Troubleshooting

This section covers common issues, their solutions, and how to safely revert changes or uninstall the configuration entirely.

Uninstalling and Reverting to Backup

Fish Version Requirement

Enable or Disable Session Logging

Change or Disable the Greeting

Secrets and Machine-Local Configuration

Tool Init Does Nothing (Return Sentinel)

Missing Dependencies

Vi Mode Keybindings

What's with the C1-C6 stuff?

Uninstalling and Reverting to Backup

The installation step backs up any existing config to ~/.config/fish.bak. To revert:

rm -rf ~/.config/fish
mv ~/.config/fish.bak ~/.config/fish

If no backup exists, remove the directory and let Fish regenerate a default config on next launch:

rm -rf ~/.config/fish
fish -c 'fish_config theme choose "Fish default"'

Clean up files generated outside the config directory:

rm -f ~/.local/bin/paru ~/.local/bin/yay        # AUR log wrappers
rm -f ~/.local/share/man/man1/fish-config.1     # man page symlink
rm -f ~/.config/fish/.logging_disabled           # C5 sentinel

Erase universal variables set by this config:

for v in (set -Un | string match ‘__fish_config*’) set -Ue $v end for v in __done_min_cmd_duration _done_notification_urgency_level set -Ue $v end for v in (set -Un | string match ‘sponge*’) set -Ue $v end

The ~/.terminal_history/ log directory contains your session logs. Remove it only if you do not want to keep them.

Fish Version Requirement

This config requires Fish 4.x or newer. Check your version:

fish --version

Run fish-deps to see a status report — an outdated Fish shows ⚠ with an upgrade message.

Upgrading Fish by distribution:

# Arch / AUR
pacman -S fish          # or paru -S fish

# Ubuntu / Debian (PPA)
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:fish-shell/release-4
sudo apt update && sudo apt install fish

# Fedora
sudo dnf install fish

# macOS
brew install fish

For other systems or building from source, see https://fishshell.com.

Enable or Disable Session Logging

Session logging is opt-in: it is off until you turn it on. To enable all logging and capture (scrollback, tmux/zellij pane logs, AUR helper wrappers, Kitty watcher):

set -U __fish_config_op_logging on

Or toggle it interactively: run config-settings and flip the Logging row.

Disable it again — either an explicit falsy value or erasing the variable returns you to the default off state:

set -U __fish_config_op_logging off
set -Ue __fish_config_op_logging

This takes effect immediately in all running shells — no restart needed. The sentinel file, wrapper removal, and pipe-pane teardown happen automatically.

See C5 — Logging and Capture for the full component breakdown.

Change or Disable the Greeting

This config suppresses the distro greeting (e.g. CachyOS fastfetch) by default. To let the distro greeting through:

set -U __fish_config_op_greeting off

To set a custom greeting, define fish_greeting in your local.fish:

in $__fish_user_dots_path/local.fish

function fish_greeting echo “Hello, world!” end

The first-run welcome banner runs exactly once. To re-trigger it (e.g. for testing):

set -Ue __fish_config_first_run_complete

See C6 — Greeting and First-Run UI for details.

Secrets and Machine-Local Configuration

Machine-specific config goes in $__fish_user_dots_path/local.fish (defaults to ~/.config/.user-dots/fish/local.fish). Secrets go in secrets.fish in the same directory.

If local.fish is not loading, verify the path:

echo $__fish_user_dots_path
test -f "$__fish_user_dots_path/local.fish"; and echo exists; or echo missing

Change the path via variable or TUI:

set -U __fish_user_dots_path /new/path/to/dots/fish

Or run config-settings, navigate to the Paths page, and edit “Dots path”.

The user-dots convenience symlink in the config directory tracks this path. Disable it with:

set -U __fish_user_dots_symlink false

See Personalization for the full local.fish / secrets.fish layout.

Tool Init Does Nothing (Return Sentinel)

Symptom: you ran a tool’s setup command (e.g. starship init fish >> ~/.config/fish/config.fish) and nothing changed.

Cause: config.fish ends with a return guard. Any lines appended after it are never executed.

Fix: create a dedicated conf.d/ file instead of appending to config.fish:

~/.config/fish/conf.d/mytool.fish

mytool init fish | source

All existing integrations (starship, zoxide, direnv) already have conf.d/ files. See Return Sentinel for background.

Missing Dependencies

Run fish-deps (defaults to fish-deps status) to see what is installed and what is missing. Common symptoms and their missing tools:

Symptom	Missing tool
`ls output has no icons or colors`	eza (or lsd)
`cd does not remember directories`	zoxide
`cat shows no syntax highlighting`	bat
`fzf keybindings do nothing`	fzf
`Starship prompt not appearing`	starship

Install missing dependencies interactively:

fish-deps install

Or install everything missing and update what is installed:

fish-deps sync

See Dependency Catalog for the full list grouped by tier (required, integrations, recommended).

Vi Mode Keybindings

This config enables Vi mode by default (via C3 overrides), replacing the standard Emacs-style bindings. If Vi mode interferes with your workflow, override it in local.fish (See Personalization):

fish_default_key_bindings

This restores Emacs-style bindings without disabling the rest of C3 (bang-bang, autopair, starship prompt, pager settings, etc.).

To disable the entire C3 category (Vi mode and all other key/environment overrides):

set -U __fish_config_op_overrides off

See C3 — Key and Environment Overrides for the full list of what C3 controls.

What’s with the C1-C6 stuff?

This configuration groups its opinionated behaviors into six categories (C1–C6), allowing you to selectively disable features that conflict with your workflow. The Category numbers are used as shorthand when referencing these. Disabling all of them leaves you with a “Minimal Mode” shell that only manages basic features like XDG variables, and your local.fish overrides.

Category	Description
`C1`	Command Shadows — Wraps destructive commands (`rm`, `cp`) to be safe by default
`C2`	Startup Side-Effects — Bootstraps Fisher, generates wrappers, auto-activates venvs
`C3`	Overrides — Overrides `cd`, sets Vi mode, binds `<CR>` to `smart_enter`
`C4`	Integrations — Kitty/Wezterm integrations, starship hooks, fzf theme
`C5`	Logging and Capture — Session logs, command duration
`C6`	Greeting & First-Run UI — Custom startup banner

Disable all opinionated features at once (Minimal Mode):

set -U __fish_config_opinionated 0

Disable a single category:

set -U __fish_config_op_aliases off         # C1
set -U __fish_config_op_autoexec off        # C2
set -U __fish_config_op_overrides off       # C3
set -U __fish_config_op_integrations off    # C4
set -U __fish_config_op_logging off         # C5 (already off by default)
set -U __fish_config_op_greeting off        # C6

Keep one category active under a master disable:

set -U __fish_config_opinionated 0
set -U __fish_config_op_aliases 1           # only C1 stays on

Re-enable everything:

set -Ue __fish_config_opinionated

Each category also has two to six sub-categories (e.g. __fish_config_op_aliases_filesystem) that can be checked, disabled, or reset the same way — set -U __fish_config_op_<category>_<subcategory> off and set -Ue __fish_config_op_<category>_<subcategory> work identically to the category-level recipes above, just one level more granular. See Components Reference for the full list.

For an interactive alternative to setting these variables by hand, run config-settings.