Set up GNU Screen to show the current Git branch

Git Branch Prompt

Many people have written about showing the current git branch in your shell prompt.

There is even the Bash function __git_ps1 provided in the main Git repo.

I prefer to show info like the current time and current git branch in a GNU screen status line.

Screen Status

As I use screen constantly, I decided to take a different route: put the current branch name in my screen status line.

Changing the Screen Current Directory

When you start screen, it remembers the current directory. Issuing cd commands inside a shell does not change the value. The only way to change it is to issue a screen chdir command.

In order to know the current branch in a particular screen window, I needed to make screen's current directory change to follow the shell it is presenting.

I added the following to my .bashrc:

function set_screen_path() {
  screen -X chdir "`pwd`"
}

case $TERM in
screen*)
  PROMPT_COMMAND=set_screen_path
  ;;
esac

This is Bash specific, but similar code should work in other shells.

git-current-branch

Next, I created the following shell script to get the current Git path:

#!/bin/sh

git branch 2>/dev/null | grep '*' | sed 's/\* //'

.screenrc

And finally, I added a 'backtick' command to my .screenrc file:

startup_message off

backtick 1 0 1 git-current-branch

hardstatus alwayslastline "%-w%{.bw}%n %t%{-}%+w %-45= %1`"

screen -t bash 0
screen -t edit 1
select 0

The important line is:

backtick 1 0 1 git-current-branch

which creates a 'backtick command' (number 1) which calls git-current-branch once a second via %1\` in the hardstatus line.

The Result

Screen Status Line Showing Git Branch

Conclusion

This system is not perfect as the shell only notifies screen of its directory when a new prompt is created.

The result is that if you switch screens, the status line doesn't get updated until after you issue a command.