If I can just get my shell to display the current local branch all the time in the prompt, it'd be a lot easier. I just found I could do so.
You need to modify the environment variable PS1 to show your current local git branch.
For me, it looks like this now.
PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u@\h:\w [$(git branch 2>/dev/null| grep "\*" | cut -f 2 -d " ")]\$ '
And it renders out like
kazim@invincible:~/projects/aprioriate [refactoring]$
In short, you need to append the following to the PS1 string.
[$(git branch 2>/dev/null| grep "\*" | cut -f 2 -d " ")]\$
The redirection of stderr to /dev/null is required since it suppresses git error messages in case you're not inside a git directory.
Ugly though it may be, it works. And to make the PS1 persist, add the line into your ~/.bashrc file.
PS: I use bash. For zsh and others, its even easier to do this.
