.bash_history does not update in Git for Windows (git bash)

Solution 1:

I put this in my ~/.bash_profile

PROMPT_COMMAND='history -a'

Solution 2:

As it was said here, to save git bash history on Windows you must not close the terminal with X button. Use exit command instead. History of commands will be saved then regardless of configuration mentioned in the accepted answer.

Solution 3:

Create the following files

~/.bash_profile
~/.bashrc

And put the following line in both of them

PROMPT_COMMAND='history -a'

To do this from the console (git bash) itself use the following commands

echo "PROMPT_COMMAND='history -a'" >> ~/.bash_profile
echo "PROMPT_COMMAND='history -a'" >> ~/.bashrc

What history -a means

From history --help command

-a append history lines from this session to the history file

What is PROMPT_COMMAND ?

Bash provides an environment variable called PROMPT_COMMAND. The contents of this variable are executed as a regular Bash command just before Bash displays a prompt.

Difference between .bash_profile AND .bashrc

.bash_profile is executed for login shells, while .bashrc is executed for interactive non-login shells.

When you login (type username and password) via console, either sitting at the machine, or remotely via ssh: .bash_profile is executed to configure your shell before the initial command prompt.

But, if you’ve already logged into your machine and open a new terminal window (xterm) then .bashrc is executed before the window command prompt. .bashrc is also run when you start a new bash instance by typing /bin/bash in a terminal.

On OS X, Terminal by default runs a login shell every time, so this is a little different to most other systems, but you can configure that in the preferences.

References

https://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Bash-Prompt-HOWTO/x264.html https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/51036/what-is-the-difference-between-bash-profile-and-bashrc