Bash integration interacts badly with PROMPT_COMMAND that manipulates PS1

[mschmitzer]

We use a prompt command hook that automatically activates and deactivates Python virtualenvs when entering/leaving a directory that has an associated virtualenv. This, in turn, manipulates $PS1 to show the virtualenv name in the prompt string. When Ghostty is started in a directory that has an associated virtualenv, Ghostty's $PS1 handling gets confused:

• On start, the virtualenv is activated and the name is shown in the prompt string.
• When leaving the directory, the virtualenv is deactivated and the name removed from the prompt string.
• After the next command is executed, the virtualenv name re-appears in the prompt string. The virtualenv is not activated, though.

This does not happen with other terminal emulators (e.g. GNOME Terminal). It can be reproduced as follows, without any use of Python or virtualenvs:

* Add the following to your~/.bashrc` (edited to address #5582 (comment) ):

function prompt_command() {
  # Prefix "ACTIVE" to PS1 if we're inside a directory called "test", remove it when not.
  if [ "$(basename $PWD)" = "test" ]
  then
      if  ! [[ "$PS1" =~ ACTIVE ]]
      then
          OLD_PS1="$PS1"
	  PS1="ACTIVE ${PS1}"
      fi
  elif [ -n "$OLD_PS1" ]
  then
      if  [[ "$PS1" =~ ACTIVE ]]
      then
          PS1="$OLD_PS1"
          unset OLD_PS1
      fi
  fi
}

PROMPT_COMMAND+=(prompt_command)

• Start Ghostty
• Create a directory called "test" and enter and leave it again. Observe the prompt changing.
• Enter the directory again.
• Open a new Ghostty Tab, thereby starting Ghostty in the "test" directory.
• Leave the directory (in the new tab), the prompt changes
• Execute some command (e.g. ls)
• Observe the prompt change back

[00-kat]

I can't reproduce this; after running ls the prompt doesn't change.

[mschmitzer]

Thanks for looking into this. It reproduces reliably for me. Maybe it's related to something else in my environment, I might have to try to reproduce it with a cleaner setup.

[jparise]

I can reproduce a variation of this where the prompt changes back and forth whenever I press ENTER, e.g.:

ACTIVE [test]$
[test]$
ACTIVE [test]$
[test]$
ACTIVE [test]$
[test]$
ACTIVE [test]$

I see that behavior with and without shell-integration = none, so I don't think this is related to Ghostty's shell integration script (which is the only place we save/change/restore PS1).

I can also reproduce this in kitty and wezterm, so the behavior doesn't appear to be Ghostty-specific.

I therefore think the issue is probably with prompt_command().

[mschmitzer]

Mmh I tried setting shell-integration = none (and shell-integration-features = false ) but that doesn't seem to make much of a difference. When running declare, I still see e.g. _GHOSTTY_SAVE_PS1 which is set in src/shell-integration/bash/ghostty.bash and which I suspect to be involved in the problem.

EDIT: Ok, so closing the Ghostty window is not enough to reload the configuration.

With shell integration disabled the original problem is difficult to reproduce bacause opening a new tab does not preserve the working directory. But my example code given above does seem to work then. Note that I changed the code in the original question to behave more consistently. Sorry about that.