Display Git Branch or Tag Names in your Bash Prompt

Whilst watching Drupalize.me's recent Introduction to Git series, I thought it was useful the way that the current Git branch or tag name was displayed in the bash prompt.

Here's how to do it.

For example (with some slight modifications):

oliver@oliver-mbp:~/Development/drupal(master) $
oliver@oliver-mbp:~/Development/a11y_checklist(7.x-1.0) $

Here's how to do it.

To begin with, create a new file to contain the functions,

vim ~/.bash/git-prompt

Paste the following code into the file, and save it.

parse_git_branch () {
git branch 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/ (\1)/'
}

parse_git_tag () {
git describe --tags 2> /dev/null
}

parse_git_branch_or_tag() {
local OUT="$(parse_git_branch)"
if [ "$OUT" == " ((no branch))" ]; then
OUT="($(parse_git_tag))";
fi
echo $OUT
}

Edit your .bashrc or .bash_profile file to override the PS1 value.

vim ~/.bashrc

Add the following code at the bottom of the file, and save it.

source ~/.bash/git-prompt
PS1="\u@\h:\w\$(parse_git_branch_or_tag) $ "

Restart your Terminal or type source ~/.bashrc to see your changes.