Starship
starship.rs- Category
- Developer Tools
- Rank
- No. 60Tools index
- Pricing
- Open Source
- Type
- TOOL
- Interfaces
- Host Plugin
- Builder
- starship
- GitHub
- 60.0k stars
- Latest release
- v1.26.0
- Date
About
Cross-shell prompt in Rust. Fast, minimal config, works in bash, zsh, fish, PowerShell, Nu.
What it does
Starship replaces the usual terminal prompt with context-sensitive segments. It inspects the current directory, repository state, environment, cloud settings, language toolchains and command results, then renders the relevant details whenever the shell draws a prompt.
Why it's ranked here
Starship makes a strong case through breadth and diagnostics, not just appearance. Its module catalog covers repositories, languages, cloud tools and system state. Users can inspect active segments, identify slow modules, generate completions and edit configuration from the command line.
What's good
The prompt adapts its output to available context instead of showing every possible segment. Configuration covers individual modules and custom entries. Built-in explanations clarify unfamiliar symbols, while timing reports and trace logging expose expensive work. External commands have a configurable timeout, reducing the risk that prompt rendering hangs.
Tradeoffs
The visual setup expects a Nerd Font, and missing UTF-8 or emoji support can produce broken glyphs. Installation still requires adding initialization code to each shell configuration. Some integrations execute external programs, so slow commands may trigger timeout warnings. Older Elvish and Nushell releases are explicitly unsupported.
How to use it well
Use Starship when you move among repositories, languages or operating systems and want consistent, contextual terminal feedback. Start with defaults, disable unneeded modules, then use timing diagnostics before expanding the prompt. It does not provide command autocomplete; that remains the shell's responsibility.
Technical notes+
Cargo.toml defines an ISC-licensed Rust 2024 package, release LTO, stripped binaries, optional battery, notification and configuration-schema features, plus platform-specific Windows and Unix dependencies. src/main.rs exposes a Clap CLI for prompt rendering, initialization, modules, presets, configuration, explanations, timings, completions, bug reports, sessions and Claude Code statuslines. src/lib.rs provides the benchmarkable library surface and caps the default Rayon pool at eight logical cores unless STARSHIP_NUM_THREADS is set. src/init/mod.rs emits shell-specific bootstrap scripts and handles executable-path quoting across POSIX shells, PowerShell, Elvish and Cmd. src/utils/mod.rs gives spawned commands a 500 millisecond default timeout. src/configs/mod.rs and src/modules/mod.rs maintain the typed configuration and runtime dispatch catalogs.
Observed
- License
- ISC
- Primary language
- Rust, using the 2024 edition
- Interface
- Command-line application with prompt, initialization, configuration, diagnostics and completion subcommands
- Installation surface
- Shell installer, Cargo, Conda, Homebrew, MacPorts, MSI, Chocolatey, Scoop, Winget and multiple operating-system package repositories
- Platform support
- Documented installation options for Android, BSD, Linux, macOS and Windows
- Shell support
- Built-in initialization for Bash, Zsh, Fish, PowerShell, Ion, Elvish, Tcsh, Nushell, Xonsh and Cmd
- Configuration
- Typed TOML configuration with built-in modules and named custom modules
Read from README.md, Cargo.toml, src/lib.rs, src/main.rs, src/init/mod.rs, src/utils/mod.rs, src/configs/mod.rs, src/context/mod.rs, src/modules/mod.rs, src/formatter/mod.rs, src/modules/utils/mod.rs, docs/README.md, docs/faq/README.md.
Tech Stack
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