Customizing PS1

Change PS1 prompt

To change PS1, you just have to change the value of PS1 shell variable. The value can be set in ~/.bashrc or /etc/bashrc file, depending on the distro. PS1 can be changed to any plain text like:

PS1="hello "

Besides the plain text, a number of backslash-escaped special characters are supported:

Format	Action
`\a`	an ASCII bell character (07)
`\d`	the date in “Weekday Month Date” format (e.g., “Tue May 26”)
`\D{format}`	the format is passed to strftime(3) and the result is inserted into the prompt string; an empty format results in a locale-specific time representation. The braces are required
`\e`	an ASCII escape character (033)
`\h`	the hostname up to the first ‘.’
`\H`	the hostname
`\j`	the number of jobs currently managed by the shell
`\l`	the basename of the shell’s terminal device name
`\n`	newline
`\r`	carriage return
`\s`	the name of the shell, the basename of $0 (the portion following the final slash)
`\t`	the current time in 24-hour HH:MM:SS format
`\T`	the current time in 12-hour HH:MM:SS format
`\@`	the current time in 12-hour am/pm format
`\A`	the current time in 24-hour HH:MM format
`\u`	the username of the current user
`\v`	the version of bash (e.g., 2.00)
`\V`	the release of bash, version + patch level (e.g., 2.00.0)
`\w`	the current working directory, with $HOME abbreviated with a tilde
`\W`	the basename of the current working directory, with $HOME abbreviated with a tilde
`\!`	the history number of this command
`\#`	the command number of this command
`\$`	if the effective UID is 0, a #, otherwise a $
`\nnn*`	the character corresponding to the octal number nnn
`\`	a backslash
`\[`	begin a sequence of non-printing characters, which could be used to embed a terminal control sequence into the prompt
`\]`	end a sequence of non-printing characters

So for example, we can set PS1 to:

PS1="\u@\h:\w\$ "

And it will output:

user@machine:~$

Show a git branch using PROMPT_COMMAND

If you are inside a folder of a git repository it might be nice to show the current branch you are on. In ~/.bashrc or /etc/bashrc add the following (git is required for this to work):

function prompt_command {
    # Check if we are inside a git repository
    if git status > /dev/null 2>&1; then
        # Only get the name of the branch
        export GIT_STATUS=$(git status | grep 'On branch' | cut -b 10-)
    else
        export GIT_STATUS=""
    fi
}
# This function gets called every time PS1 is shown
PROMPT_COMMAND=prompt_command

PS1="\$GIT_STATUS \u@\h:\w\$ "

If we are in a folder inside a git repository this will output:

branch user@machine:~$

And if we are inside a normal folder:

user@machine:~$

Show git branch name in terminal prompt

You can have functions in the PS1 variable, just make sure to single quote it or use escape for special chars:

gitPS1(){
    gitps1=$(git branch 2>/dev/null | grep '*')
    gitps1="${gitps1:+ (${gitps1/#\* /})}"
    echo "$gitps1"
}

PS1='\u@\h:\w$(gitPS1)$ '

It will give you a prompt like this:

user@Host:/path (master)$

Notes:

Make the changes in ~/.bashrc or /etc/bashrc or ~/.bash_profile or ~./profile file (depending on the OS) and save it.
Run source ~/.bashrc (distro specific) after saving the file.

Show time in terminal prompt

timeNow(){
    echo "$(date +%r)"
}
PS1='[$(timeNow)] \u@\h:\w$ '

It will give you a prompt like this:

[05:34:37 PM] user@Host:/path$

Notes:

Make the changes in ~/.bashrc or /etc/bashrc or ~/.bash_profile or ~./profile file (depending on the OS) and save it.
Run source ~/.bashrc (distro specific) after saving the file.

