Powerlevel10k

Powerlevel10k is a theme for ZSH. It's a backward-compatible fork of Powerlevel9k with lower latency and better prompt responsiveness.

If you like the looks of Powerlevel9k but feeling frustrated by its slow prompt, simply replace your powerlevel9k theme with powerlevel10k and enjoy responsive shell like it's 80's again!

Powerlevel10k uses the same configuration options as Powerlevel9k and produces the same results [*]. It's simply faster.

Table of Contents

1. Installation and configuration
   1. Manual installation
   2. Extra configuration
2. Try it out
   1. For Powerlevel9k users
   2. For new users
   3. Docker playground
3. How fast is it?
4. FAQ
   1. Why does Powerlevel10k spawn two extra processes?
   2. Does Powerlevel10k always render exactly the same prompt with the same config?
   3. Are changes getting up/down-streamed?
   4. Is there an AUR package for Powerlevel10k?
   5. How do I use Powerlevel10k with zplug, prezto, oh-my-zsh, antigen, somethingelse?
   6. What is the minimum supported zsh version?
   7. Why am I seeing \uNNNN in my prompt instead of icons?

Installation and configuration

For installation and configuration instructions see Powerlevel9k. Everything in there applies to Powerlevel10k as well. Follow the official installation guide, make sure everything works and you like the way prompt looks. Then simply replace Powerlevel9k with Powerlevel10k. Once you restart zsh, your prompt will be faster. No configuration changes are needed.

Manual installation

git clone https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ~/powerlevel10k
echo 'source ~/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme' >>! ~/.zshrc

If you are using a framework / plugin manager and need help translating these instruction into its configuration language, see FAQ.

Make sure to disable your current theme.

Extra configuration

Powerlevel10k has a handful of configuration options that Powerlevel9k doesn't have. They are still using the POWERLEVEL9K prefix though.

• POWERLEVEL9K_VCS_MAX_SYNC_LATENCY_SECONDS (FLOAT) [default=0.05]

  If it takes longer than this to fetch git repo status, display the prompt with a greyed out vcs segment and fix it asynchronously when the results come it.

• POWERLEVEL9K_VCS_BACKENDS (ARRAY) [default=(git)]

  The list of VCS backends to use. Supported values are git, svn and hg. Note that adding anything other than git will make prompt slower even when your current directory isn't a repo.

• POWERLEVEL9K_GITSTATUS_DIR (STRING) [default=$POWERLEVEL9K_INSTALLATION_DIR/gitstatus]

  Directory with gitstatus plugin. By default uses a copy bundled with Powerlevel10k.

• POWERLEVEL9K_DISABLE_GITSTATUS (STRING) [default="false"]

  If set to "true", Powerlevel10k won't use its fast git backend and will fall back to vcs_info like Powerlevel9k.

• POWERLEVEL9K_MAX_CACHE_SIZE (INT) [default=10000]

  The maximum number of elements that can be stored in the cache. When the cache grows over this limit, it gets cleared.

• POWERLEVEL9K_VCS_MAX_INDEX_SIZE_DIRTY (INT) [default=-1]

  Don't scan for dirty files in git repos with more files in the index than this. Instead, show them with the "dirty" color (yellow by default) whether they are dirty or not. This makes git prompt much faster on huge repositories.

• POWERLEVEL9K_EXPERIMENTAL_TIME_REALTIME (STRING) [default="false"]

  If set to "true", time segment will update every second, turning into a realtime clock. This option appears to trigger a bug in completion menu in zsh.

Try it out

Try Powerlevel10k without making any changes to your setup. If you like it, see Installation and configuration for how to make a permanent switch.

For Powerlevel9k users

If you are currently using Powerlevel9k, you can try Powerlevel10k in a temporary zsh shell. The prompt will look exactly like what you are used to but it'll be faster.

git clone https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git /tmp/powerlevel10k
source /tmp/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme

When you are done playing, rm -rf /tmp/powerlevel10k and exit zsh.

For new users

git clone https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git /tmp/powerlevel10k
echo "
  # Your prompt configuration goes here.
  POWERLEVEL9K_PROMPT_ON_NEWLINE=true
  POWERLEVEL9K_LEFT_PROMPT_ELEMENTS=(root_indicator dir_writable dir vcs)
  POWERLEVEL9K_RIGHT_PROMPT_ELEMENTS=(status command_execution_time background_jobs time)
  source /tmp/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme" >/tmp/powerlevel10k/.zshrc
ZDOTDIR=/tmp/powerlevel10k zsh

When you are done playing, rm -rf /tmp/powerlevel10k and exit zsh.

Docker playground

You can try Powerlevel10k in Docker (Linux only). Once you exit zsh, the image is deleted.

docker run -e LANG=C.UTF-8 -e LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 -e TERM=$TERM -it --rm ubuntu bash -uexc '
  apt update && apt install -y zsh git
  git clone https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ~/powerlevel10k
  echo "
    # Your prompt configuration goes here.
    POWERLEVEL9K_PROMPT_ON_NEWLINE=true
    POWERLEVEL9K_LEFT_PROMPT_ELEMENTS=(root_indicator dir_writable dir vcs)
    POWERLEVEL9K_RIGHT_PROMPT_ELEMENTS=(status command_execution_time background_jobs time)
    source ~/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme" >~/.zshrc
  cd ~/powerlevel10k
  zsh -i'

How fast is it?

