Get the current Git branch in your command prompt

It seems that everyone and their dog has their own way to represent the current Git branch in the command prompt. Here's mine. Stick it in your ~/.profile.

export PS1='\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\] \[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]$(git branch &>/dev/null; if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then echo "\[\033[01;33m\]($(git branch | grep ^*|sed s/\*\ //))\[\033[00m\]"; fi)$ '

craig@shiny ~/sandbox/addressbook(master)$

Now with 50% cleaner code

Not long after I posted this snippet I found a post about enabling git auto-completion. If you use the auto-complete file that's bundled with Git you can use the following code to get the same prompt (and get some nifty tab-based goodies too).

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

written by

Craig

published

2008-11-15