profile/doc/known-bugs.md

Known bugs

This document tracks currently known issues and limitations.

Open issues

• None :-)

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Won't fix

These issues are caused by platform or environment limitations outside the scope of this project and will not be addressed in Bash.

Prompt execution time is inaccurate in Windows Terminal (WSL)

• Description: In Windows Terminal the displayed duration includes idle and typing time, and is consistently higher than actual command execution time. In a native Linux terminal (including WSL shells inside Konsole, QTerminal, etc.) timing correctly starts on Enter and stops when the prompt reappears; in Windows Terminal, timer events appear tied to prompt display rather than to the Enter keypress.
• Cause: Execution time is measured via a DEBUG trap and PROMPT_COMMAND using $EPOCHREALTIME (or date +%s%N on bash < 5) deltas. WSL + Windows Terminal introduces scheduling jitter between Bash signal events and the underlying Windows terminal layer that does not match wall-clock perception.
• Impact: Cosmetic / observability only — commands execute normally.
• Status: Not fixable in Bash; this is a limitation of the Windows Terminal / WSL integration layer.
• Workarounds:
  • Use a native Linux terminal under WSL (Konsole, QTerminal, Terminator, etc.) to recover the expected Enter→prompt timing behavior.
  • Use /usr/bin/time -p <command> or the shell built-in time when accurate timing is required.
  • Treat prompt timing as an inacurate indicator in this environment.

Rain/Matrix rendering is slow on Windows

• Description: The rain, matrix and rainbow terminal effects are significantly slower on Windows, especially with high density settings on every terminal software.
• Cause: This is due to the way Windows handles terminal display updates, which is inherently less efficient than on Unix-like systems.
• Status: Not fixable in Bash; this is a limitation of Windows terminal design.
• Workaround: Lower the density parameter for better performance, or use a Unix-like environment for optimal speed.

The prompt timer replaces an existing DEBUG trap

• Description: The execution time shown in the prompt is measured with a DEBUG trap installed when the profile is loaded. A DEBUG trap set earlier (bash-preexec and the tools built on it) is replaced.
• Cause: bash hides the DEBUG trap from code run by source, so the profile cannot read it to chain to it.
• Workaround: Load the profile before such tools. PROMPT_COMMAND, on the other hand, is preserved: set_prompt is added to it.