Configure powerline to display git status - powerline

Question

I've installed powerline and the default configuration displays my current git branch. I'd also like to display the status of that branch (number of staged/unstaged files etc...) I found powerline-gitstatus which seems to do the job but I can't figure out how to configure it..
I have copied the configuration entries displayed at https://github.com/jaspernbrouwer/powerline-gitstatus#configuration to ~/.config/powerline/themes/shell/default.json as per the instructions provided there.
The next section states
Then you can activate the Gitstatus segment by adding it to your segment configuration, for example in .config/powerline/themes/shell/default.json:
{
"function": "powerline_gitstatus.gitstatus",
"priority": 40
}
That file (.config/powerline/themes/shell/default.json) does not exist so I created it, added that entry, then restarted my shell. It didn't have the desired effect though. I thought maybe I should add that same entry to .config/powerline/config.json but I don't know where in there to put it.
If someone can guide me through this I'd be very grateful.

Answer 1

For me, the default theme did not show any VCS info at all, so I switched to default_leftonly. Using that theme, the following worked for me:
Make sure you have the git_status python module installed:
python3 -m pip install powerline_gitstatus
Create a file ~/.config/powerline/colorschemes/default.json containing
{
"groups": {
"gitstatus": { "fg": "gray8", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_branch": { "fg": "gray8", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_branch_clean": { "fg": "green", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_branch_dirty": { "fg": "gray8", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_branch_detached": { "fg": "mediumpurple", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_tag": { "fg": "darkcyan", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_behind": { "fg": "gray10", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_ahead": { "fg": "gray10", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_staged": { "fg": "green", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_unmerged": { "fg": "brightred", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_changed": { "fg": "mediumorange", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_untracked": { "fg": "brightestorange", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_stashed": { "fg": "darkblue", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus:divider": { "fg": "gray8", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] }
}
}
create a file ~/.config/powerline/themes/shell/default_leftonly.json containing
{
"segments": {
"left": [
{
"function": "powerline.segments.common.net.hostname",
"priority": 10
},
{
"function": "powerline.segments.common.env.user",
"priority": 30
},
{
"function": "powerline.segments.common.env.virtualenv",
"priority": 50
},
{
"function": "powerline_gitstatus.gitstatus",
"priority": 40
},
{
"function": "powerline.segments.shell.cwd",
"priority": 10
},
{
"function": "powerline.segments.shell.jobnum",
"priority": 20
},
{
"function": "powerline.segments.shell.last_pipe_status",
"priority": 10
}
]
}
}
and create a file ~/.config/powerline/config.json containing
{
"ext": {
"shell": {
"theme": "default_leftonly"
}
}
}

Answer 2

I also struggled quite a lot to figure out the right configuration. Once getting it right, I wrote this Article guiding one through the setup of powerline. Including installing the right font and configuring Visual Studio Code. I hope it helps.
To summarize do the following:
Create the directories:
mkdir ~/.config/powerline
mkdir ~/.config/powerline/colorschemes
mkdir ~/.config/powerline/themes
mkdir ~/.config/powerline/themes/shell
Copy the default config files (maybe path has another python version):
cp ~/.local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/powerline/config_files/colorschemes/default.json ~/.config/powerline/colorschemes/
cp ~/.local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/powerline/config_files/colorschemes/solarized.json ~/.config/powerline/colorschemes/
cp ~/.local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/powerline/config_files/themes/shell/default.json ~/.config/powerline/themes/shell/
Add the following lines to both files in ~/.config/powerline/colorschemes
The lines need to be added to the "groups" section, and don't forget the comma in the last line before appending the lines.
"gitstatus": { "fg": "gray8", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_branch": { "fg": "gray8", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_branch_clean": { "fg": "green", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_branch_dirty": { "fg": "gray8", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_branch_detached": { "fg": "mediumpurple", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_tag": { "fg": "darkcyan", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_behind": { "fg": "gray10", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_ahead": { "fg": "gray10", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_staged": { "fg": "green", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_unmerged": { "fg": "brightred", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_changed": { "fg": "mediumorange", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_untracked": { "fg": "brightestorange", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus_stashed": { "fg": "darkblue", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] },
"gitstatus:divider": { "fg": "gray8", "bg": "gray2", "attrs": [] }
Next, edit the file ~/.config/powerline/themes/shell/default.json
Change:
"function": "powerline.segments.shell.jobnum",
"priority": 20
To:
"function": "powerline_gitstatus.gitstatus",
"priority": 40
Finally, restart the powerline daemon:
powerline-daemon --replace
After that the GIT specific information should be visible within powerline.