shell-prompt

Configure high-performance shell prompts with Powerlevel10k and Zsh Vi Mode.

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Install skill "shell-prompt" with this command: npx skills add julianobarbosa/claude-code-skills/julianobarbosa-claude-code-skills-shell-prompt

Shell Prompt Skill

Configure high-performance shell prompts with Powerlevel10k and Zsh Vi Mode.

Overview

Modern shell prompts provide:

  • Git status with branch, dirty state, and remote tracking

  • Environment indicators (Python venv, Node version, K8s context)

  • Execution time for long-running commands

  • Exit code visualization

  • Async updates for responsive experience

  • Vi mode indicators and cursor changes

Zsh Vi Mode

Zsh supports vi-style line editing with visual feedback through cursor changes and mode indicators.

Quick Setup (Built-in)

~/.zshrc

bindkey -v # Enable vi mode

Reduce key timeout for faster mode switching (default 400ms)

export KEYTIMEOUT=10 # 100ms - don't go below 10

Cursor Style by Mode

Change cursor shape based on current mode:

Add to ~/.zshrc

cursor_mode() { # Beam cursor for insert mode cursor_beam='\e[6 q' # Block cursor for normal mode cursor_block='\e[2 q'

function zle-keymap-select {
    if [[ ${KEYMAP} == vicmd ]] ||
       [[ $1 = 'block' ]]; then
        echo -ne $cursor_block
    elif [[ ${KEYMAP} == main ]] ||
         [[ ${KEYMAP} == viins ]] ||
         [[ ${KEYMAP} = '' ]] ||
         [[ $1 = 'beam' ]]; then
        echo -ne $cursor_beam
    fi
}

zle-line-init() {
    echo -ne $cursor_beam
}

zle -N zle-keymap-select
zle -N zle-line-init

} cursor_mode

Cursor Escape Codes

Code Style

\e[1 q

Blinking block

\e[2 q

Steady block

\e[3 q

Blinking underline

\e[4 q

Steady underline

\e[5 q

Blinking bar/beam

\e[6 q

Steady bar/beam

Vi Mode Plugins

Oh My Zsh vi-mode Plugin

~/.zshrc

plugins=(... vi-mode)

Configuration (before sourcing oh-my-zsh.sh)

VI_MODE_SET_CURSOR=true VI_MODE_RESET_PROMPT_ON_MODE_CHANGE=true

Cursor styles (0-6)

VI_MODE_CURSOR_NORMAL=2 # Solid block VI_MODE_CURSOR_INSERT=6 # Solid beam VI_MODE_CURSOR_VISUAL=6 # Solid beam VI_MODE_CURSOR_OPPEND=0 # Blinking block

Mode indicators

MODE_INDICATOR="%F{red}<<<NORMAL%f" INSERT_MODE_INDICATOR="%F{green}<<<INSERT%f"

softmoth/zsh-vim-mode

Full-featured vi mode with text objects and surround bindings.

Installation:

Clone

git clone https://github.com/softmoth/zsh-vim-mode.git ~/.zsh/zsh-vim-mode

Source in .zshrc (after other plugins)

source ~/.zsh/zsh-vim-mode/zsh-vim-mode.plugin.zsh

Load order matters: zsh-autosuggestions -> zsh-syntax-highlighting -> zsh-vim-mode

Configuration:

Cursor styles (supports colors!)

