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layer8 • 06/24/2025 • 2 replies • view on HN

You could probably (I haven’t tested it) append the run time as a comment to the history using something like PROMPT_COMMAND and `history -r <(…)`, instead of cluttering the prompt with it. And the start time is already in the history, using HISTTIMEFORMAT.

Replies

hiAndrewQuinn • 06/24/2025

Per the Bash `history` manpage:

    int history_write_timestamps
       If non-zero, timestamps are written to the history file, so they can be preserved between sessions.  The default value is 0, [...]
So this isn't true by default on many machines unless it is explicitly turned on. Once you do have it on, of course, then I agree.
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bedlamite • 06/24/2025

This is why I really appreciate tools like Atuin. It augments your history with extra data such as the working directory, exit code, time to run command.