Customization Windows Terminal With Starship

Introduction

In this article, we will install PowerShell and Starship, configure Windows Terminal, and then customize it with Starship.

What is Windows Terminal?

Windows Terminal is a modern, fast terminal application for users of command-line tools and shells like Command Prompt, PowerShell, and WSL. It has plenty of features that make it useful for developers and system administrators. It is a solid replacement for the default Windows Command Prompt and PowerShell.

What is Starship?

Starship is a cross-shell prompt for any shell. It shows information about the current directory, the active branch, the status of the repository, and much more. It is highly customizable and can be extended with custom modules. It is written in Rust and is blazingly fast.

Installation

Install Windows Terminal

To install Windows Terminal, you can download it from the Microsoft Store or from the GitHub repository, or you can use the Chocolatey package manager or Winget package manager.

Install Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store

To install Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open the Microsoft Store.
2. Search for Windows Terminal.
3. Click on the Get button.

Install Windows Terminal from GitHub

To install Windows Terminal from GitHub, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open the GitHub repository.
2. Click on the Releases tab.
3. Click on the latest release.
4. Click on the WindowsTerminal.exe file.
5. Click on the Download button.

Install Windows Terminal with Chocolatey

To install Windows Terminal with Chocolatey, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open the Chocolatey website.
2. Click on Packages.
3. Search for Windows Terminal.
4. Click on the command to install Windows Terminal.
5. Run the command in CMD.

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choco install microsoft-windows-terminal --pre -y

Install Windows Terminal with Winget

To install Windows Terminal with Winget, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open the Winget website.
2. Search for Windows Terminal.
3. Click on the command to install Windows Terminal.
4. Run the command in CMD.

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winget install --id=Microsoft.WindowsTerminal  -e

Install PowerShell

To install PowerShell, you can download it from the Microsoft Store or from the GitHub repository, or you can use the Chocolatey package manager or Winget package manager.

Install PowerShell from the Microsoft Store

To install PowerShell from the Microsoft Store, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open the Microsoft Store.
2. Search for PowerShell.
3. Click on the Get button.

Install PowerShell from GitHub

To install PowerShell from GitHub, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open the GitHub repository.
2. Click on the Releases tab.
3. Click on the latest release.
4. Click on the PowerShell-7.2.0-win-x64.msi file.
5. Click on the Download button.

Install PowerShell with Chocolatey

To install PowerShell with Chocolatey, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open the Chocolatey website.
2. Click on Packages.
3. Search for PowerShell.
4. Click on the command to install PowerShell.
5. Run the command in CMD.

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choco install powershell -y

Install PowerShell with Winget

To install PowerShell with Winget, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open the Winget website.
2. Search for PowerShell.
3. Click on the command to install PowerShell.
4. Run the command in CMD.

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winget install --id=Microsoft.PowerShell  -e

Install Starship

To install Starship, you can download it from the GitHub repository, or you can use the Chocolatey package manager or Winget package manager.

Install Starship from GitHub

To install Starship from GitHub, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open the GitHub repository.
2. Click on the Releases tab.
3. Click on the latest release.
4. Click on the starship-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip file.
5. Click on the Download button.

Install Starship with Chocolatey

To install Starship with Chocolatey, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open the Chocolatey website.
2. Click on Packages.
3. Search for Starship.
4. Click on the command to install Starship.
5. Run the command in CMD.

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choco install starship -y

Install Starship with Winget

To install Starship with Winget, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open the Winget website.
2. Search for Starship.
3. Click on the command to install Starship.
4. Run the command in CMD.

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winget install --id=Starship.Starship  -e

Install a Nerd Font

Install a Nerd Font quickly from the Nerd Fonts website. You can choose any font you like. I will use the Caskaydia Cove Nerd Font font.

Configuration

Configure Starship

To configure Starship, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open PowerShell.
2. Run the command below to create the configuration file.