MODE_CURSOR_VIINS="#00ff00 blinking bar" MODE_CURSOR_VICMD="green block" MODE_CURSOR_REPLACE="red block" MODE_CURSOR_SEARCH="#ff00ff steady underline" MODE_CURSOR_VISUAL="$MODE_CURSOR_VICMD steady bar" MODE_CURSOR_VLINE="$MODE_CURSOR_VISUAL #00ffff"

Mode indicators (auto-added to RPS1 if unset)

MODE_INDICATOR_VIINS='%F{15}<%F{8}INSERT>%f' MODE_INDICATOR_VICMD='%F{10}<%F{2}NORMAL>%f' MODE_INDICATOR_REPLACE='%F{9}<%F{1}REPLACE>%f' MODE_INDICATOR_SEARCH='%F{13}<%F{5}SEARCH>%f' MODE_INDICATOR_VISUAL='%F{12}<%F{4}VISUAL>%f' MODE_INDICATOR_VLINE='%F{12}<%F{4}V-LINE>%f'

Other options

VIM_MODE_VICMD_KEY='^[' # Default escape key VIM_MODE_TRACK_KEYMAP=true # Enable mode tracking VIM_MODE_INITIAL_KEYMAP=viins # Start in insert mode

Features:

  • Text objects: ci" , da( , vi[

  • Surround: cs"' (change surrounding " to ')

  • Visual mode selection

  • Emacs bindings in insert mode (Ctrl-A, Ctrl-E)

jeffreytse/zsh-vi-mode

Modern vi mode with operator-pending mode support.

Installation:

With zinit

zinit ice depth=1 zinit light jeffreytse/zsh-vi-mode

Manual

git clone https://github.com/jeffreytse/zsh-vi-mode.git ~/.zsh/zsh-vi-mode source ~/.zsh/zsh-vi-mode/zsh-vi-mode.plugin.zsh

Configuration:

Cursor styles

ZVM_NORMAL_MODE_CURSOR=$ZVM_CURSOR_BLOCK ZVM_INSERT_MODE_CURSOR=$ZVM_CURSOR_BEAM ZVM_VISUAL_MODE_CURSOR=$ZVM_CURSOR_BLOCK ZVM_VISUAL_LINE_MODE_CURSOR=$ZVM_CURSOR_BLOCK ZVM_OPPEND_MODE_CURSOR=$ZVM_CURSOR_UNDERLINE

Mode indicator in prompt

function zvm_after_select_vi_mode() { case $ZVM_MODE in $ZVM_MODE_NORMAL) # Update prompt for normal mode ;; $ZVM_MODE_INSERT) # Update prompt for insert mode ;; $ZVM_MODE_VISUAL) # Update prompt for visual mode ;; esac }

Disable cursor style changes (if using another method)

ZVM_CURSOR_STYLE_ENABLED=false

Key Bindings Reference

Mode Switching

Key Action

ESC or Ctrl-[

Enter Normal mode

i

Insert before cursor

a

Append after cursor

I

Insert at line start

A

Append at line end

v

Enter Visual mode

V

Enter Visual Line mode

Navigation (Normal Mode)

Key Action

h/l

Left/right

j/k

Down/up in history

w/W

Forward word

b/B

Backward word

e/E

End of word

0

Start of line

^

First non-blank

$

End of line

f{char}

Find char forward

F{char}

Find char backward

t{char}

Till char forward

T{char}

Till char backward

Editing (Normal Mode)

Key Action

x

Delete char

dd

Delete line

D

Delete to end

cc

Change line

C

Change to end

yy

Yank line

p/P

Paste after/before

u

Undo

Ctrl-r

Redo

Text Objects

Key Action

ciw

Change inner word

daw

Delete a word (with space)

ci"

Change inside quotes

da(

Delete around parens

vi[

Select inside brackets

KEYTIMEOUT Considerations

The KEYTIMEOUT variable affects multi-key sequences:

Default is 40 (400ms)

export KEYTIMEOUT=10 # 100ms - good balance

Too low (<10) breaks multi-key bindings

Too high (>40) feels sluggish on ESC

Workarounds for escape delay:

Option 1: Use Ctrl-[ instead of Escape

(Ctrl-[ sends ESC immediately)

Option 2: Bind jk or jj to escape

bindkey -M viins 'jk' vi-cmd-mode bindkey -M viins 'jj' vi-cmd-mode

Powerlevel10k

Installation

With Oh My Zsh

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git
${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k

Set in .zshrc

ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"

