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zsh-syntax-highlighting is a lightweight Zsh plugin that adds real-time syntax coloring to your command line as you type. It highlights known commands, options, arguments, paths, strings, and glob patterns so you can catch typos or invalid commands before pressing Enter. Unknown or misspelled commands are styled differently from valid ones, making errors obvious at a glance. The plugin is written in pure Zsh and hooks into the line editor, so it doesn’t require external binaries and works across diverse environments. It’s highly configurable: you can fine-tune individual token styles, disable specific highlighters, or extend it with custom rules to match your workflow. It plays nicely with popular frameworks like Oh My Zsh, zinit, and Antigen, and it’s commonly paired with autosuggestion and prompt plugins for a complete, ergonomic shell setup. Because it focuses on correctness and speed, it remains responsive even on large histories and complex prompts.
Features
- Highlights syntax (commands, arguments, options, paths, strings) in real time as you type in zsh prompt
- Helps in identifying invalid commands or syntax errors before executing them
- Highly configurable colors/styles for the different syntactic elements
- Works by hooking into zsh’s Line Editor (ZLE), wrapping existing widgets to apply highlighting after completions and custom widgets are loaded
- Requirement to source it at end of .zshrc (after compinit and custom widgets) to ensure proper hooking
- Works in interactive terminals; performance tuned so that large buffers or long commands degrade minimally
Project Samples
