---
id: overview
title: General
sidebar_label: General
---

import Tabs from "@theme/Tabs";
import TabItem from "@theme/TabItem";

Oh My Posh renders your prompt based on the definition of _blocks_ (like Lego) which contain one or more _segments_.
A really simple configuration could look like this. The default format is `json`, but we also support `toml` and `yaml`.
There's a [schema][schema] available which is kept up-to-date and helps with autocomplete and validation of the configuration.

:::info
There are a few [themes][themes] available which are basically predefined configs. You can use these as they are, or as a
starting point to create your own configuration.
:::

<Tabs
  defaultValue="json"
  groupId="sample"
  values={[
    { label: 'json', value: 'json', },
    { label: 'yaml', value: 'yaml', },
    { label: 'toml', value: 'toml', },
  ]
}>
<TabItem value="json">

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/main/themes/schema.json",
  "final_space": true,
  "version": 2,
  "blocks": [
    {
      "type": "prompt",
      "alignment": "left",
      "segments": [
        {
          "type": "path",
          "style": "powerline",
          "powerline_symbol": "\uE0B0",
          "foreground": "#ffffff",
          "background": "#61AFEF",
          "properties": {
            "style": "folder"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem value="yaml">

```yaml
# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/main/themes/schema.json
final_space: true
version: 2
blocks:
  - type: prompt
    alignment: left
    segments:
      - type: path
        style: powerline
        powerline_symbol: ""
        foreground: "#ffffff"
        background: "#61AFEF"
        properties:
          style: folder
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem value="toml">

```toml
"$schema" = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/main/themes/schema.json"
final_space = true
version = 2

[[blocks]]
type = "prompt"
alignment = "left"

  [[blocks.segments]]
  type = "path"
  style = "powerline"
  powerline_symbol = ""
  foreground = "#ffffff"
  background = "#61AFEF"

    [blocks.segments.properties]
    style = "folder"
```

</TabItem>
</Tabs>

With this configuration, a single powerline segment is rendered that shows the name of the folder you're currently in.
To set this configuration in combination with a Oh My Posh [executable][releases], use the `--config` flag to
set a path to a file containing the above code. The `--shell universal` flag is used to print the prompt without
escape characters to see the prompt as it would be shown inside a prompt function for your shell.

:::caution
The command below will not persist the configuration for your shell but print the prompt in your terminal.
If you want to use your own configuration permanently, adjust the prompt configuration to use your custom
theme.
:::

```bash
oh-my-posh print primary --config sample.json --shell uni
```

If all goes according to plan, you should see the prompt being printed out on the line below. In case you see a lot of
boxes with question marks, set up your terminal to use a [supported font][font] before continuing.

:::tip
The `--config` flag can accept either a local filepath or a remotely hosted config file.

For example, the following is a valid `--config` flag:
`--config 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/main/themes/jandedobbeleer.omp.json'`
:::

## General Settings

| Name                  | Type      | Description                                                                                                                                                                           |
| --------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `final_space`         | `boolean` | when true adds a space at the end of the prompt                                                                                                                                       |
| `pwd`                 | `string`  | notify terminal of current working directory, values can be `osc99`, `osc7`, or `osc51` depending on your terminal                                                                    |
| `terminal_background` | `string`  | [color][colors] - terminal background color, set to your terminal's background color when you notice black elements in Windows Terminal or the Visual Studio Code integrated terminal |
| `accent_color`        | `string`  | [color][colors] - accent color, used as a fallback when the `accent` [color][accent] is not supported                                                                                 |

### JSON Schema Validation

As mentioned above, Oh My Posh themes can utilize JSON Schema to validate their contents. Themes should include a link to
the [external schema document][schema] which prescribes the appropriate structure and contents for various elements. If
your code editor is configured to use JSON Schema, it will compare your custom theme to the external document, and issue
warnings for discrepancies.

For example, given the following code:

```json
...
"segments": [
  {
    "type": "an_invalid_entry",
    "template": "{{ if gt .Code 0 }}\uf134{{ end }}",
  }
]
...
```

Warnings will be raised for type, since `an_invalid_entry` is not in the list of acceptable values, as well as
for the entire segment item (enclosed in {}), since it lacks the required `style` key. Take advantage of these
warnings, and ignore them at your peril.

### Accepted Formats

Oh My Posh supports three file formats for themes: `json`, `yaml`, and `toml`.

Various converters exist to convert between these, although they aren't perfect and will require manual
adjustment. Notably, the schema implementation for json is as follows:

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/main/themes/schema.json"
}
```

While for yaml:

```yaml
# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/main/themes/schema.json
```

Converters won't catch this change, so you will need to adjust manually.

[releases]: https://github.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/releases/latest
[font]: /docs/installation/fonts
[schema]: https://github.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/blob/main/themes/schema.json
[themes]: https://github.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/tree/main/themes
[colors]: /docs/configuration/colors
[accent]: /docs/configuration/colors#standard-colors