Skip to main content

🐚 Shell RC

Guide on maintaining good startup scripts. Also known as rc files, such as .bashrc, .zshrc, etc.

Zsh​

info

TL;DR:

  • You don't need /etc/zshenv, ~/.zprofile, ~/.zlogin, and ~/.zlogout.
  • You only need:
    • ~/.zshenv: For environment variables.
    • ~/.zshrc: For aliases, functions, and auto-completion.
  • Call compinit ASAP in ~/.zshrc
    • If you use zsh frameworks (e.g. Oh My Zsh), they might have done this for you.
      • That means you should source them ASAP
  • compinit is not the same as bashcompinit
    • Zsh is highly compatible with Bash completion scripts.
    • If you only have Bash completion scripts, you can use bashcompinit instead.
    • Call bashcompinit it right after compinit.
    • They are independent of each other and can be used together.

Depending on how shell is invoked, Zsh reads different files. Here is the order:

  1. /etc/zshenv
  2. ~/.zshenv
  3. /etc/paths (only for macOS)
  4. ~/.zprofile (only for login shells)
  5. /etc/zshrc (only for macOS)
  6. ~/.zshrc (only for interactive shells)
  7. ~/.zlogin (only for login shells)
  8. Your shell session
  9. ~/.zlogout (only for login shells)
note

Different systems (even installations) may behave differently. Use zsh -x to findout what happens on shell startup.

Third party configuration guide​

When a CLI tool is installed, they may require some configuration on RC files. For the following reasons:

TypeWhere to put
Environment variables~/.zshenv
Aliases~/.zshrc
Functions~/.zshrc
Auto-completion~/.zshrc (After calling compinit)

References​