Is there a hook in Bash to find out when the cwd changes?
You would have to use a DEBUG trap
or PROMPT_COMMAND
.
Examples:
trap chpwd DEBUG # calls the function before each command
PROMPT_COMMAND=chpwd # calls the function after each command
Note that the function defined in PROMPT_COMMAND
is run before each prompt, though, even empty ones.
A better solution could be defining a custom chpwd
hook.
There's not a complete hook system designed in Bash when compared with other modern shells. PROMPT_COMMAND
variable is used as a hook function, which is equivalent to precmd
hook in ZSH, fish_prompt
in Fish. For the time being, ZSH is the only shell I've known that has a chpwd
hook builtin.
PROMPT_COMMAND
If set, the value is interpreted as a command to execute before the printing of each primary prompt ($PS1).
https://www.gnu.org/savannah-checkouts/gnu/bash/manual/bash.html#Bash-Variables
chpwd
Hook in Bash
A trick is provided to setup a chpwd
equivalent hook in Bash based on PROMPT_COMMAND
.
# create a PROPMT_COMMAND equivalent to store chpwd functions
typeset -g CHPWD_COMMAND=""
_chpwd_hook() {
shopt -s nullglob
local f
# run commands in CHPWD_COMMAND variable on dir change
if [[ "$PREVPWD" != "$PWD" ]]; then
local IFS=$';'
for f in $CHPWD_COMMAND; do
"$f"
done
unset IFS
fi
# refresh last working dir record
export PREVPWD="$PWD"
}
# add `;` after _chpwd_hook if PROMPT_COMMAND is not empty
PROMPT_COMMAND="_chpwd_hook${PROMPT_COMMAND:+;$PROMPT_COMMAND}"
Usage
# example 1: `ls` list directory once dir is changed
_ls_on_cwd_change() {
ls
}
# append the command into CHPWD_COMMAND
CHPWD_COMMAND="${CHPWD_COMMAND:+$CHPWD_COMMAND;}_ls_on_cwd_change"
# or just use `ls` directly
CHPWD_COMMAND="${CHPWD_COMMAND:+$CHPWD_COMMAND;}ls"
Source: Create chpwd Equivalent Hook in Bash from my gist.