Starship is a free opensource shell prompt available for Linux, Windows and MacOS. It is extremely fast, very light and highly customizable. It works for any shell including bash, zsh and Fish. Starship is designed to intelligently show you only the information you require while working.
In this, we will be looking at how Starship is installed and used in Linux distributions, Windows and MacOS, as well how it is configured for different shells.
Features of Starship Shell prompt
Below are some of the most eye-catching features of Starship that will make you want to try it.
- Fast: it’s fast – really really fast!
- Customizable: configure every aspect of your prompt.
- Universal: works on any shell, on any operating system.
- Intelligent: shows relevant information at a glance.
- Feature rich: support for all your favorite tools.
- Easy: quick to install – start using it in minutes.
Install Startship Shell Prompt
The first step is to install and enable Nerd Font in the terminal. We are going to install FiraCode Nerd Font with the below commands:
# Ubuntu
sudo apt update
sudo apt install fonts-firacode
# Arch Linux / Manjaro
sudo pacman -S otf-fira-code
# Gentoo
emerge -av media-fonts/fira-code
# Fedora
dnf copr enable evana/fira-code-fonts
dnf install fira-code-fonts
# For MacOS, download TTF using curl as below:
curl -O https://github.com/tonsky/FiraCode/blob/master/distr/ttf/FiraCode-Bold.ttf
#In the downloaded TTF folder, Select all font files, right click and select Open (alternatively Open With Font Book). Select "Install Font"
#Or Install with Brew (Not officially supported)
brew tap homebrew/cask-fonts
brew cask install font-fira-code
# Windows: Run as Administrator
scoop bucket add nerd-fonts
scoop install firacodeTo install Starship from package manager, we run the commands below:
# macOS
brew install starship
# Arch
yay -S starship
# Nix
nix-env --install starship
# Termux
pkg install starshipFor other platforms, we can install Starship from a pre-compiled binary. We need to download the binary and install as below:
$ curl -fsSL https://starship.rs/install.sh | bash
Configuration
> Bin directory: /usr/local/bin
> Platform: unknown-linux-musl
> Arch: x86_64
> Tarball URL: https://github.com/starship/starship/releases/latest/download/starship-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz
? Install Starship latest to /usr/local/bin? [y/N] y
! Escalated permissions are required to install to /usr/local/bin
[sudo] password for lorna:
> Installing Starship as root, please wait…
✓ Starship installed
> Please follow the steps for your shell to complete the installation:
Bash
Add the following to the end of ~/.bashrc:
eval "$(starship init bash)"
Fish
Add the following to the end of ~/.config/fish/config.fish:
starship init fish | source
Zsh
Add the following to the end of ~/.zshrc:
eval "$(starship init zsh)"
Ion
Add the following to the end of ~/.config/ion/initrc:
eval $(starship init ion)
Configure Zsh, Bash and Fish to use Starship
As explained from the above output, configure your shell to use starship as below:
# For Bash shell, add the following to the end of ~/.bashrc:
eval "$(starship init bash)"
# For Fish shell, add the following to the end of ~/.config/fish/config.fish:
starship init fish | source
# For Zsh add the following to the end of ~/.zshrc:
eval "$(starship init zsh)"
#For Ion add the following to the end of ~/.config/ion/initrc:
eval $(starship init ion)
# Powershell
#For PowerShell add the following to the end of Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1. Verify this file location through
#querying the $PROFILE variable in PowerShell. The path should #be ~\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1 or ~/.config/powershell/Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1# on -Nix.
Invoke-Expression (&starship init powershell)Finally update the changes by sourcing shell configuration.
# Bash
source ~/.bashrc
# zsh
source ~/.zshrcYou should have Starship installed and working.
lorna in App2 in ~
❯ ls
alacritty
lorna in App2 in ~
❯ pwd
/home/cloudspinx
lorna in App2 in ~
❯ Configuring Starship Shell Prompt
Starship configuration file enables us to make desired changes for using starship prompt. The configuration file is a .toml. Let’s create one in ~/.config directory.
mkdir -p ~/.config && touch ~/.config/starship.tomlAdd the following content
# Don't print a new line at the start of the prompt
add_newline = false
# Replace the "❯" symbol in the prompt with "➜"
[character] # The name of the module we are configuring is "character"
success_symbol = "[➜](bold green)" # The "success_symbol" segment is being set to "➜" with the color "bold green"
# Disable the package module, hiding it from the prompt completely
[package]
disabled = trueChange the default starship configuration file location using STARSHIP_CONFIG environment variable
export STARSHIP_CONFIG=~/.starshipDo the below on Windows Powershell
$ENV:STARSHIP_CONFIG = "$HOME\.starship"Now exit the terminal and login back. You should notice the change with prompt sign
lorna in App2 in ~
➜ ls
alacritty
lorna in App2 in ~
➜ pwd
/home/lorna
lorna in App2 in ~
➜ Starship Modules
A module is a prompt component which provides information based on contextual information from your OS. There are quite a number of modules that are important which using the command line and you can configure how you would like them to appear on the terminal. All configurations are dome in starship.toml file. We are going to discuss only a few of these modules.
