Concepts

Shell integration

Let desk change directories, show the current workspace in your prompt, and complete workspace names in zsh, oh-my-zsh, bash, and fish.

A program can't change its parent shell's directory, so desk new and desk cd need a small shell function. The same integration adds the current workspace to your prompt and completes commands and workspace names.

Set It Up#

Add one line to your shell's startup file, after any prompt or theme setup:

Terminal

# ~/.zshrc
eval "$(desk init zsh)"

Install desk as a custom plugin:

Terminal

mkdir -p "$ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/desk"
echo 'eval "$(desk init zsh)"' > "$ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/desk/desk.plugin.zsh"

Then add desk to plugins=(...) in ~/.zshrc.

Terminal

# ~/.bashrc
eval "$(desk init bash)"

Terminal

# ~/.config/fish/config.fish
desk init fish | source

Open a new terminal to load it.

What Your Prompt Shows#

Inside a workspace, your prompt starts with the workspace name and your directory relative to it:

Output

(misty-ember/src/api) ➜  api

Outside workspaces nothing changes. The prefix is added in front of your existing prompt, so it works with oh-my-zsh themes and fish's default prompt.

Placing It Yourself#

Set DESK_PROMPT_DISABLE=1 before loading the integration and use desk_prompt_info, which prints misty-ember/src/api inside a workspace and nothing elsewhere:

Terminal

setopt prompt_subst   # oh-my-zsh enables this already
PROMPT='$(desk_prompt_info) '$PROMPT

Terminal

PS1='$(desk_prompt_info) '$PS1

Call desk_prompt_info from your fish_prompt function.

What the Function Does#

desk new and desk cd move you to the workspace desk prints.
desk rm moves you to your home directory if you deleted the workspace you were in.
Every other command runs the desk executable unchanged.

Without integration, desk new still works and prints the new workspace's path. Use cd "$(desk path NAME)" in place of desk cd.