Powerlevel10k theme spawns multiple zsh processes on Ubuntu 20.04

[liusheng2020]

Hi there,

First of all, thank you for the excellent work on Powerlevel10k! I really appreciate the speed and customizability it provides.

I’m seeing an unexpected behavior on my Ubuntu 20.04 system:

• With the default theme (ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell"), opening a new terminal launches a single zsh process:

  ➜  ~ ps -u $USER -o pid,ppid,cmd | grep zsh
    37015   37005 /bin/zsh
    37073   37015 grep --color=auto zsh
  ➜  ~ pstree -p | grep zsh
             |               `-terminator(37005)-+-zsh(37015)-+-grep(37082)
  

• Switching to Powerlevel10k (ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"), I end up with four zsh processes:

  ➜  ~ ps -u $USER -o pid,ppid,cmd | grep zsh
    36654   36646 /bin/zsh
    36690    1820 /bin/zsh
    36751    1820 /bin/zsh
    36753    1820 /bin/zsh
    36783   36654 grep --color=auto zsh
  
  ➜  ~ pstree -p | grep zsh
             |               |-terminator(36646)-+-zsh(36654)-+-grep(36791)
             |               |-zsh(36690)---gitstatusd-linu(36754)-+-{gitstatusd-linu}(36755)
             |               |-zsh(36751)
             |               `-zsh(36753)
  

I’ve observed this in GNOME Terminal, Terminator, and VS Code’s integrated terminal. Is it expected that Powerlevel10k launches multiple zsh processes under the hood, or might something be misconfigured on my end?

Environment:

• OS: Ubuntu 20.04
• Shell: zsh (Oh My Zsh)
• Terminals tested: GNOME Terminal, Terminator, VS Code integrated terminal

Thanks again for your time and for creating such a great theme!

[romkatv]

See https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k?tab=readme-ov-file#why-does-powerlevel10k-spawn-extra-processes