powerlevel10k

Powerlevel10k

• THE PROJECT HAS VERY LIMITED SUPPORT
• NO NEW FEATURES ARE IN THE WORKS
• MOST BUGS WILL GO UNFIXED
• HELP REQUESTS WILL BE IGNORED

Powerlevel10k is a theme for Zsh. It emphasizes speed, flexibility and out-of-the-box experience.

• Getting started
• Features
• Installation
• Configuration
• Fonts
• Try it in Docker
• License
• FAQ
• Troubleshooting

Getting started

1. Install the recommended font. Optional but highly recommended.
2. Install Powerlevel10k itself.
3. Restart Zsh with exec zsh.
4. Type p10k configure if the configuration wizard doesn't start automatically.

Features

• Configuration wizard
• Uncompromising performance
• Powerlevel9k compatibility
• Pure compatibility
• Instant prompt
• Show on command
• Transient prompt
• Current directory that just works
• Extremely customizable
• Batteries included
• Extensible

Configuration wizard

Type p10k configure to access the builtin configuration wizard right from your terminal.

Screen recording

All styles except Pure are functionally equivalent. They display the same information and differ only in presentation.

Configuration wizard creates ~/.p10k.zsh based on your preferences. Additional prompt customization can be done by editing this file. It has plenty of comments to help you navigate through configuration options.

Tip: Install the recommended font before running p10k configure to unlock all prompt styles.

FAQ:

• What is the best prompt style in the configuration wizard?
• What do different symbols in Git status mean?
• How do I change prompt colors?

Troubleshooting:

• Some prompt styles are missing from the configuration wizard.
• Question mark in prompt.
• Icons, glyphs or powerline symbols don't render.
• Sub-pixel imperfections around powerline symbols.
• Directory is difficult to see in prompt when using Rainbow style.

Uncompromising performance

When you hit ENTER, the next prompt appears instantly. With Powerlevel10k there is no prompt lag. If you install Cygwin on Raspberry Pi, cd into a Linux Git repository and activate enough prompt segments to fill four prompt lines on both sides of the screen... wait, that's just crazy and no one ever does that. Probably impossible, too. The point is, Powerlevel10k prompt is always fast, no matter what you do!

Screen recording

Note how the effect of every command is instantly reflected by the very next prompt.

Other Zsh themes capable of displaying the same information either produce prompt lag or print prompt that doesn't reflect the current state of the system and then refresh it later. With Powerlevel10k you get fast prompt and up-to-date information.

FAQ: Is it really fast?

Powerlevel9k compatibility

Powerlevel10k understands all Powerlevel9k configuration parameters.

Screen recording

Migration from Powerlevel9k to Powerlevel10k is a straightforward process. All your POWERLEVEL9K configuration parameters will still work. Prompt will look the same as before (almostig)) but it will be much faster (certainly).

FAQ:

• I'm using Powerlevel9k with Oh My Zsh. How do I migrate?
• Does Powerlevel10k always render exactly the same prompt as Powerlevel9k given the same config?
• What is the relationship between Powerlevel9k and Powerlevel10k?

Pure compatibility

Powerlevel10k can produce the same prompt as Pure. Type p10k configure and select Pure style.

Screen recording

You can still use Powerlevel10k features such as transient prompt or instant prompt when sporting Pure style.

To customize prompt, edit ~/.p10k.zsh. Powerlevel10k doesn't recognize Pure configuration parameters, so you'll need to use POWERLEVEL9K_COMMAND_EXECUTION_TIME_THRESHOLD=3 instead of PURE_CMD_MAX_EXEC_TIME=3, etc. All relevant parameters are in ~/.p10k.zsh. This file has plenty of comments to help you navigate through it.

FAQ: What is the best prompt style in the configuration wizard?

Instant prompt

If your ~/.zshrc loads many plugins, or perhaps just a few slow ones (for example, pyenv or nvm), you may have noticed that it takes some time for Zsh to start.

Screen recording

Powerlevel10k can remove Zsh startup lag even if it's not caused by a theme.

Screen recording

This feature is called Instant Prompt. You need to explicitly enable it through p10k configure or manually. It does what it says on the tin -- prints prompt instantly upon Zsh startup allowing you to start typing while plugins are still loading.

Other themes increase Zsh startup lag -- some by a lot, others by a just a little. Powerlevel10k removes it outright.

If you are curious about how Instant Prompt works, see this section in zsh-bench.

FAQ: How do I configure instant prompt?

Show on command

The behavior of some commands depends on global environment. For example, kubectl run ... runs an image on the cluster defined by the current kubernetes context. If you frequently change context between "prod" and "testing", you might want to display the current context in Zsh prompt. If you do likewise for AWS, Azure and Google Cloud credentials, prompt will get pretty crowded.

Enter Show On Command. This feature makes prompt segments appear only when they are relevant to the command you are currently typing.

Screen recording

Configs created by p10k configure enable show on command for several prompt segments by default. Here's the relevant parameter for kubernetes context:

# Show prompt segment "kubecontext" only when the command you are typing invokes one of these tools.
typeset -g POWERLEVEL9K_KUBECONTEXT_SHOW_ON_COMMAND='kubectl|helm|kubens'

To customize when different prompt segments are shown, open ~/.p10k.zsh, search for SHOW_ON_COMMAND and either remove these parameters to display affected segments unconditionally, or change their values.

Transient prompt

When Transient Prompt is enabled through p10k configure, Powerlevel10k will trim down every prompt when accepting a command line.

Screen recording

Transient prompt makes it much easier to copy-paste series of commands from the terminal scrollback.

Tip: If you enable transient prompt, take advantage of two-line prompt. You'll get the benefit of extra space for typing commands without the usual drawback of reduced scrollback density. Sparse prompt (with an empty line before prompt) also works great in combination with transient prompt.

Current directory that just works

The current working directory is perhaps the most important prompt segment. Powerlevel10k goes to great length to highlight its important parts and to truncate it with the least loss of information when horizontal space gets scarce.

Screen recording

When the full directory doesn't fit, the leftmost segment gets truncated to its shortest unique prefix. In the screencast, ~/work becomes ~/wo. It couldn't be truncated to ~/w because it would be ambiguous (there was ~/wireguard when the session was recorded). The next segment -- projects -- turns into p as there was nothing else that started with p in ~/work/.

Directory segments are shown in one of three colors:

• Truncated segments are bleak.
• Important segments are bright and never truncated. These include the first and the last segment, roots of Git repositories, etc.
• Regular segments (not truncated but can be) use in-between color.

Tip: If you copy-paste a truncated directory and hit TAB, it'll complete to the original.

Troubleshooting: Directory is difficult to see in prompt when using Rainbow style.

Extremely customizable

Powerlevel10k can be configured to look like any other Zsh theme out there.

Screen recording

Pure, Powerlevel9k and robbyrussell emulations are built-in. To emulate the appearance of other themes, you'll need to write a suitable configuration file. The best way to go about it is to run p10k configure, select the style that is the closest to your goal and then edit ~/.p10k.zsh.

The full range of Powerlevel10k appearance spans from spartan:

To ridiculous extravagant:

Batteries included

Powerlevel10k comes with dozens of built-in high quality prompt segments that can display information from a variety of sources. When you run p10k configure and choose any style except Pure, many of these segments get enabled by default while others can be manually enabled by opening ~/.p10k.zsh and uncommenting them. You can enable as many segments as you like. It won't slow down your prompt or Zsh startup.