After working with Git for a couple years, the Terminal has become one of my primary tools when working in a project. Here you'll find some tweaks I made to it for a better experience. Keep in mind that these changes are very basic, if you're looking for more advanced tweaks, follow the links at the bottom.

Workspace Terminal


[![Command Prompt Screenshot](/content/images/posts/command-prompt-screenshot.jpg)](/content/images/posts/command-prompt-screenshot.jpg)

## Third-party Software Used

-   [TotalTerminal](http://totalterminal.binaryage.com/) - for cool Quake like terminal
-   [Solarized theme](http://ethanschoonover.com/solarized) - Very nice & subtle theme.

## Settings

### Local Command Prompt

My .bash\_profile file contains the following:

#### .bash\_profile

```bash
# Custom Command Prompt
export PS1="[\e[0;36m]\n\h: [\e[0;33m]\w\n[\e[0m]→ "
```

Where `\n` creates a line break; `\h` gets the hostname;`\w` gets the current working directory; and the arrow is just cool! The other parts are colors: `\[\e[0;36m\]` is cyan; `\[\e[0;33m\]` is yellow; and `\[\e[0m\]` is back to normal, in the case of Solarized, grey. And so it outputs the following (though with some color):

#### .bash\_profile Output

```bash

UNKN0WN: ~
→
```

There is a line break at the beginning to create a little padding between the last entry/output and your new entry.

### SSH Command Prompt

Since my server uses Linux, the commands are slightly different and had to be adjusted:

#### .bash\_profile for Linux

```bash
export PS1='\e[0;36m\n\u@\h: \e[0;33m\w\n\e[m→ '
```

### Don't forget to...

Run the following in terminal to avoid a second non visor window, if you are using TotalTerminal, of course:

#### Command to prevent Visor bug

```bash
defaults write com.apple.Terminal TotalTerminalCloseWindowsOnStart -bool YES
```

## Sources

-   [Better Bash Prompt](http://beckism.com/2009/02/better_bash_prompt/)
-   [Prompt Magic](http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-tip-prompt/)
-   [How to customize your command prompt](http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/tools-and-tips/how-to-customize-your-command-prompt/)
-   [Change the color of my shell prompt under linux](http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/bash-shell-change-the-color-of-my-shell-prompt-under-linux-or-unix/)

## Source Links

-   [View Source Code](https://gist.github.com/cballenar/6330685)

Carlos Ballena

Workflow Posts

Workspace Terminal