Terminal doesn't show hostname anymore

Set your three host names, the traditional full name with domain and dots DNS name, the Bonjour mDNS name (less the .local part), and the so-called friendly name Finder and some other displays use.

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

Restart Terminal.app. Test again.

Thanks MrHoffman, this workaround worked for me. I do want to emphasize that this is a bug, and that System Settings > General > Sharing > Local hostname should still work the same way it has for at least the last 10 years, but it doesn't.

I have the same problem.

user@Mac ~ % sw_vers
ProductName:		macOS
ProductVersion:		15.0
BuildVersion:		24A335

My hostname is set to "cupertino" in System Settings > General > Sharing > Local hostname

My zsh prompt is configured correctly:

user@Mac ~ % grep PROMPT < .zshrc
PROMPT='%n@%m %~ %# '

The hostname command just says "Mac"

user@Mac ~ % /bin/hostname -f
Mac

networksetup  seems to give the Find My Mac computer name of "MacBook Pro"

user@Mac ~ % networksetup -getcomputername 
MacBook Pro

Only scutil LocalHostName gives an "okay" answer to LocalHostName.

user@Mac ~ % scutil --get ComputerName 
MacBook Pro

user@Mac ~ % scutil --get HostName     
HostName: not set

user@Mac ~ % scutil --get LocalHostName 
cupertino

This is more than just a terminal issue, the hostname I was using for my laptop prior to MacOS 15 was replaced with "MacBookPro", and that is all my FiOS router sees no matter how many scutil commands I use to try to change it back. Upgrading to 15.0.1 did not help. So somewhere, there is a hostname setting that I can't touch, I have yet to find it.

I fully agree this is not "only" a terminal issue : after upgrade to version 15 my computer name has changed by itself also on external services that get my machine name from outside, and not only on the terminal prompt : I use boinc and my machine name has changed to "imac" on my boinc projects accounts, and this name is not visible on network share name parameter or general machine name.

Mark Kaiman wrote:

Apple changed something in the Terminal for macOS 15. Instead of showing username and localhost name at the prompt, it now shows username@Mac instead. I have tried various commands using sudo scutil to reset the hostname, but nothing seems to work. Anyone have a solution?

?

I saw no change, You can customize the prompt like always:

MacBook-Pro ~ %

Need the extra verbiage?

See if this returns the default prompt (note the trailing blank space) copy and paste:

export PS1="%n@%m %1~ %# " 

Using a VPN(?)

you can read more, ref VikingOSX post:

How to make terminal to follow local host… - Apple Community

As leroydouglas notes, the prompt can be customized. If you want even more options, there are frameworks like Oh My ZSH! and LiquidPrompt (seperately or in combination) that let you customize themes, plugins, colours and prompt details in almost endless variety to create the terminal you want.

On macOS at least, %m is the computer name.

The computer name is in General > About.

To my knowledge, the Local Host Name in the Sharing settings doesn't equate to anything in the prompt shortcuts.

Depending upon whether you are using Bash or Zsh shells the Terminal prompt syntax varies and expecting the wrong shell could alter the PS1 results. To see the PS1 prompt special characters section of the respective Shell manual

Bash v5.2.37(1)

mandoc  -l  /opt/homebrew/share/man/man1/bash.1  |  col -b  |  awk  '/^PROMPTING/,/^READLINE/  {print}'  |  more
mandoc  -l  /usr/local/share/man/man1/bash.1  |  col -b  |  awk  '/^PROMPTING/,/^READLINE/  {print}'  |  more

Bash v3.2.57(1)

mandoc -l /usr/share/man/man1/bash.1 | col -b | awk '/^PROMPTING/,/^READLINE/ {print}' | more

Zsh v5.9

mandoc -l /usr/share/man/man1/zshmisc.1 | col -b | awk '/^EXPANSION OF PROMPT SEQUENCES/,/^zsh/ {print}' | more



I did actually reboot the router to get rid of the old DNS record, but now it only has "MacBookPro" and not the name I tried to change my laptop to.

CheeseSamwich wrote:

Thanks MrHoffman, this workaround worked for me. I do want to emphasize that this is a bug, and that System Settings > General > Sharing > Local hostname should still work the same way it has for at least the last 10 years, but it doesn't.

I’ve never seen the local host name in the prompt. It has always been the computer name.

Mark Kaiman wrote:

Didn't work for me.

So to confirm, you’ve reset all three values, …

and have restarted Terminal app, …

and %m in the prompt doesn’t show the expected result?

Have you confirmed your PS1 matches what was shown?

If you issue “get” commands on those three settings, are they each returned as was updated?

Tried a restart, on the off chance the local DNS cache is not playing well.

What does a dig +short command show for the local IP host address? (Yeah, dig uses a somewhat different DNS resolver path and bypasses the local cache.)

PS: “didn't work for me” and its variations are phrases I would encourage purging from any problem reports.

Barney-15E wrote:

I’ve never seen the local host name in the prompt. It has always been the computer name.

On a fresh computer, the computer name and the local hostname are both named after the computer model, "MacBook Pro" in this case. Maybe you've never needed to change your local hostname, so you haven't noticed a difference?

A stale DNS record on your router (or whatever your network uses to manage these things) can cause macOS to show a different hostname on the command line. In fact one of my organization's Macs just had this issue where the command line was the only place I saw the incorrect hostname listed.

I had the same problem. My solution: I found that just restarting my computer one more time after the system update gave me back my normal Terminal prompt.

Note, it appears that even after this "fix",

scutil --get HostName

still returns

HostName: not set



But at least my terminal is fine.