🪐 Publishing the HHGTTG Bash Module on GitHub

“…or how I learned to stop worrying and push my Bash to the internet.”

1. Introduction

In the previous episode of “Me Decide to Hack His Shell,” I introduced the HHGTTG Bash Module — a tiny but "mighty" addition to your Bash prompt that brings a spinner, event hooks, and just enough flair to make daily terminal work slightly more absurd and considerably more enjoyable.

But writing a module is one thing.
Publishing it?
That’s a whole different adventure.

Because once your code leaves the safety of your /home directory, it begins a new life in the open wild. It starts interacting with other people’s shells. It gets judged. Cloned. Copy-pasted into strange machines in far-off galaxies. And that means we must prepare it properly.

So today’s post is about:

✔ Publishing the module to GitHub
✔ Structuring the repository
✔ Choosing the right filenames
✔ Adding documentation that won’t send your readers screaming into the void
✔ Ensuring everything looks clean, intentional, and professional

Let’s begin.

2. Why GitHub?

GitHub is the modern equivalent of placing your code on a towel — a way to claim your space in the coding universe while ensuring others can reliably find, view, fork, or ignore your work with ease.

Publishing your module gives you:

• Version control – so you know what you broke and when.
• Backups – your shell scripts will no longer vanish with your laptop battery.
• Visibility – others can contribute ideas, issues, or praise.
• Easy installation – users can curl, wget, or git clone your work.

3. Preparing Your Module for Public Consumption

Before publishing your Bash module, you must make sure it’s presentable — like brushing your teeth before opening the door.

3.1 Repository structure

Here is a clean and simple layout:

hhgttg-bash/
├── README.md
├── install.sh
├── hhgttg.sh
├── bash-preexec.sh
└── test/

3.2 README.md structure

A good README.md answers three questions:

1. What is this?
2. How do I install it?
3. Why should I care?

For example:

# HHGTTG Bash Module

A simple Bash extension that adds preexec/precmd hooks, a command spinner,
and other fun functionality inspired by *The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy*.

## Installation

```bash
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/<username>/hhgttg-bash/main/install.sh | bash

Features

• Spinner animation before slow commands
• Pre-exec and pre-cmd hooks via bash-preexec.sh
• Customizable module behaviour
• Clean install/uninstall

---

## **4. The Code You Publish**
Let’s look at the core files users will see.

### **4.1. `hhgttg.sh`**
This is the heart of your module — your custom logic, spinner, and hooks.

Example:

```bash
start_spinner() {
  CHARS='|/-\'
  while true; do
    for c in $CHARS; do
      printf "\r[$c] Working..."
      sleep 0.1
    done
  done
}

stop_spinner() {
  [[ -n "$SPINNER_PID" ]] && kill "$SPINNER_PID" 2>/dev/null
  printf "\rDone!          \n"
}

4.2. bash-preexec.sh

This tiny but powerful script gives you preexec and precmd hooks in Bash — something Bash famously does not provide by default.

Example usage:

preexec() {
  start_spinner &
  SPINNER_PID=$!
}

precmd() {
  stop_spinner
}

This integration is the “magic ingredient” that lets your spinner run before a command and stop right before the next prompt.

5. Publishing to GitHub

Please review my GitHub CLI installation guide here.

Step-by-step guide

1. Create a repo:

gh repo create hhgttg-bash --public

2. Add files:

git add .
git commit -m "Initial release of HHGTTG Bash module"

3. Push to GitHub:

git push origin main

4. Verify GitHub automatically displays your README.
5. Celebrate with a cup of tea, preferably served by a polite robot.

6. Conclusion

Congratulations! The HHGTTG Bash module is now alive, published, and ready for other curious travelers of the command-line universe.

In the next post, we’ll discuss something equally important:

💥 Adding tests with BATS
💥 Testing your spinner, hooks, installer, and removal
💥 Ensuring nothing explodes (unless you intended it to)