Starship Preset Themes & Custom Layouts

Intermediatev1.0.0

Use and customize Starship presets — apply built-in themes, create two-line prompts, design right-prompts, and build team-shareable configuration files.

Content

Overview

Starship ships with community presets for quick theming, and supports advanced layout features like two-line prompts, right-prompts, and transient prompts. This skill covers using presets as starting points and customizing layouts for your workflow.

Why This Matters

-Quick start — presets provide complete, polished configurations
-Two-line prompts — more info without crowding the command line
-Right-prompt — show secondary info on the right side
-Team sharing — distribute standard prompt configs

How It Works

Step 1: Apply a Built-in Preset

bash

# List available presets
starship preset --list

# Apply a preset (overwrites starship.toml)
starship preset nerd-font-symbols -o ~/.config/starship.toml
starship preset plain-text-symbols -o ~/.config/starship.toml
starship preset bracketed-segments -o ~/.config/starship.toml

Step 2: Two-Line Prompt Layout

toml

# Line 1: context info | Line 2: input prompt
format = """
$directory$git_branch$git_status$nodejs$python$cmd_duration$line_break$character"""

[character]
success_symbol = "[❯](bold green)"
error_symbol = "[❯](bold red)"

Step 3: Right-Prompt

toml

# Show time and duration on the right side
right_format = """$cmd_duration$time"""

[time]
disabled = false
format = "[$time]($style) "
style = "dimmed white"
time_format = "%H:%M"

[cmd_duration]
min_time = 2000
format = "[$duration]($style) "
style = "bold yellow"

Step 4: Minimal DevOps Preset

toml

# Focused on infrastructure context
format = """
$directory$git_branch$git_status$kubernetes$aws$terraform$docker_context$cmd_duration$line_break$character"""

[kubernetes]
format = '[$symbol$context( \($namespace\))]($style) '
symbol = "⎈ "
disabled = false

[aws]
format = '[$symbol($profile)( \($region\))]($style) '
symbol = "☁️ "
style = "bold orange"

[terraform]
format = '[$symbol$workspace]($style) '
symbol = "💠 "

Step 5: Minimal Speed Preset

toml

# Ultra-fast: only essential info
format = "$directory$git_branch$character"

[directory]
truncation_length = 2
style = "bold blue"

[git_branch]
format = "[$branch]($style) "
style = "bold green"

[character]
success_symbol = "[>](bold green)"
error_symbol = "[>](bold red)"

Sharing Configurations

bash

# Store in dotfiles repo
cp ~/.config/starship.toml ~/dotfiles/starship.toml

# Symlink on new machines
ln -sf ~/dotfiles/starship.toml ~/.config/starship.toml

# Or use STARSHIP_CONFIG env var
export STARSHIP_CONFIG=~/dotfiles/starship.toml

Best Practices

-Start from a preset — customize from there, don't build from zero
-Use two-line prompts when you have 4+ modules enabled
-Put timing on the right — keeps input area clean
-Share via dotfiles — symlink or STARSHIP_CONFIG env var
-Test in different directories — ensure modules activate correctly

Common Mistakes

-Applying presets without backing up current config
-Two-line prompts without $line_break in format string
-Right-prompt with too many modules (distracting)
-Not testing preset in repos with different languages

FAQ

Discussion

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How It Works

Step 1: Apply a Built-in Preset

bash

# List available presets
starship preset --list

# Apply a preset (overwrites starship.toml)
starship preset nerd-font-symbols -o ~/.config/starship.toml
starship preset plain-text-symbols -o ~/.config/starship.toml
starship preset bracketed-segments -o ~/.config/starship.toml

Step 2: Two-Line Prompt Layout

toml

# Line 1: context info | Line 2: input prompt
format = """
$directory$git_branch$git_status$nodejs$python$cmd_duration$line_break$character"""

[character]
success_symbol = "[❯](bold green)"
error_symbol = "[❯](bold red)"

Step 3: Right-Prompt

toml

# Show time and duration on the right side
right_format = """$cmd_duration$time"""

[time]
disabled = false
format = "[$time]($style) "
style = "dimmed white"
time_format = "%H:%M"

[cmd_duration]
min_time = 2000
format = "[$duration]($style) "
style = "bold yellow"

Step 4: Minimal DevOps Preset

toml

# Focused on infrastructure context
format = """
$directory$git_branch$git_status$kubernetes$aws$terraform$docker_context$cmd_duration$line_break$character"""

[kubernetes]
format = '[$symbol$context( \($namespace\))]($style) '
symbol = "⎈ "
disabled = false

[aws]
format = '[$symbol($profile)( \($region\))]($style) '
symbol = "☁️ "
style = "bold orange"

[terraform]
format = '[$symbol$workspace]($style) '
symbol = "💠 "

Step 5: Minimal Speed Preset

toml

# Ultra-fast: only essential info
format = "$directory$git_branch$character"

[directory]
truncation_length = 2
style = "bold blue"

[git_branch]
format = "[$branch]($style) "
style = "bold green"

[character]
success_symbol = "[>](bold green)"
error_symbol = "[>](bold red)"

# Store in dotfiles repo cp ~/.config/starship.toml ~/dotfiles/starship.toml # Symlink on new machines ln -sf ~/dotfiles/starship.toml ~/.config/starship.toml # Or use STARSHIP_CONFIG env var export STARSHIP_CONFIG=~/dotfiles/starship.toml