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mkdir -p ~/.config && touch ~/.config/starship.toml

3. Open the configuration file with your favorite text editor.

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notepad ~/.config/starship.toml

4. Copy the configuration below and paste it in the configuration file. GitHub | starship.toml

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#
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#                             .
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#         ..                .''
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#         .,'..,.         ..,;,'
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#          ,;;;;,,       .,,;;;
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#           ,;;;;;'    .',;;;
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#            ,;;;;,'...,;;;,
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#             ,;;;;;,,;;;;.
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#              ,;;;;;;;;;
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#              .,;;;;;;;
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#              .,;;;;;;;'
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#              .,;;;;;;;,'
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#            .',;;;;;;;;;;,.
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#          ..,;;;;;;;;;;;;;,.
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#         .';;;;;.   ';;;;;;,'
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#        .,;;;;.      ,; .;; .,
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#        ',;;;.        .
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#        .,;;.
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#        ,;
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#
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## FIRST LINE/ROW: Info & Status
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# First param ─┌
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[username]
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format = " [╭─$user]($style)@"
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show_always = true
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style_root = "bold red"
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style_user = "bold red"
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# Second param
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[hostname]
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disabled = false
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format = "[$hostname]($style) in "
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ssh_only = false
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style = "bold dimmed red"
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trim_at = "-"
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# Third param
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[directory]
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style = "purple"
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truncate_to_repo = true
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truncation_length = 0
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truncation_symbol = "repo: "
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# Fourth param
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[sudo]
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disabled = false
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# Before all the version info (python, nodejs, php, etc.)
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[git_status]
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ahead = "⇡${count}"
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behind = "⇣${count}"
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deleted = "x"
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diverged = "⇕⇡${ahead_count}⇣${behind_count}"
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style = "white"
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# Last param in the first line/row
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[cmd_duration]
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disabled = false
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format = "took [$duration]($style)"
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min_time = 1
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## SECOND LINE/ROW: Prompt
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# Somethere at the beginning
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[battery]
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charging_symbol = ""
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disabled = true
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discharging_symbol = ""
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full_symbol = ""
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[[battery.display]]  # "bold red" style when capacity is between 0% and 10%
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disabled = false
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style = "bold red"
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threshold = 15
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[[battery.display]]  # "bold yellow" style when capacity is between 10% and 30%
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disabled = true
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style = "bold yellow"
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threshold = 50
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[[battery.display]]  # "bold green" style when capacity is between 10% and 30%
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disabled = true
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style = "bold green"
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threshold = 80
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# Prompt: optional param 1
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[time]
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disabled = true
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format = " 🕙 $time($style)\n"
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style = "bright-white"
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time_format = "%T"
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# Prompt: param 2
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[character]
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error_symbol = " [×](bold red)"
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success_symbol = " [╰─λ](bold red)"
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# SYMBOLS
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[status]
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disabled = false
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format = '[\[$symbol$status_common_meaning$status_signal_name$status_maybe_int\]]($style)'
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map_symbol = true
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pipestatus = true
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symbol = "🔴"
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[aws]
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symbol = " "
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[conda]
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symbol = " "
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[dart]
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symbol = " "
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[docker_context]
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symbol = " "
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[elixir]
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symbol = " "
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[elm]
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symbol = " "
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[git_branch]
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symbol = " "
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[golang]
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symbol = " "
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[hg_branch]
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symbol = " "
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[java]
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symbol = " "
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[julia]
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symbol = " "
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[nim]
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symbol = " "
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[nix_shell]
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symbol = " "
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[nodejs]
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symbol = " "
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[package]
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symbol = " "
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[perl]
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symbol = " "
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[php]
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symbol = " "
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[python]
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symbol = " "
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[ruby]
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symbol = " "
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[rust]
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symbol = " "
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[swift]
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symbol = "ﯣ "

Configure Starship on PowerShell

Every time a PowerShell instance launches, we need to initialize Starship. To do that, we’ll add the following line to our PowerShell profile.

To create a PowerShell profile and add the Starship line, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open Windows Terminal.
2. Run the following command to create a PowerShell profile.

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New-Item -Path $PROFILE -ItemType File -Force

3. Use the Set-Content cmdlet to add the line to the profile.

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$CONFIG_PROFILE = {function Invoke-Starship-TransientFunction {
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  &starship module character
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}
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Invoke-Expression (&starship init powershell)}
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Set-Content -Path $PROFILE -Value $CONFIG_PROFILE

Configure PowerShell on Windows Terminal

To configure PowerShell on Windows Terminal, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open Windows Terminal.
2. Press Ctrl + , to open the settings.
3. Click on settings.json to open the settings file.
4. Add the following lines to the profiles section.

