how do i change a name on the command line in the terminal app?

Cavetri wrote:

My user name on the command line before zsh

Tersely-worded questions can be surprisingly difficult to answer.

The first of the following is the literal answer related to the prompt, the second is the underlying login name.

❶ ➧ If you want to change the zsh prompt, where the default prompt includes the host name:

To view the current prompt in your current zsh environment:

echo $PS1
echo $PROMPT

Here is how to view the three host names related to most macOS operations:

sudo scutil --get HostName 
sudo scutil --get LocalHostName 
sudo scutil --get ComputerName

Here are the commands to change these, with example text shown for the new values:

sudo scutil --set HostName HostName.example.com 
sudo scutil --set LocalHostName HostName
sudo scutil --set ComputerName FriendlyHostName

To see the current active username (shortname):

whoami

Some background on zsh prompts and prompt syntax:

• https://davidmyers.dev/blog/a-guide-to-customizing-the-zsh-shell-prompt
• https://www.makeuseof.com/customize-zsh-prompt-macos-terminal/

❷ ➧ if you want to change the login name / shortname /home folder name:

Change the name of your macOS user account and home folder - Apple Support

Follow those instructions exactly as described, and have a backup of your macOS environment.

PS1=“Fred > “

or do you want to change

echo $USER

Change the name of your macOS user account and home folder - Apple Support

Or you ssh default username?

$HOME/.ssh/config

Host *
    User specify-default-ssh-name-here

A "custom name" for what?

Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question

Writing an effective Apple Support Commun… - Apple Community

@Bob Harris

Oh ya went through that earlier this year. You follow the directions to the letter.