How can I display my current git branch name in my PowerShell prompt?

An easier way would be just installing the Powershell module posh-git. It comes out of the box with the desired prompt:

The Prompt

PowerShell generates its prompt by executing a prompt function, if one exists. posh-git defines such a function in profile.example.ps1 that outputs the current working directory followed by an abbreviated git status:

C:\Users\Keith [master]>

By default, the status summary has the following format:

[{HEAD-name} +A ~B -C !D | +E ~F -G !H]

(For installing posh-git I suggest using psget)

If you don't have psget use the following command:

(new-object Net.WebClient).DownloadString("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/psget/psget/master/GetPsGet.ps1") | iex

To install posh-git use the command:Install-Module posh-git

To ensure posh-git loads for every shell, use the Add-PoshGitToProfile command.

Here's my take on it. I've edited the colours a bit to make it more readable.

Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

function Write-BranchName () {    try {        $branch = git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD        if ($branch -eq "HEAD") {            # we're probably in detached HEAD state, so print the SHA            $branch = git rev-parse --short HEAD            Write-Host " ($branch)" -ForegroundColor "red"        }        else {            # we're on an actual branch, so print it            Write-Host " ($branch)" -ForegroundColor "blue"        }    } catch {        # we'll end up here if we're in a newly initiated git repo        Write-Host " (no branches yet)" -ForegroundColor "yellow"    }}function prompt {    $base = "PS "    $path = "$($executionContext.SessionState.Path.CurrentLocation)"    $userPrompt = "$('>' * ($nestedPromptLevel + 1)) "    Write-Host "`n$base" -NoNewline    if (Test-Path .git) {        Write-Host $path -NoNewline -ForegroundColor "green"        Write-BranchName    }    else {        # we're not in a repo so don't bother displaying branch name/sha        Write-Host $path -ForegroundColor "green"    }    return $userPrompt}

Example 1:

Example 2:

@Paul-

My PowerShell profile for Git is based off of a script I found here:

http://techblogging.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/displaying-git-branch-on-your-powershell-prompt/

I've modified it a bit to display the directory path and a bit of formatting. It also sets the path to my Git bin location since I use PortableGit.

# General variables$pathToPortableGit = "D:\shared_tools\tools\PortableGit"$scripts = "D:\shared_tools\scripts"# Add Git executables to the mix.[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("PATH", $Env:Path + ";" + (Join-Path $pathToPortableGit "\bin") + ";" + $scripts, "Process")# Setup Home so that Git doesn't freak out.[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("HOME", (Join-Path $Env:HomeDrive $Env:HomePath), "Process")$Global:CurrentUser = [System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()$UserType = "User"$CurrentUser.Groups | foreach {     if ($_.value -eq "S-1-5-32-544") {        $UserType = "Admin" }     }function prompt {     # Fun stuff if using the standard PowerShell prompt; not useful for Console2.     # This, and the variables above, could be commented out.     if($UserType -eq "Admin") {       $host.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle = "" + $(get-location) + " : Admin"       $host.UI.RawUI.ForegroundColor = "white"      }     else {       $host.ui.rawui.WindowTitle = $(get-location)     }    Write-Host("")    $status_string = ""    $symbolicref = git symbolic-ref HEAD    if($symbolicref -ne $NULL) {        $status_string += "GIT [" + $symbolicref.substring($symbolicref.LastIndexOf("/") +1) + "] "        $differences = (git diff-index --name-status HEAD)        $git_update_count = [regex]::matches($differences, "M`t").count        $git_create_count = [regex]::matches($differences, "A`t").count        $git_delete_count = [regex]::matches($differences, "D`t").count        $status_string += "c:" + $git_create_count + " u:" + $git_update_count + " d:" + $git_delete_count + " | "    }    else {        $status_string = "PS "    }    if ($status_string.StartsWith("GIT")) {        Write-Host ($status_string + $(get-location) + ">") -nonewline -foregroundcolor yellow    }    else {        Write-Host ($status_string + $(get-location) + ">") -nonewline -foregroundcolor green    }    return " " }

So far, this has worked really well. While in a repo, the prompt happily looks like:

GIT [master] c:0 u:1 d:0 | J:\Projects\forks\fluent-nhibernate>

*NOTE: Updated with suggestions from Jakub Narębski.

• Removed git branch/git status calls.
• Addressed an issue where 'git config --global' would - fail because $HOME was not set.
• Addressed an issue where browsing to a directory that didn't have the .git directory would cause the formatting to revert to the PS prompt.