Run configuration wizard

p10k configure

Instant Prompt Setup

Add at the very top of ~/.zshrc (before anything else):

Enable Powerlevel10k instant prompt

if [[ -r "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/p10k-instant-prompt-${(%):-%n}.zsh" ]]; then source "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/p10k-instant-prompt-${(%):-%n}.zsh" fi

Add at the end of ~/.zshrc :

Source Powerlevel10k config

[[ -f ~/.p10k.zsh ]] && source ~/.p10k.zsh

Configuration Options

Key settings in ~/.p10k.zsh :

Left prompt segments

typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_LEFT_PROMPT_ELEMENTS=( os_icon dir vcs newline prompt_char )

Right prompt segments

typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_RIGHT_PROMPT_ELEMENTS=( status command_execution_time background_jobs virtualenv kubecontext azure aws vi_mode # Show vi mode indicator! context time )

Transient prompt (clean up previous prompts)

typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_TRANSIENT_PROMPT=always

Directory truncation

typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_SHORTEN_STRATEGY=truncate_to_unique typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_SHORTEN_DIR_LENGTH=3

Vi mode indicator styling

typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_VI_INSERT_MODE_STRING='' typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_VI_COMMAND_MODE_STRING='NORMAL' typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_VI_MODE_NORMAL_FOREGROUND=0 typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_VI_MODE_NORMAL_BACKGROUND=2

Performance Tuning

Disable slow segments

typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_DISABLE_GITSTATUS=false # Keep enabled!

Large repo optimization

typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_VCS_MAX_INDEX_SIZE_DIRTY=1000

Async git status (default, don't change)

typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_VCS_BACKENDS=(git)

Reduce segment count for speed

typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_RIGHT_PROMPT_ELEMENTS=(status command_execution_time vi_mode)

Performance Summary

Benchmark Results (zsh-bench)

Metric Target Powerlevel10k

First prompt lag <50ms 24ms

Command lag <10ms 15ms

Git status (small) <30ms <10ms

Git status (large) <100ms Async/instant

Architecture

Powerlevel10k (gitstatus daemon):

┌─────────────┐ pipes ┌─────────────┐ │ Zsh │ <============> │ gitstatusd │ │ (prompt) │ │ (C++ daemon) └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ │ │ │ async │ keeps state │ never blocks │ in memory ▼ ▼ Instant prompt Fast git queries

Benchmarking Your Setup

Using zsh-bench

Install

git clone https://github.com/romkatv/zsh-bench ~/zsh-bench

Run benchmark

~/zsh-bench/zsh-bench

Key metrics to watch:

- first_prompt_lag_ms: <50ms ideal

- command_lag_ms: <10ms ideal

Manual Timing

Zsh startup time

time zsh -i -c exit

Per-command timing

TIMEFMT='%*E seconds' time (for i in {1..10}; do zsh -i -c 'print -P "$PROMPT"' >/dev/null; done)

Troubleshooting

Slow Prompt

Check segment timing

zsh -xv # Verbose trace

Common culprits:

- git_status in large repos

- python/node version detection

- cloud context (aws/azure/gcloud)

P10k: gitstatus Failed

Reinstall gitstatusd

rm -rf ~/.cache/gitstatus

Restart zsh

exec zsh

Vi Mode Not Working

Verify vi mode is enabled

bindkey -l | grep vi

Check current keymap

echo $KEYMAP

Reset bindings

bindkey -v

Cursor Not Changing

  • Verify terminal supports cursor escape codes

  • Check zle-keymap-select is defined: whence -f zle-keymap-select

  • Some terminals (like Apple Terminal) have limited cursor support

  • Try iTerm2 or Alacritty for full support

References

  • references/powerlevel10k-config.md - Complete P10k configuration

  • references/zsh-vim-mode.md - softmoth/zsh-vim-mode details

  • references/performance-tuning.md - Advanced optimization

  • references/troubleshooting.md - Common issues and fixes

External Links

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