Colorize and customize terminal prompt

This is how the author sets their personal PS1 variable:

gitPS1(){
    gitps1=$(git branch 2>/dev/null | grep '*')
    gitps1="${gitps1:+ (${gitps1/#\* /})}"
    echo "$gitps1"
}
#Please use the below function if you are a mac user
gitPS1ForMac(){
    git branch 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/ (\1)/'
}
timeNow(){
    echo "$(date +%r)"
}
if [ "$color_prompt" = yes ]; then
  if [ x$EUID = x0 ]; then
    PS1='\[\033[1;38m\][$(timeNow)]\[\033[00m\] \[\033[1;31m\]\u\[\033[00m\]\[\033[1;37m\]@\[\033[00m\]\[\033[1;33m\]\h\[\033[00m\] \[\033[1;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]\[\033[1;36m\]$(gitPS1)\[\033[00m\] \[\033[1;31m\]:/#\[\033[00m\] '
  else
    PS1='\[\033[1;38m\][$(timeNow)]\[\033[00m\] \[\033[1;32m\]\u\[\033[00m\]\[\033[1;37m\]@\[\033[00m\]\[\033[1;33m\]\h\[\033[00m\] \[\033[1;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]\[\033[1;36m\]$(gitPS1)\[\033[00m\] \[\033[1;32m\]:/$\[\033[00m\] '
  fi
else
    PS1='[$(timeNow)] \u@\h \w$(gitPS1) :/$ '
fi

And this is how my prompt looks like:

Color reference:

# Colors
txtblk='\e[0;30m' # Black - Regular
txtred='\e[0;31m' # Red
txtgrn='\e[0;32m' # Green
txtylw='\e[0;33m' # Yellow
txtblu='\e[0;34m' # Blue
txtpur='\e[0;35m' # Purple
txtcyn='\e[0;36m' # Cyan
txtwht='\e[0;37m' # White
bldblk='\e[1;30m' # Black - Bold
bldred='\e[1;31m' # Red
bldgrn='\e[1;32m' # Green
bldylw='\e[1;33m' # Yellow
bldblu='\e[1;34m' # Blue
bldpur='\e[1;35m' # Purple
bldcyn='\e[1;36m' # Cyan
bldwht='\e[1;37m' # White
unkblk='\e[4;30m' # Black - Underline
undred='\e[4;31m' # Red
undgrn='\e[4;32m' # Green
undylw='\e[4;33m' # Yellow
undblu='\e[4;34m' # Blue
undpur='\e[4;35m' # Purple
undcyn='\e[4;36m' # Cyan
undwht='\e[4;37m' # White
bakblk='\e[40m'   # Black - Background
bakred='\e[41m'   # Red
badgrn='\e[42m'   # Green
bakylw='\e[43m'   # Yellow
bakblu='\e[44m'   # Blue
bakpur='\e[45m'   # Purple
bakcyn='\e[46m'   # Cyan
bakwht='\e[47m'   # White
txtrst='\e[0m'    # Text Reset

Notes:

Make the changes in ~/.bashrc or /etc/bashrc or ~/.bash_profile or ~./profile file (depending on the OS) and save it.
For root you might also need to edit the /etc/bash.bashrc or /root/.bashrc file
Run source ~/.bashrc (distro specific) after saving the file.
Note: if you have saved the changes in ~/.bashrc, then remember to add source ~/.bashrc in your ~/.bash_profile so that this change in PS1 will be recorded every time the Terminal application starts.

Show previous command return status and time

Sometimes we need a visual hint to indicate the return status of previous command. The following snippet make put it at the head of the PS1.

Note that the __stat() function should be called every time a new PS1 is generated, or else it would stick to the return status of last command of your .bashrc or .bash_profile.

# -ANSI-COLOR-CODES- #
Color_Off="\033[0m"
###-Regular-###
Red="\033[0;31m"
Green="\033[0;32m"
Yellow="\033[0;33m"
####-Bold-####

function __stat() {
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
        echo -en "$Green ✔ $Color_Off "
    else
        echo -en "$Red ✘ $Color_Off "
    fi
}

PS1='$(__stat)'
PS1+="[\t] "
PS1+="\e[0;33m\u@\h\e[0m:\e[1;34m\w\e[0m \n$ "

export PS1