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How to Customize Your Shell Environment

Datacoves provides a .bash_custom file that allows you to personalize your shell environment. This file is sourced automatically when your terminal starts, giving you a place to define custom aliases, functions, and prompt configurations.

warning

The .bash_custom file is stored in your user volume, not in your git repository. We recommend keeping a backup of this file in case you need to restore it. If your volume is ever reset or lost, this file would need to be recreated.

Opening .bash_custom​

To open or create your .bash_custom file, run the following command in the terminal:

code ~/.bash_custom

This will open the file in VS Code where you can add your customizations.

Example: Show Git Branch in Your Prompt​

A common customization is displaying the current git branch in your terminal prompt. Add the following to your .bash_custom:

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

# Set prompt to show path and git branch
PS1="\[\e[38;2;173;216;230m\]\w \[\e[38;2;255;255;255m\]\$(parse_git_branch)\[\e[00m\]$ "

Example: Custom Git Aliases​

Datacoves pre-configures several git aliases like git co, git br, git st, and git l. Since Datacoves manages the .gitconfig file, you can use .bash_custom to add additional custom git aliases:

# Add custom git aliases
git config --global alias.unstage 'reset HEAD --'
git config --global alias.last 'log -1 HEAD'

After saving and restarting your terminal (or running source ~/.bash_custom), you can use these shortcuts:

git unstage file.txt   # unstage a file
git last               # show the last commit

Example: Custom Aliases​

# Aliases
alias ll='ls -la'
alias cls='clear'

Applying Changes​

After editing .bash_custom, you can apply changes immediately without restarting the terminal:

source ~/.bash_custom

Or simply open a new terminal session.