Powerlevel10k renders prompt between 10 and 100 times faster than powerlevel9k.

Here are benchmark results obtained with zsh-prompt-benchmark on Intel i9-7900X running Ubuntu 18.04.

Theme	/	~/linux
powerlevel9k/master	101 ms	280 ms
powerlevel9k/next	26 ms	255 ms
powerlevel10k	1 ms	22 ms
naked zsh	0.05 ms	0.05 ms

Columns define the current directory where the prompt was rendered.

• / -- root directory, not a git repo.
• ~/linux -- linux git repo with 60k files. It was checked out to an M.2 SSD.

powerlevel9k/master is the stable branch of powerlevel9k, the one that virtually everyone uses. powerlevel9k/next is the development branch for the next release.

Here's how the prompt looked like during benchmarking.

It was identical in Powerlevel10k and Powerlevel9k. Even though Powerlevel10k can dynamically switch to async prompts, it wasn't happening during the benchmark because latencies were low. Prompts with both themes were essentially synchronous, with every prompt having up-to-date git info (no greyed-out vcs/git segments).

Configuration that was used:

POWERLEVEL9K_LEFT_PROMPT_ELEMENTS=(dir_writable dir vcs)
POWERLEVEL9K_RIGHT_PROMPT_ELEMENTS=(status time)

POWERLEVEL9K_MODE=nerdfont-complete
POWERLEVEL9K_PROMPT_ON_NEWLINE=true
POWERLEVEL9K_ROOT_ICON=\\uF09C
POWERLEVEL9K_TIME_ICON=\\uF017
POWERLEVEL9K_TIME_BACKGROUND=magenta
POWERLEVEL9K_STATUS_OK_BACKGROUND=grey53

Powerlevel10k shows similar performance advantage over Powerlevel9k on Mac OS, FreeBSD, WSL, and Raspberry Pie.

FAQ

Why does Powerlevel10k spawn extra processes?

Powerlevel10k uses gitstatus as the backend behind vcs prompt; gitstatus spawns gitstatusd and zsh. See gitstatus for details. Powerlevel10k spawns another zsh if POWERLEVEL9K_EXPERIMENTAL_TIME_REALTIME is set to true or background_jobs segment is enabled. This is used to trigger prompt refresh.

Does Powerlevel10k always render exactly the same prompt with the same config?

This is the goal. You should be able to switch between Powerlevel9k and Powerlevel10k with no visible changes except for performance. There are, however, several differences.

• By default only git vcs backend is enabled in Powerlevel10k. If you need svn and hg, you'll need to set POWERLEVEL9K_VCS_BACKENDS. See Extra configuration.
• Fewer configuration options can be changed after the theme is loaded. For example, if you decide to change background color of some segment in the middle of an interactive session, it may not work.

If you notice any other differences between prompts in Powerlevel9k and Powerlevel10k when running with the same settings, please open an issue.

Are changes getting up/down-streamed?

Powerlevel10k regularly pulls changes from Powerlevel9k, so all bug fixes and new features that land in Powerlevel9k will land here, too.

There is ongoing work on upstreaming some of the changes from Powerlevel10k to Powerlevel9k. E.g., issues 1170 and 1185.

Improvements to libgit2 are being upstremed. There are 3 independent optimizations and it's not yet clear whether all of them will make it but there is a good chance they will.

Is there an AUR package for Powerlevel10k?

Yes, zsh-theme-powerlevel10k-git. This package is owned by an unaffiliated volunteer.

How do I use Powerlevel10k with zplug, prezto, oh-my-zsh, antigen, somethingelse?

If you have to ask, then the easiest way is to disable the current theme (so that you end up with no theme) and then install Powerlevel10k the usual way.

1. Disable the current theme in your framework / plugin manager.

• zplug: Open ~/.zshrc and remove the zplug command that refers to your current theme. For example, if you are currently using Powerlevel9k, look for zplug bhilburn/powerlevel9k, use:powerlevel9k.zsh-theme.
• prezto: Open ~/.zpreztorc and put zstyle :prezto:module:prompt theme off in it. Remove any other command that sets theme such as zstyle :prezto:module:prompt theme powerlevel9k.
• oh-my-zsh: Open ~/.zshrc and remove the line that sets ZSH_THEME, such as ZSH_THEME=powerlevel9k/powerlevel9k.
• antigen: Open ~/.zshrc and remove the line that sets antigen theme, such as antigen theme bhilburn/powerlevel9k powerlevel9k.

2. Install Powerlevel10k the usual way.

git clone https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ~/powerlevel10k
echo 'source ~/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme' >>! ~/.zshrc

What is the minimum supported zsh version?

Anything below 5.2 definitely won't work. 5.4 definitely will.

Why am I seeing \uNNNN in my prompt instead of icons?

Use $'\uNNN' instead of '\uNNN'.