AWS
Shows the current AWS region and profile basing on AWS_REGION, AWS_DEFAULT_REGION, and AWS_PROFILE env var with ~/.aws/config file. You can use various options and variables to configure in starship.toml file.
Options
Some options for AWS module configuration are:
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| format | ‘on [$symbol$profile(\($region\))]($style) ‘ | The format for the module. |
| symbol | “☁️ “ | The symbol used before displaying the current AWS profile. |
| region_aliases | Table of region aliases to display in addition to the AWS name. | |
| style | “bold yellow” | The style for the module. |
| disabled | false | Disables the AWS module. |
Variables
Some variables to use:
| Variable | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| region | ap-northeast-1 | The current AWS region |
| profile | astronauts | The current AWS profile |
| symbol | Mirrors the value of option symbol | |
| style* | Mirrors the value of option style |
Example config
# ~/.config/starship.toml
[aws]
format = 'on [$symbol$profile(\($region\))]($style) '
style = "bold blue"
symbol = "🅰 "
[aws.region_aliases]
ap-southeast-2 = "au"
us-east-1 = "va"Battery
Shows the battery current charge status and is only visible when the battery is less than 10%
Options
Available options
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| full_symbol | “•” | The symbol shown when the battery is full. |
| charging_symbol | “⇡” | The symbol shown when the battery is charging. |
| discharging_symbol | “⇣” | The symbol shown when the battery is discharging. |
| format | “[$symbol$percentage]($style) “ | The format for the module. |
| display | Display threshold and style for the module. | |
| disabled | false | Disables the battery module. |
Example config
# vim ~/.config/starship.toml
[battery]
full_symbol = "🔋"
charging_symbol = "⚡️"
discharging_symbol = "💀"Battery Display
Tells when the battery indicator should be shown.
Options
Available options include:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| threshold | The upper bound for the display option. |
| style | The style used if the display option is in use |
Example
[[battery.display]] # "bold red" style when capacity is between 0% and 10%
threshold = 10
style = "bold red"
[[battery.display]] # "bold yellow" style when capacity is between 10% and 30%
threshold = 30
style = "bold yellow"
# when capacity is over 30%, the battery indicator will not be displayedKubernetes
Displays the current Kubernetes context name and, if set, the namespace from the kubeconfig file. The namespace needs to be set in the kubeconfig file, this can be done via kubectl config set-context starship-cluster --namespace astronaut. If the $KUBECONFIG env var is set the module will use that if not it will use the ~/.kube/config.
Options
Some available options are:
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| symbol | “☸ “ | A format string representing the symbol displayed before the Cluster. |
| format | ‘[$symbol$context( \($namespace\))]($style) in ‘ | The format for the module. |
| style | “cyan bold” | The style for the module. |
| context_aliases | Table of context aliases to display. | |
| disabled | true | Disables the kubernetes module |
Variables
You can use the following variables
| Variable | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| context | starship-cluster | The current kubernetes context |
| namespace | starship-namespace | If set, the current kubernetes namespace |
| symbol | Mirrors the value of option symbol | |
| style* | Mirrors the value of option style |
Example config:
# vim ~/.config/starship.toml
[kubernetes]
format = 'on [⛵ $context \($namespace\)](dimmed green) '
disabled = false
[kubernetes.context_aliases]
"dev.local.cluster.k8s" = "dev"Directory
Shows the path to your current directory, truncated to three parent folders
Options you can use
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| truncation_length | 3 | The number of parent folders that the current directory should be truncated to. |
| truncate_to_repo | true | Whether or not to truncate to the root of the git repo that you’re currently in. |
| format | “[$path]($style)[$read_only]($read_only_style) “ | The format for the module. |
| style | “bold cyan” | The style for the module. |
| disabled | false | Disables the directory module. |
| read_only | “🔒” | The symbol indicating current directory is read only. |
| read_only_style | “red” | The style for the read only symbol. |
| truncation_symbol | “” | The symbol to prefix to truncated paths. eg: “…/” |
And variables
| Variable | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| path | “D:/Projects” | The current directory path |
| style* | “black bold dimmed” | Mirrors the value of option style |
*: This variable can only be used as a part of a style string
Example
# ~/.config/starship.toml
[directory]
truncation_length = 8
truncation_symbol = "…/"Starship version and Updating
To check the currently installed version of Starship, run the below command:
➜ starship --version
starship 1.23.0
branch:
commit_hash:
build_time:2025-04-27 15:52:14 +00:00
build_env:rustc 1.86.0 (05f9846f8 2025-03-31) (Homebrew),To can always download and install the newest version to get the latest updates. For Starship installed with system packages, updating your system should update all the packages.
You have successfully installed and configured Starship for your shell. I hope the guide has been helpful. Enjoy using the fastest and highly customizable shell prompt. Do not forget to check more interesting guides below:
