nobsprompt
Run an extremely lightweight macOS and Zsh prompt out of the box, or use its fast backend to build a custom prompt.
nobsprompt, the No BS prompt, collects useful shell and repository state
without putting Git or Node on the foreground rendering path. Use the included
prompt as-is, or use the same backend to build your own.
/U/i/D/p/nobsprompt [main +1 ~2 ?3 ^1] [node:22.14.0] [2.4s] [jobs:2] %nbsp is written in C, links no third-party libraries, requires no daemon or
special font, and keeps detailed Git status in an atomic cache.
Use the built-in prompt
Install one deliberately fixed prompt with path, Git, Node, timing, jobs, and exact failure status.
Build a custom prompt
Keep the fast backend and asynchronous lifecycle while owning every presentation decision.
Start in two commands
make test
make installThen add one integration to ~/.zshrc after NVM initialization:
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
eval "$(nbsp init zsh)"export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
eval "$(nbsp init zsh --detached)"Open a new terminal or run exec zsh.
What the backend provides
- an abbreviated working directory;
- Git branch and staged, modified, untracked, conflicted, ahead, behind, and stash counts;
- the active NVM version without starting Node;
- command duration, background jobs, and exact exit status;
- asynchronous Git refresh with ZLE redraw correction;
- external command editing through
Alt+E; - a versioned line or NUL-delimited data interface for custom consumers.
What it deliberately avoids
There is no daemon, database, format language, plugin system, font requirement, or foreground Git process. The ready-made prompt is intentionally fixed. Detached mode exists for users who want different colors, symbols, layout, segments, thresholds, or OSC wrappers.