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by DanielKehoe 843 days ago
I'd like to hear viewpoints on using `~/.zprofile` versus `~/.zshrc` for setting `$PATH` on macOS. I was bothered for years that I didn't know the difference so I dived down the rabbit hole and wrote a guide [1]. In the end, I concluded:

- Use `~/.zprofile` to set the PATH and EDITOR environment variables. - Use `~/.zshrc` for aliases and a custom prompt, or anything tweaking the appearance and behavior of the terminal.

It seems the advantage of the `~/.zprofile` file versus `~/.zshenv` is that it sets environment variables such as `$PATH` without override from macOS. It seems the `~/.zshrc` file could be used for `$PATH` but, by convention and design, is intended for customizing the look and feel of the interactive terminal.

Frankly, saying `~/.zprofile` is better than `~/.zshrc` for setting `$PATH` only "by convention and design" feels like a cop-out. Wondering if anyone knows better.

[1] https://mac.install.guide/terminal/zshrc-zprofile
2 comments
sidneythekidney 843 days ago
I set $PATH in ~/.zshenv. If you don't, you can't use any of your "extra stuff" in your zsh-scripts, as they do not use login or interactive sessions. And then I unset GLOBAL_RCS so the system configfiles don't override my settings.

In your guide, under ~/.zshenv, you mention that "macOS overrides this for PATH settings for interactive shells", without mentioning why or how. What's happening is that macOS sets your path in /etc/zprofile.

It seems your guide is missing a few global configfiles :) This is the order for an interactive login shell [1]:

  /etc/zshenv
  ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zshenv
  /etc/zprofile                 (login)
  ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zprofile   (login)
  /etc/zshrc                    (interactive)
  ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zshrc      (interactive)
  /etc/zlogin                   (login)
  ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zlogin     (login)
  /etc/zlogout                  (login - loaded on logout)
  ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zlogout    (login - loaded on logout)
In fact, the configfiles you mention are only loaded the way you've mentioned them, if the option GLOBAL_RCS is unset. And if GLOBAL_RCS is unset, macOS does not override your PATH, because/etc/zprofile is not loaded :)

1: <https://zsh.sourceforge.io/Doc/Release/Files.html>

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DanielKehoe 843 days ago
Thank you! That's informative.
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sidneythekidney 841 days ago
Oops, I just remembered this, and I got the order of the last two files wrong. ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zlogout is loaded before /etc/zlogout when logging out of a login session :)
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vim-guru 843 days ago
Your assessment is correct. But it really comes down to what type of shell that's running. For an interactive shell (one you open yourself in a terminal), the run-com file (.zshrc) will be loaded, so anywhere you put it, things will seemingly work. But if you start doing some task scheduling etc, that would fail if you have set your PATH in a run-com.
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