Terminal Setup

Zsh, Oh My Zsh, Starship, and Ghostty — my shell configuration end to end.

2 min read

Prerequisites

Zsh — pre-installed on macOS; on Linux install via your package manager.
Git — version control, required by Oh My Zsh's install script.
A Nerd Font — for prompt icons to render correctly (e.g. FiraCode Nerd Font).

Install Oh My Zsh

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Install Plugins

git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions \
  ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions
 
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git \
  ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting

Then enable them in ~/.zshrc:

plugins=(git zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting)

Install Starship Prompt

curl -sS https://starship.rs/install.sh | sh

Add it to the end of ~/.zshrc:

eval "$(starship init zsh)"

Starship Config

A minimal ~/.config/starship.toml — shows directory, git status, and language versions only when relevant:

add_newline = false
 
[git_branch]
symbol = " "
 
[git_status]
style = "yellow"
 
[nodejs]
symbol = " "
 
[package]
disabled = true

Ghostty Config

I use Ghostty as the terminal emulator itself. My ~/.config/ghostty/config:

# The syntax is "key = value". The whitespace around the
# equals doesn't matter.
# Color theme — palettes live in ~/.config/ghostty/themes/
#   nord              (active) — arctic bluish, transparent
#   claude-linen                — warm linen, WCAG-AA verified palette
#   claude-parchment            — refined, low-glare warm paper
#   claude-cream                — original near-white cream
# Switch back any time: theme = claude-cream  (or claude-parchment)
theme = nord
 
# Transparency — lower opacity = more see-through. Blur softens the desktop
# behind it (macOS). Tune background-opacity to taste (0.80–0.95).
background-opacity = 0.95
background-blur = 40
 
cursor-style = block
cursor-style-blink = false
cursor-opacity = 0.85
adjust-cursor-thickness = 4
 
# Font rendering
adjust-cell-height = 8%
 
# Comments start with a `#` and are only valid on their own line.
# Blank lines are ignored!
 
keybind = ctrl+z=close_surface
keybind = ctrl+d=new_split:right
 
# Empty values reset the configuration to the default value
font-family = "Geist Mono"
font-family = "Noto Sans Mono"
font-size = 14

Restart your terminal and you're done.

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