Git branch color terminal on Ubuntu - Shell/Bash

As a programmer, you may find yourself working on multiple branches of a git repository at the same time. It can become confusing to keep track of which branch you are currently on, especially when switching between them frequently. One solution to this problem is to add color to the terminal output, which can help distinguish between branches at a glance.

Setting up color in the terminal

To enable colored output in the terminal, you can add the following line to your ~/.bashrc file:

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

This will customize your terminal prompt to show your username, hostname, current working directory, and the current git branch (if applicable) in green and blue colors.

Installing the necessary software

To use the __git_ps1 function in the prompt, you will need to have the git package installed on your system. You can install it by running the following command:

sudo apt-get install git

Customizing the prompt

If you want to customize the prompt further, you can modify the PS1 variable directly. For example, you could add a timestamp to the prompt:

export PS1='\[\033[01;32m\][\t] \u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]$(__git_ps1 " (%s)")\$ '

This will add a timestamp in square brackets to the beginning of the prompt.

Conclusion

Adding color to your terminal prompt can help make it easier to keep track of which git branch you are currently on. By customizing the PS1 variable, you can make the prompt display additional information and match your personal style.