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{
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  "guid": "{574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336}",
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  "hidden": false,
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  "name": "PowerShell",
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  "source": "Windows.Terminal.PowershellCore"
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}

5. Change the hidden property to true for the Windows PowerShell profile.

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{
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  "commandline": "%SystemRoot%\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe",
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  "guid": "{61c54bbd-c2c6-5271-96e7-009a87ff44bf}",
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  "hidden": true,
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  "name": "Windows PowerShell"
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}

6. Add Dracula schemes to the schemes section.

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{
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  "background": "#282A36",
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  "black": "#21222C",
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  "blue": "#BD93F9",
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  "brightBlack": "#6272A4",
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  "brightBlue": "#D6ACFF",
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  "brightCyan": "#A4FFFF",
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  "brightGreen": "#69FF94",
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  "brightPurple": "#FF92DF",
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  "brightRed": "#FF6E6E",
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  "brightWhite": "#FFFFFF",
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  "brightYellow": "#FFFFA5",
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  "cursorColor": "#F8F8F2",
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  "cyan": "#8BE9FD",
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  "foreground": "#F8F8F2",
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  "green": "#50FA7B",
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  "name": "Dracula",
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  "purple": "#FF79C6",
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  "red": "#FF5555",
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  "selectionBackground": "#44475A",
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  "white": "#F8F8F2",
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  "yellow": "#F1FA8C"
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}

7. Save the file and close it.
8. Back in Windows Terminal, press Ctrl + , to open the settings.
9. Go to Profiles >> Defaults >> Appearance >> Color scheme, and choose Dracula.
10. Go to Profiles >> Defaults >> Appearance >> Font face, and choose Caskaydia Cove Nerd Font.

Extra configuration

1. Open Windows Terminal.
2. Run the command below.

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# Allow scripts to run
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Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
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# Install PSReadLine
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Install-Module PSReadLine -AllowPrerelease -Force
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# Install Terminal-Icons
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Install-Module Terminal-Icons -AllowPrerelease -Force

3. Use the Set-Content cmdlet to add the line to the profile.

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$CONFIG_PROFILE = {function Invoke-Starship-TransientFunction {
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  &starship module character
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}
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Invoke-Expression (&starship init powershell)
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# set PowerShell to UTF-8
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[console]::InputEncoding = [console]::OutputEncoding = New-Object System.Text.UTF8Encoding
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Import-Module -Name Terminal-Icons
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Set-PSReadLineOption -PredictionViewStyle ListView
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Set-PSReadLineOption -PredictionViewStyle InlineView
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Set-PSReadLineOption -EditMode WindowS
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Set-PSReadLineKeyHandler -Chord Ctrl+B -ScriptBlock {
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    [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::RevertLine()
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    [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::Insert('build')
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    [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::AcceptLine()
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}
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# This is an example of a macro that you might use to execute a command.
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# This will add the command to history.
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Set-PSReadLineKeyHandler -Key Ctrl+Shift+b `
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                         -BriefDescription BuildCurrentDirectory `
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                         -LongDescription "Build the current directory" `
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                         -ScriptBlock {
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    [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::RevertLine()
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    [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::Insert("dotnet build")
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    [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::AcceptLine()
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}}
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Set-Content -Path $PROFILE -Value $CONFIG_PROFILE

References

• Starship - The minimal, blazing-fast, and infinitely customizable prompt for any shell!
• Starship Configuration Documentation
• Windows Terminal Documentation
• Windows Terminal GitHub Repository
• PowerShell Documentation
• PowerShell GitHub Repository
• Nerd Fonts - Iconic font aggregator, glyphs patcher, and more
• Dracula Theme for Windows Terminal
• Chocolatey - The package manager for Windows
• Winget - Windows Package Manager
• PSReadLine Module - PowerShell Gallery
• Terminal-Icons Module - PowerShell Gallery
• Windows Terminal Settings (JSON) file
• Starship starship.toml example from the post