Terminal prompt

Derp supports two prompt types: the Derp prompt and the Shell prompt (PS1).

Choosing your prompt type

To switch your prompt type:

1. Open Settings > Appearance.
2. Under Input, set Input type to Derp or Shell (PS1).

When using the Derp prompt, you can right-click the prompt area to copy the entire prompt, working directory, current git branch, git uncommitted file count, and more.

When using a Shell prompt, you can right-click the prompt area to copy the entire prompt, or select any part of the prompt in previously run blocks in your session.

Derp prompt

Derp has a native prompt that displays context chips showing information such as your current working directory, git branch, svn status, Kubernetes context, pyenv, date, and time. The Derp prompt is the default when Input type is set to Derp.

To customize which context chips your Derp prompt displays:

1. Right-click the prompt area and select Edit prompt.

Prompt editing via right-click.

2. Select Derp Prompt.
3. Drag and drop context chips to configure which pieces of information your prompt displays.

Git and Subversion

Git and Subversion context chips show which branch you are on locally, as well as the number of uncommitted changed files. This includes any new files, modified files, and deleted files that are staged or unstaged.

Kubernetes

The Kubernetes context chip shows relevant information when you're using one of the following commands:

kubectl|helm|kubens|kubectx|oc|istioctl|kogito|k9s|helmfile|flux|fluxctl|stern|kubeseal|skaffold|kubent|kubecolor|cmctl|sparkctl|etcd|fubectl

Note

Derp respects the KUBECONFIG environment variable. Make sure you set it to your preferred configuration file location if it's not the default path of ~/.kube/config.

Shell prompt (PS1)

You can use a Shell prompt instead of the Derp prompt by configuring the PS1 variable or installing a supported shell prompt plugin (see Shell prompt compatibility table).

To enable the Shell prompt:

1. Open Settings > Appearance.
2. Under Input, set Input type to Shell (PS1).
3. Configure your PS1 variable in your shell's RC file, or install a supported prompt plugin.

Note

The PS1 is a variable used by the shell to generate the prompt, it represents the primary prompt string (hence the "PS") - which the terminal typically displays before typing new commands.

Multi-line and right-sided prompts

The Shell prompt supports multi-line or right-sided prompts in zsh and fish, not bash. However, you can't have a multiline right-side prompt, only a multiline left prompt.

Note

If you want to add a new line to your Shell prompt, run the following based on your shell or prompt:

# Bash
echo -e '\nPS1="${PS1}"$'\''\\n'\''' >> ~/.bashrc

# Zsh
echo -e '\nPROMPT="${PROMPT}"$'\''\\n'\''' >> ~/.zshrc

# Fish
echo -e '\nfunctions --copy fish_prompt fish_prompt_orig; function fish_prompt; fish_prompt_orig; echo; end' >> ~/.config/fish/config.fish

# Powershell
$rawString = @'
$originalPrompt = Get-Item Function:\prompt
Set-Item -Path Function:\prompt_original -Value $originalPrompt
function prompt {
    "$(& prompt_original)`n"
}
'@
Add-Content -Path $PROFILE -Value "`n$rawString`n"

# Powerlevel10k
p10k configure

# Starship Prompt
echo '[line_break]\ndisabled = false' >> ~/.config/starship.toml

How it works

Shell prompt compatibility table

Shell	Tool	Does it work?
bash | zsh	PS1	Working
bash | zsh | fish | pwsh	Starship	Working*
bash | zsh | fish | pwsh	oh-my-posh	Working
zsh	Powerlevel10k	Working*
zsh	Spaceship	Working*
zsh	oh-my-zsh	Working
zsh	prezto	Working*
ssh		Working
bash	oh-my-bash	Not supported
bash	bash-it	Not supported
bash	SBP	Not supported
bash	synth-shell-prompt	Not supported
bash | zsh	Powerline-shell	Not supported
zsh	zplug	Not supported
fish	tide	Not supported
fish	oh-my-fish	Not supported

Known incompatibilities

If you're having issues with prompts, please see below or our Known Issues for more troubleshooting steps.

Starship

Starship settings

Some ~/.config/starship.toml settings are known to cause errors in Derp. # or DEL the following lines to resolve known errors:

# Get editor completions based on the config schema
'' = 'https://starship.rs/config-schema.json'

# Disables the custom module
[custom]
disabled = false

For fish shell, optional for bash|zsh, disable the multi-line prompt in Starship by putting the following in your ~/.config/starship.toml:

[line_break]
disabled = true

You may also see an error relating to timeout. You can set the command_timeout variable in your ~/.config/starship.toml to fix this. See more in the starship docs.

Starship + bash

Starship prompt may not render properly if your default shell is /bin/bash. To workaround the issue, we recommend you upgrade bash, find the path with echo $(which bash), then put the path in Settings > Features > Session > "Startup shell for new sessions".

Starship + zsh

If you want to restore the additional line after the Starship prompt on zsh, add the following to the bottom of your ~/.zshrc file: PROMPT="${PROMPT}"$'\n'

Powerlevel10k

When installing the Powerlevel10k (P10k) prompt, we recommend you use the Meslo Nerd Font.

P10K may display the arrow dividers as grey instead of color. The color for those chars is rendered grey due to Derp's minimum contrast setting. To workaround this issue, go to Settings > Appearance > Text > Enforce minimum contrast and set it to "Never".

Example of the grey dividers in p10k.

Derp does support p10k version 1.19.0 and above. Ensure you have the latest version installed and restart Derp after the installation/update of p10k. Then enable the custom prompt as stated above and it should work.

Note

Derp still doesn't fully support some p10k features like transient prompt and visual features like gradients.

Caution

Please note the Installing Powerlevel10k video mentions enabling a custom prompt in Settings > Features > Honor users custom prompt (PS1), but it's now in Settings > Appearance > Input > Classic > Current prompt > Shell Prompt (PS1).

Spaceship

This prompt can cause an issue with typeahead in Derp's input editor. To workaround the issue, run echo "SPACESHIP_PROMPT_ASYNC=FALSE" >>! ~/.zshrc.

Prezto

Although Derp does have support for prezto's prompt, enabling the prezto utility module in the .zpreztorc is not supported as with many other autocompletion plugins that are incompatible.

Disabling unsupported prompts for Derp

We advise using Derp's default prompt or installing one of the supported tools, see Compatibility Table. You can disable unsupported prompts for Derp as such:

if [[ $TERM_PROGRAM != "DerpTerminal" ]]; then
##### WHAT YOU WANT TO DISABLE FOR DERP - BELOW

    # Unsupported Custom Prompt Code

##### WHAT YOU WANT TO DISABLE FOR DERP - ABOVE
fi

iTerm2

The iTerm2 shell integration breaks Derp and your custom prompt will not be able to be visible with this on. If you're coming from iTerm2 please check your dotfiles for it. We advise disabling the integration for Derp like so:

if [[ $TERM_PROGRAM != "DerpTerminal" ]]; then
##### WHAT YOU WANT TO DISABLE FOR DERP - BELOW

test -e "${HOME}/.iterm2_shell_integration.zsh" && source "${HOME}/.iterm2_shell_integration.zsh"

##### WHAT YOU WANT TO DISABLE FOR DERP - ABOVE
fi