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Display your current wit branch directly in your terminal prompt, just like you would with Git. This helps you always know which branch you’re working on.

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How It Works

wit provides plumbing commands that output the current branch name, which can be used in your shell prompt: 
# Get the current branch name (returns "HEAD" if detached)
wit rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD

# Alternative: Get the symbolic ref (fails silently if detached)
wit symbolic-ref --short HEAD 2>/dev/null

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Bash Integration

Add the following to your ~/.bashrc: 
# wit branch in prompt
__wit_branch() {
  local branch
  # Try to get the current branch name
  branch=$(wit rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null)
  if [ -n "$branch" ]; then
    echo " ($branch)"
  fi
}

# Customize your prompt - add the branch after the current directory
PS1='\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[33m\]$(__wit_branch)\[\033[00m\]\$ '
After adding this, reload your shell: 
source ~/.bashrc

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Example Output

user@hostname:~/my-project (main)$ 
user@hostname:~/my-project (feature/new-login)$

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Zsh Integration

Add the following to your ~/.zshrc: 
# Enable command substitution in prompts
setopt PROMPT_SUBST

# wit branch function
__wit_branch() {
  local branch
  branch=$(wit rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null)
  if [[ -n "$branch" ]]; then
    echo " ($branch)"
  fi
}

# Add to your prompt
PROMPT='%F{green}%n@%m%f:%F{blue}%~%f%F{yellow}$(__wit_branch)%f$ '
After adding this, reload your shell: 
source ~/.zshrc

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With Oh My Zsh

If you use Oh My Zsh, you can create a custom plugin. Create the file ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/wit/wit.plugin.zsh: 
# wit integration for Oh My Zsh

# Get current wit branch
wit_prompt_info() {
  local branch
  branch=$(wit rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null)
  if [[ -n "$branch" ]]; then
    echo "%{$fg[yellow]%}($branch)%{$reset_color%}"
  fi
}

# Add to right prompt
RPROMPT='$(wit_prompt_info)'
Then add wit to your plugins in ~/.zshrc: 
plugins=(git wit other-plugins)

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Advanced: Detached HEAD State

When you checkout a specific commit (detached HEAD state), the branch name won’t be available. You can show the short commit hash instead:

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Bash (with detached HEAD support)

__wit_branch() {
  local branch
  branch=$(wit symbolic-ref --short HEAD 2>/dev/null)
  if [ -n "$branch" ]; then
    echo " ($branch)"
  else
    # Detached HEAD - show short commit hash
    local commit
    commit=$(wit rev-parse --short HEAD 2>/dev/null)
    if [ -n "$commit" ]; then
      echo " (detached:$commit)"
    fi
  fi
}

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Zsh (with detached HEAD support)

__wit_branch() {
  local branch
  branch=$(wit symbolic-ref --short HEAD 2>/dev/null)
  if [[ -n "$branch" ]]; then
    echo " ($branch)"
  else
    # Detached HEAD - show short commit hash
    local commit
    commit=$(wit rev-parse --short HEAD 2>/dev/null)
    if [[ -n "$commit" ]]; then
      echo " (detached:$commit)"
    fi
  fi
}

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Advanced: Dirty State Indicator

Show an asterisk when you have uncommitted changes:

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Bash

__wit_branch() {
  local branch dirty=""
  branch=$(wit rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null)
  if [ -n "$branch" ]; then
    # Check for uncommitted changes
    if ! wit diff --quiet HEAD 2>/dev/null; then
      dirty="*"
    fi
    echo " ($branch$dirty)"
  fi
}

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Zsh

__wit_branch() {
  local branch dirty=""
  branch=$(wit rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null)
  if [[ -n "$branch" ]]; then
    # Check for uncommitted changes
    if ! wit diff --quiet HEAD 2>/dev/null; then
      dirty="*"
    fi
    echo " ($branch$dirty)"
  fi
}

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Performance Tips

The prompt function runs every time you press Enter, so it’s important to keep it fast.
  1. Use 2>/dev/null to suppress error messages when not in a wit repository
  2. Avoid multiple wit calls - each command spawns a new process
  3. Consider caching for very large repositories:
# Cache the branch name for 1 second
__wit_branch_cached() {
  local cache_file="/tmp/.wit_branch_cache_$$"
  local cache_age=1
  
  if [ -f "$cache_file" ]; then
    local mod_time=$(stat -c %Y "$cache_file" 2>/dev/null || stat -f %m "$cache_file" 2>/dev/null)
    local now=$(date +%s)
    if [ $((now - mod_time)) -lt $cache_age ]; then
      cat "$cache_file"
      return
    fi
  fi
  
  local result=$(__wit_branch)
  echo "$result" > "$cache_file"
  echo "$result"
}

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Fish Shell Integration

For Fish shell users, add this to ~/.config/fish/functions/fish_prompt.fish: 
function fish_prompt
    set -l branch (wit rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null)
    
    set_color green
    echo -n (whoami)"@"(hostname)
    set_color normal
    echo -n ":"
    set_color blue
    echo -n (prompt_pwd)
    
    if test -n "$branch"
        set_color yellow
        echo -n " ($branch)"
    end
    
    set_color normal
    echo -n '$ '
end

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Starship Integration

If you use Starship, add a custom command to ~/.config/starship.toml: 
[custom.wit]
command = "wit rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null"
when = "wit rev-parse --git-dir 2>/dev/null"
format = "on [$output]($style) "
style = "bold purple"

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Troubleshooting

  1. Make sure you’re inside a wit repository (has a .wit directory)
  2. Verify wit is installed and in your PATH: which wit
  3. Test the command manually: wit rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD
If your prompt is slow:
  1. Make sure you’re not running multiple wit commands in the function
  2. Consider using the caching approach above
  3. Check if your repository is very large
Always use 2>/dev/null to suppress errors when not in a wit repository. The functions above handle this automatically.

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Next Steps

Commands Reference

Learn all available commands

Configuration

Customize wit behavior