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I'm having the hardest time trying to get dynamically evaluated command output in my PS1 prompt with zsh on Ubuntu 17.10. Here are a few attempts I've made (I begin in directory /abc, and the prompt is in bold):

$ export PS1="$(pwd) > "
/abc > cd /def
/abc > pwd
/def
/abc > export PS1="\$(pwd) > "
$(pwd) > export PS1='$(pwd) > '
$(pwd) > export PS1='\$(pwd) > '
\$(pwd) > [ragequit]

The first result is the closest, but it looks like the pwd command is being evaluated only once when I define the PS1 variable. Clearly there's something that I don't understand. What can I do to get $(<cmd>) reevaluated every time the command prompt is displayed?

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  • 1
    Note that in zsh, a precmd function and setting psvar tends to be easier for doing complicated things than using prompt_subst. And for simple things there's prompt expansion, e.g. %~ for the current directory.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 21:19
  • @Gilles : I understand. I used 'pwd' as a universally recognized command. The real value of the variable is '$(ps1)', where the ps1 command will do whatever I ask it to do - e.g., show the current Git branch. :)
    – Tony
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 15:04
  • Showing the current git branch is a typical use case of precmd. That's how vcs_info bundled with zsh does it.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 18:41
  • Yeah, but I'm a stickler - I like to see things in a specific way, and I like my config files to be as uncluttered as I can make them. No accounting for taste, hm?
    – Tony
    Commented Apr 6, 2018 at 3:23
  • I'm not saying you should use vcs_info. (I don't either.) I'm saying that if you do something similar, you'll have an easier time using precmd and keeping PS1 itself very simple.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Commented Apr 6, 2018 at 7:00

1 Answer 1

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To get the zsh shell to perform command substitution on the value of PS1, set the PROMPT_SUBST shell option:

set -o PROMPT_SUBST
PS1='$(pwd) > '

Note that there is no need to export the PS1 variable.

The reason why the PROMPT_SUBST shell option is not set by default is likely that the zsh shell already has rich syntax for prompt expansions.

Your example could, for instance, be replaced by

PS1='%/ > '

For more information about this, see the "EXPANSION OF PROMPT SEQUENCES" section in the zshmisc manual on your system.

When you use

PS1="$(pwd) > "

the value given to the PS1 variable is expanded before the assignment takes place. This is why it does not change when you change directories.

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  • Yes indeed. It's odd to me that PROMPT_SUBST isn't the default, but that's my problem. :) Thanks very much.
    – Tony
    Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 16:28
  • it also doesn't expand any basic variables containing colour codes that has been set just before wich I thought was odd. Setting the PROMPT_SUBST didn't fix that.
    – Brad
    Commented Jun 7, 2022 at 11:23
  • @Brad PROMPT_SUBST affects all ordinary expansions that are part of a prompt. There are better ways to get color in the zsh shell's prompt. %F{red} sets the foreground color to red, for example. See the manual.
    – Kusalananda ♦
    Commented Jun 7, 2022 at 11:28
  • ah cheers Ive been trying to get my custom bash prompt to work in zsh 😩
    – Brad
    Commented Jun 7, 2022 at 11:45

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