If like me you use iTerm for your terminal sessions, this is the tips to dynamically set the tab title.

As I’m using the bash shell, the tab title can be automatically set with the PROMPT_COMMAND variable. You can set this variable in /etc/profile or in your .bashrc

Mine is like this :

export PROMPT_COMMAND='echo -ne "\033]0;${USER}@${HOSTNAME%%.*}\007"'

The content of the variable is executed each time bash prints your prompt. Here echo is executed with the escape sequence to set the term title.

More informations

Some readings about this subject :

• iTerm Shell Customizations for bash, zsh and tcsh
• an old Bash prompt HOWTO
• Bash Homepage