How can I color Git branches based on their names?

Question

I have a number of branches in my local git repository and I keep a particular naming convention which helps me distinguish between recently used and old branches or between merged and not merged with master.

Is there a way to color branch names in the output of git branch according to some regexp-based rules without using external scripts?

The best I've come up with so far is to run git branch through an external script, and create an alias. However, this may not be very portable...

Answer 1

git-branch doesn't let you do that

Is there a way to color branch names in the output of git branch according to some regexp-based rules without using external scripts?

No; Git doesn't offer you a way of customising the colors in the output of git branch based on patterns that the branch names match.

Write a custom script

The best I've come up with so far is to run git branch through an external script, and create an alias.

One approach is indeed to write a custom script. However, note that git branch is a porcelain Git command, and, as such, it shouldn't be used in scripts. Prefer the plumbing Git command git-for-each-ref for that.

Here is an example of such a script; customize it to suit your needs.

#!/bin/sh

# git-colorbranch.sh

if [ $# -ne 0 ]; then
    printf "usage: git colorbranch\n\n"
    exit 1
fi

# color definitions
color_master="\033[32m"
color_feature="\033[31m"
# ...
color_reset="\033[m"

# pattern definitions
pattern_feature="^feature-"
# ...

git for-each-ref --format='%(refname:short)' refs/heads | \
    while read ref; do

        # if $ref the current branch, mark it with an asterisk
        if [ "$ref" = "$(git symbolic-ref --short HEAD)" ]; then
            printf "* "
        else
            printf "  "
        fi

        # master branch
        if [ "$ref" = "master" ]; then
            printf "$color_master$ref$color_reset\n"
        # feature branches
        elif printf "$ref" | grep --quiet "$pattern_feature"; then
            printf "$color_feature$ref$color_reset\n"
        # ... other cases ...
        else
            printf "$ref\n"
        fi

    done

Make an alias out of it

Put the script on your path and run

git config --global alias.colorbranch '!sh git-colorbranch.sh'

Test

Here is what I get in a toy repo (in GNU bash):