Linux CLI 25 🐧 Prompt Customization
a - prompt customization intro
you can customize cli prompt by editing the PS1 variable
for permanent changes edit nano ~/.bashrc for BASH
~/.zshrc for Zsh and ~/.config/fish/config.fish for Fish
example → PS1="TestPrompt " export PS1
and then to apply changes
source ~/.bashrc
but you can test and play with it temporarily by editing the PS1 on the terminal
example to only show the username → PS1="\u "
b - prompt escape codes
Most common escape codes for shell prompt
\d → current date \H → full hostname \h → hostname
\n → new line character \r → carriage return
\t → time in 24 hour format \@ → time in 12 hour format with AM/PM
\u → username \w → working directory \W → last part of the working directory
\! → history id of the command
\[ → start of non-printing character sequence ]\ → end for char sequence
example → shows username - working directory last
c - prompt colors codes
List of colors: \033[30m → Black
\033[30m → Dark gray \033[31m → Red \033[31m → Light red
\033[32m →Green \033[32m →Light green \033[33m → Brown
\033[34m → Blue \033[34m → Light blue \033[33m → Yellow
\033[35m → Purple \033[35m → Light purple
\033[36m → Cyan \033[36m → Light cyan
\033[37m → Light gray \033[37m → White
example 1 → shows username - working directory last in purple color and then back to white
d - prompt background colors and text format codes
List of background colors: \033[40m → Black
\033[44m → Blue \033[41m → Red \033[45m → Purple
\033[42m → Green \033[46m → Cyan \033[43m → Brown \033[47m → Light gray
example 1 → shows username - working directory last in purple color and white background and then back to default
List of text format codes:
\033[0m → Reset formatting to default. \033[1m → Bold text.
\033[4m → Underline text. \033[7m → inverse
example 1 → shows username - working directory last in purple color and white background, underlined and then back to default
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