Prompt Customization

Customize your shell prompt to display the active DVS application.

Overview

When you set the DVS_ACTIVE_APP environment variable, DVS automatically adds an indicator to your shell prompt showing the active app name: (dvs:app-name).

This indicator is compatible with most shell configurations and custom prompts (OhMyZsh, Starship, etc.).

Automatic Prompt Integration

The prompt indicator is automatically added by the DVS wrapper script (~/.config/devspaces/helpers/wrapper.sh) when:

1. The DVS_ACTIVE_APP environment variable is set to a valid app name
2. The DVS_PROMPT_DISABLE environment variable is not set to 1

The integration uses shell hooks to avoid breaking custom prompts:

• Bash: Uses PROMPT_COMMAND hook
• Zsh: Uses precmd hook via add-zsh-hook
• Fish: Wraps the fish_prompt function

Disabling the Prompt Indicator

To disable the automatic prompt indicator, set the DVS_PROMPT_DISABLE environment variable:

export DVS_PROMPT_DISABLE=1

To re-enable it:

unset DVS_PROMPT_DISABLE

You can also add this to your shell configuration file to make it permanent:

# In ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.config/fish/config.fish
export DVS_PROMPT_DISABLE=1

Custom Prompt Integration

Starship

For a more integrated experience with Starship, you can add a custom module to your ~/.config/starship.toml:

[custom.dvs]
command = "echo $DVS_ACTIVE_APP"
when = "test -n \"$DVS_ACTIVE_APP\""
format = "[$symbol($output )]($style)"
symbol = "🅐 "
style = "bold green"

This will display the active app name with a custom symbol and styling that matches your Starship theme.

OhMyZsh

For OhMyZsh themes, you can customize the prompt by adding to your ~/.zshrc:

# DVS app indicator for OhMyZsh
_dvs_prompt_app() {
    if [ -n "$DVS_ACTIVE_APP" ]; then
        echo "%F{green}(dvs:$DVS_ACTIVE_APP)%f "
    fi
}

# Add to your theme's prompt (example for robbyrussell theme)
# PROMPT='$(_dvs_prompt_app)'$PROMPT

Or integrate it into a custom theme function that's called by your theme.

Other Custom Prompts

For other custom prompt systems, you need to read the active app dynamically each time the prompt is displayed. Here are examples for different shells:

Bash:

# Function to get active app (called before each prompt)
_dvs_get_active_app() {
    if [ -n "$DVS_ACTIVE_APP" ]; then
        echo "(dvs:$DVS_ACTIVE_APP) "
    fi
}

# Add to PROMPT_COMMAND to update prompt dynamically
PROMPT_COMMAND='DVS_APP_INDICATOR=$(_dvs_get_active_app); '"$PROMPT_COMMAND"

# Use in your prompt
PS1='$DVS_APP_INDICATOR'"$PS1"

Zsh:

# Function to get active app (called before each prompt)
_dvs_get_active_app() {
    if [ -n "$DVS_ACTIVE_APP" ]; then
        echo "%F{green}(dvs:$DVS_ACTIVE_APP)%f "
    fi
}

# Add to precmd hook
autoload -Uz add-zsh-hook
add-zsh-hook precmd _dvs_update_prompt
_dvs_update_prompt() {
    DVS_APP_INDICATOR=$(_dvs_get_active_app)
}

# Use in your prompt
PROMPT='$DVS_APP_INDICATOR'"$PROMPT"

Fish:

# Function to get active app
function _dvs_get_active_app
    if test -n "$DVS_ACTIVE_APP"
        echo -n "(dvs:$DVS_ACTIVE_APP) "
    end
end

# Use in fish_prompt
function fish_prompt
    echo -n (_dvs_get_active_app)
    # ... rest of your prompt
end

Important: The DVS_ACTIVE_APP environment variable is read directly from your shell environment. The indicator updates immediately when you set or unset the variable.

Environment Variable

DVS_PROMPT_DISABLE

Controls whether the automatic prompt indicator is displayed.

• Default: 0 (prompt indicator enabled)
• Values:
  • 0 or unset: Prompt indicator is shown when an app is active
  • 1: Prompt indicator is disabled

Example:

# Disable prompt indicator
export DVS_PROMPT_DISABLE=1

# Re-enable prompt indicator
unset DVS_PROMPT_DISABLE
# or
export DVS_PROMPT_DISABLE=0

Updating the Prompt

After setting or unsetting DVS_ACTIVE_APP, the prompt indicator updates automatically. However, if you don't see the change:

1. Restart your shell (open a new terminal)
2. Or reload the wrapper script:

   source ~/.config/devspaces/helpers/wrapper.sh

See Also

• Active Application - Control active application via environment variable