selected by clicking on them.
Depending on the type of the selected element, different properties can be adjusted.
Most elements support colors and various display attributes.
Look at the example preview to see how these properties affect the prompt.
Foreground and background colors can be choosen via a color picker.
The color picker provides a no color option for resetting to the default color, 16 4-bit colors (top row) and 256 8-bit colors (bottom rows).
Note that some terminals may not support all colors. The same applies to display attributes.
Additionally, you can duplicate the selected element with the copy icon under Actions.
Some element types have special properties:
- Date (formatted) requires a string specifying the date format which will be passed to
strftime(3). - Command requires a string specifying the command to be executed.
The prompt will contain the standard output of the command.
- The Git Branch and IP Address elements are functionally equivalent to a Command element with the command already filled in.
- Text requires an arbitrary string that will be included as is in the prompt.
- Environment Variable requires the name of an environment variable and configuring the parameter expansion.
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