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Configuring zsh: .zshrc, Aliases, Functions, Plugins, the Prompt and Startup Time

A good .zshrc is written in a fixed order: history, completion, aliases and functions, plugins, and the prompt last; slowness usually comes not from a framework but from external commands that run on every start. With real measurements we cover when to pick an alias, a function or a script, installing zsh-autosuggestions and zsh-syntax-highlighting by hand, a Starship prompt showing the git branch and the .NET version, and a completion cache that took startup from 206 ms to 21 ms.