Your prompt is a status bar answering where am I and what am I doing? Being able to see the current branch or Python virtualenv at a glance cuts out a lot of git branch and which python.

Baseline zsh settings

zsh is the default shell on macOS. To switch on Linux:

  sudo apt install zsh
chsh -s $(which zsh)

These lines in ~/.zshrc make the biggest difference:

  # generous history, no duplicates, shared across windows
HISTSIZE=50000
SAVEHIST=50000
setopt SHARE_HISTORY HIST_IGNORE_ALL_DUPS HIST_REDUCE_BLANKS

# type a directory name to cd into it
setopt AUTO_CD

# case-insensitive tab completion
autoload -Uz compinit && compinit
zstyle ':completion:*' matcher-list 'm:{a-z}={A-Za-z}'

Two plugins are enough

Skip the heavy frameworks; install only the two with the largest payoff.

  brew install zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting
  
  # at the bottom of ~/.zshrc
source $(brew --prefix)/share/zsh-autosuggestions/zsh-autosuggestions.zsh
source $(brew --prefix)/share/zsh-syntax-highlighting/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh
  • autosuggestions greys in a command you ran before. Press → to accept it.
  • syntax-highlighting turns unknown commands red, so you catch typos before you press Enter.

Starship

A prompt that works the same regardless of which shell you use.

  brew install starship
echo 'eval "$(starship init zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc

Configuration is one file, ~/.config/starship.toml.

  # only show command duration when it was actually slow
[cmd_duration]
min_time = 2000
format = " [$duration]($style)"

# keep the path to three segments
[directory]
truncation_length = 3
truncate_to_repo = true

# make failures obvious
[character]
success_symbol = "[❯](green)"
error_symbol = "[❯](red)"

Git branch, Node/Python/Go versions, Kubernetes context and so on appear automatically only inside a relevant project. Turn modules on and off with disabled.

  [kubernetes]
disabled = false

A few aliases 

  alias ll='ls -alh'
alias gs='git status -sb'
alias gd='git diff'
alias ..='cd ..'
alias ...='cd ../..'

Aliases are convenient, but overusing them leaves you stranded on other people’s machines. Scripts you share with a team should spell out the real commands.

Next

With the shell comfortable, stop opening extra windows and manage one session instead → tmux

Edit this page

Last updated 19 Aug 2026, 00:00 UTC. history