.zsh-config

zsh setup

The list and order of startup files for zsh (Ch 2) are (ZDOTDIR if not set defaults to HOME):

1. /etc/zshenv
   Always run for every zsh. (not present on my MBP)
2. $ZDOTDIR/.zshenv
   Usually run for every zsh (see below).
3. /etc/zprofile
   Run for login shells.
4. $ZDOTDIR/.zprofile
   Run for login shells.
5. /etc/zshrc
   Run for interactive shells.
6. $ZDOTDIR/.zshrc
   Run for interactive shells.
7. /etc/zlogin
   Run for login shells. (not present on my MBP)
8. $ZDOTDIR/.zlogin
   Run for login shells.

/etc/zshenv and $ZDOTDIR/.zshenv

/etc/zshenv does not exist on macOS.

$ZDOTDIR/.zshenv is for user-defined env variables, it is run by every shell invocation. I added sourcing of .zprofile for non-interactive, non-login shells.

/etc/zprofile and $ZDOTDIR/.zprofile

/etc/zprofile on macOS executes

$ eval `/usr/libexec/path_helper -s`

that sets and exports the system-wide PATH and MANPATH

Diagram and possible generalization

The possible paths are:

• ${\mathbf{\color{red}RED \longrightarrow}}$: login, interactive
• ${\mathbf{\color{cyan}CYAN \longrightarrow}}$: login, non-interactive
• ${\mathbf{\color{green}GREEN \longrightarrow}}$: non-login, interactive
• ${\mathbf{\color{blue}BLUE \longrightarrow}}$: non-login, non-interactive

The above diagram has been inspired by this blog post and its companion repo. The post describes an interesting setup for covering multiple shell types.

Secretes

for now I keep a non version controlled file .secret_keys