Terminal prompt: Unable to set PS1 in IntelliJ IDEA

Problem

The terminal prompt (PS1) cannot be customized as expected within IntelliJ IDEA terminal. Changes made to PS1 using commands like export PS1='my prompts $' do not reflect in the terminal prompt.

Cause [Optional]

This issue occurs because the IntelliJ IDEA terminal may use settings from shell initialization files (~/.bashrc, ~/.bash_profile, or similar), or IntelliJ's terminal-specific configurations may overwrite or conflict with PS1 settings.

Resolution

To resolve this issue and set the PS1 prompt as desired, perform the following steps:

1. Set the desired prompt in .bashrc:

   • Edit the ~/.bashrc file and append these lines:

     export PS1='my prompts $ '
     PROMPT_COMMAND=
     

2. Ensure IntelliJ IDEA uses an interactive Bash shell:

   • Navigate to Settings Tools Terminal and specify the shell path as:

     /bin/bash --noprofile --norc -i
     

   • If using a login shell, ensure the ~/.bash_profile or ~/.profile file correctly sources the .bashrc file by including this line:

     [[ -f ~/.bashrc ]] && . ~/.bashrc
     

3. Temporarily disable Shell Integration:

   • Go to Settings Tools Terminal and turn off Shell Integration.
   • Restart the terminal by opening a new tab and test if the prompt changes.

4. Perform a quick test to identify conflicts in init scripts:

   • Open the IntelliJ Terminal and run these commands:

     bash --noprofile --norc -i
     export PS1='my prompts $ '
     

   • If the prompt changes successfully, it indicates that some configuration in the initialization files (~/.bashrc, ~/.bash_profile, etc.) is overriding PS1. To fix this, move the PS1 and PROMPT_COMMAND definitions to the end of the ~/.bashrc file and remove any conflicting settings found in other initialization files.

Performing these steps will ensure the PS1 setting is honored in the IntelliJ IDEA terminal.