⚙️ Configuration and Options

Set and unset options

Zsh option names are case-insensitive, and underscores are ignored. For example, allexport and ALL_EXPORT refer to the same option. Prefix a name with no to invert it, so setopt no_beep is equivalent to unsetopt beep.

See the Zsh Options manual for the complete option reference.

History configuration

The following is a practical starting point for interactive history:

~/.zshrc

setopt append_history         # Append history instead of replacing the history file.
setopt extended_history       # Save timestamps and command durations.
setopt hist_expire_dups_first # Expire duplicates first when trimming history.
setopt hist_find_no_dups      # Do not display an entry already found in a search.
setopt hist_ignore_all_dups   # Remove older duplicates when adding an entry.
setopt hist_ignore_dups       # Do not record an entry identical to the previous one.
setopt hist_ignore_space      # Do not record commands that start with a space.
setopt hist_reduce_blanks     # Remove extra blanks from stored commands.
setopt hist_save_no_dups      # Do not write duplicate entries to the history file.
setopt hist_verify            # Load history expansions into the editor before running them.

# Choose one immediate-write mode:
setopt inc_append_history     # Write each command immediately for independent sessions.
# setopt share_history        # Import and append commands across active sessions.

Choose one history-sharing mode

Do not enable INC_APPEND_HISTORY and SHARE_HISTORY together. SHARE_HISTORY already appends commands incrementally and adds extended timestamps while importing commands from other sessions.

Other interactive options

Review each option before enabling it, because options change shell-wide behavior.

~/.zshrc

setopt auto_cd              # Change directory by entering a directory name.
setopt auto_list            # List choices after an ambiguous completion.
setopt auto_pushd           # Push the previous directory onto the directory stack.
setopt bang_hist            # Enable csh-style history expansion with !.
setopt interactive_comments # Allow comments in interactive shells.
setopt multios              # Use implicit tees or cats for multiple redirections.
setopt no_beep              # Do not beep on errors.
setopt prompt_subst         # Expand parameters and substitutions when drawing the prompt.
setopt pushd_ignore_dups    # Avoid duplicate entries in the directory stack.
setopt pushd_minus          # Exchange the meanings of + and - in stack indices.