zsh

zsh (Z shell) is the default terminal for MacOS, and is otherwise very common.

For a terminal emulator to set up, check out iTerm2.

Configuration

Setup wizard

If there are no configuration files (.zshenv, .zprofile, .zshrc, .zlogin) present, running

zsh

will enter you into initial setup mode for the shell.

Alternatively (unsafely) to run the wizard whenever, it's

autoload -U zsh-newuser-install
zsh-newuser-install -f

On MacOS you will often skip this step, as the Terminal app will preload one or many of these files for you (pure speculation).

To get back into running this config:

# Make backups of all your existing configuration files first!
mv ~/.zshenv   ~/.zshenv-backup
mv ~/.zprofile ~/.zprofile-backup
mv ~/.zshrc    ~/.zshrc-backup
mv ~/.zlogin   ~/.zlogin-backup

# Then re-run the wizard.
autoload -U zsh-newuser-install
zsh-newuser-install -f

Plugins

There is an absolute ton of zsh plugins available. They do everything.

OPINION: Don't just install things for the sake of it. Find a problem first, then install a solution for that if one exists.

Here's a random list of plugins in no particular order:

• powerlevel10k - the most well-maintained zsh theme. Alternatives are bullet-train and the OG powerline.
• fast-syntax-highlighting - syntax highlighting.
• zsh-autosuggestions - auto suggestions based on history
• zsh-history-substring-search - adds search functionality on pressing UP for completion
• history-search-multi-word - changes history search to fuzzy-find across entire commands

Plugin managers

oh-my-sh

oh-my-zsh is an opinionated plugin manager for zsh.

No plugin manager

To not use a plugin manager (best if you are the opinionated one), the general steps are:

1. Define a list of plugins and a directory to store them in into your ~/.zshrc.
2. Install them manually into your directory using Git.
3. Source them at the bottom of your ~/.zshrc.
4. Follow additional installation steps in the plugins you install.

~/.zshrc

# This is just an example path, it could be whatever you want.
ZSH_PLUGIN_DIRECTORY="${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME/.config/zsh}/plugins"

ZSH_PLUGINS=("powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme" "zdharma-continuum/fast-syntax-highlighting")

# Load the plugins.
for plugin in $ZSH_PLUGINS; do
	source "${ZSH_PLUGIN_DIRECTORY}/${plugin}"
done

On initial install of your plugins:

# Again, do whatever you want here.
ZSH_PLUGIN_DIRECTORY="${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME/.config/zsh}/plugins"

install_plugin() {
	# The first argument is expected to be author/repository.
	# Like romkatv/powerlevel10k
	git clone "git@github.com:${1}.git" "$ZSH_PLUGIN_DIRECTORY/${1}"
}

install_plugin romkatv/powerlevel10k
install_plugin zdharma-continuum/fast-syntax-highlighting
install_plugin zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions
install_plugin zsh-users/zsh-history-substring-search
install_plugin zdharma-continuum/history-search-multi-word