refined-magic (oh-my-zsh theme)

A minimal, fast prompt that blends the layout of the Refined theme with the vibrant color palette of AF-Magic.

• Structure: Based on Refined's vcs_info logic, repo info line, exec-time display, and prompt glyph.
• Colors: Adopted from AF-Magic (with a couple of custom tweaks).
• Extras: A blank buffer line above the prompt that spaces out consecutive commands. Untracked files are counted as "dirty".

Preview (description)

• A blank line separates each command from the one before it.
• The next line shows repo/path info in cyan and blue, with a dirty mark when applicable.
• Command exec time (if > 5s) appears in orange.
• The prompt char is magenta, turning red on non-zero exit status.

Features

• Buffer line: A blank line above each prompt, so consecutive commands are visually separated.
• Repo info: Clean vcs_info summary with branch and state.
• Dirty indicator: * appended when the repo is dirty, including untracked files.
• Exec time: Only shows when the last command took >5 seconds.
• SSH context: Right prompt shows user@host when connected via SSH.

Color map

These are ANSI 256 color indices used by the theme:

• Gray (RPROMPT user@host): FG[237]
• Cyan (repo/path): FG[032]
• Light blue (VCS system and branch): FG[075]
• Orange (dirty mark and exec time): FG[214]
• Magenta (prompt carat): FG[105]
• Light pink (available for customization): FG[218]

Note: Colors are provided by oh-my-zsh's color helpers ($FG, $fg, %{$reset_color%}) which are available to themes by default.

Differences from upstream themes

• Structure from Refined: Uses vcs_info, preexec/precmd, and the ❯ prompt glyph; shows exec time when >5s.
• Colors from AF-Magic: Applies AF-Magic-inspired colors to path, VCS, and status markers.
• Buffer line: Adds a blank line above the repo info to space out consecutive commands.
• Dirty detection: Counts untracked files as “dirty” (via git status --porcelain).
• No Python env segment: Intentionally removed after experimentation in this repo.

Installation (oh-my-zsh)

I. Copy the theme file into your oh-my-zsh custom themes directory:

mkdir -p "$ZSH_CUSTOM/themes"
cp refined-magic.zsh-theme "$ZSH_CUSTOM/themes/"

II. Set the theme in ~/.zshrc:

ZSH_THEME="refined-magic"

III. Apply it:

source ~/.zshrc

Alternative: Symlink from this repo

If you keep this repository elsewhere, symlink instead of copy:

mkdir -p "$ZSH_CUSTOM/themes"
ln -s /absolute/path/to/refined-magic/refined-magic.zsh-theme "$ZSH_CUSTOM/themes/refined-magic.zsh-theme"

Customization

Git info blue

In repo_information() adjust FG[075] to a different 256-color index (e.g., FG[081], FG[082], FG[087], FG[123]).

Buffer line

In precmd(), the print "" adds the blank line above the prompt. Remove it for a compact prompt, or repeat it for more spacing.

Exec time threshold

In cmd_exec_time(), the 5 controls when the time appears.

Notes

• The theme uses vcs_info (autoloaded by zsh) and standard Git commands for dirty checks.
• Works best with a terminal that supports 256 colors and a font with the prompt glyph ❯.

Regenerating the screenshot

The README image is generated with VHS, so it stays in sync with the theme. From the repo root:

brew install vhs
vhs .vhs/demo.tape
ffmpeg -y -sseof -0.5 -i .vhs/demo.gif -update 1 -frames:v 1 refined-magic-screenshot.png

.vhs/.zshrc is a minimal oh-my-zsh config that sources the theme from the working tree, so the screenshot reflects local changes rather than whatever is installed.

Credits

• AF-Magic theme by Andy Fleming — oh-my-zsh wiki AF-Magic
• Refined theme (oh-my-zsh) — oh-my-zsh wiki Refined
  • The refined theme itself credits Sindre Sorhus (Pure) and Julien Nicoulaud as inspirations.

Uninstall

• Remove the theme file and change your ZSH_THEME to a different theme:

rm -f "$ZSH_CUSTOM/themes/refined-magic.zsh-theme"
sed -i.bak 's/^ZSH_THEME=.*/ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell"/' ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc