Oh My Fish (OMF) - Install Themes & Plugins

Oh My Fish (OMF) is a framework for Fish Shell, similar to what Oh My Zsh is for Zsh. It gives you a command-line tool (omf) for installing themes and plugins from a curated repository. I used it briefly before switching to Fisher, and I’ll be upfront about why.

Install Oh My Fish

Make sure you have Fish Shell installed first. Then:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/oh-my-fish/oh-my-fish/master/bin/install | fish

The installer downloads OMF and sets it up in ~/.local/share/omf/ with config in ~/.config/omf/.

To verify:

omf version

Offline installation

If you need to install without internet access (servers, air-gapped environments):

git clone https://github.com/oh-my-fish/oh-my-fish
cd oh-my-fish
bin/install --offline

OMF basics

All management happens through the omf command.

Install a package or theme

omf install bobthefish
omf install z
omf install bass

List installed packages

omf list

Apply a theme

omf theme bobthefish

To see available themes:

omf theme

Update everything

omf update

Remove a package

omf remove z

Uninstall OMF entirely

omf destroy

Popular OMF themes

These are themes that still work well despite OMF’s maintenance gaps.

bobthefish

The most popular OMF theme. It’s a Powerline-style prompt showing git status, virtual environments, Node version, and more. Needs a Nerd Font or Powerline font.

omf install bobthefish

Configure it through environment variables:

set -g theme_display_git yes
set -g theme_display_git_dirty yes
set -g theme_display_docker_machine yes
set -g theme_color_scheme dracula
set -g theme_nerd_fonts yes

agnoster

A port of the Zsh Agnoster theme. Two-line prompt with Powerline characters, git info, and virtualenv support.

omf install agnoster

clearance

A clean, minimal theme. No special fonts needed.

omf install clearance

lambda

Minimal theme with a λ prompt character.

omf install lambda

You can preview OMF themes (with screenshots) in the Oh My Fish themes documentation.

Useful OMF plugins

bass

Runs Bash scripts and captures their environment variable changes. Useful for tools that only support Bash configuration:

omf install bass
bass source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh

This is one of the more genuinely useful OMF packages. It bridges the gap between Fish’s non-POSIX syntax and Bash-only tools.

z

Directory jumping similar to zoxide. Tracks the directories you visit and lets you jump to them with partial names:

omf install z
z projects

I’d recommend zoxide over this — it’s faster, works across shells, and is actively maintained. But if you want everything through OMF, the z plugin works.

fish-spec

A testing framework for Fish functions. Useful if you write Fish plugins or complex functions:

omf install fish-spec

extract

A universal archive extraction tool. extract file.tar.gz instead of remembering tar flags:

omf install extract

OMF configuration files

OMF uses two config files:

~/.config/omf/bundle — lists installed packages:

package bass
package z
theme bobthefish

~/.config/omf/init.fish — runs at startup. Add your OMF-specific configuration here:

# ~/.config/omf/init.fish
set -g theme_nerd_fonts yes
set -g theme_color_scheme dracula

Sharing your ~/.config/omf/ directory across machines lets you replicate your setup with omf install.

OMF vs Fisher

This is the real question. Here’s how they compare:

	Oh My Fish	Fisher
Status	Unmaintained	Actively maintained
Approach	Framework (has its own init)	Plugin manager only
Startup impact	Adds some overhead	Zero overhead
Plugin format	OMF-specific packages	Standard Fish plugins
Compatibility	OMF packages only	OMF packages + any Fish plugin
Config	omf commands + config files	fisher commands + fish_plugins file
Themes	Built-in theme system	Install prompt plugins directly

Fisher is faster, maintained, and can install OMF-compatible packages. The main reason to use OMF today is if you already have a working OMF setup and don’t want to migrate.

Migrating from OMF to Fisher

If you want to switch:

1. Note your installed packages: omf list
2. Install Fisher:

   curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jorgebucaran/fisher/main/functions/fisher.fish | source && fisher install jorgebucaran/fisher

3. Install equivalents through Fisher. Most OMF packages can be installed directly:

   fisher install oh-my-fish/theme-bobthefish

4. Uninstall OMF: omf destroy

Fisher can install packages from the OMF repository by using the oh-my-fish/ prefix. Not every package works, but the popular ones do.

Creating OMF packages

If you want to create your own package or theme:

omf new plugin my-plugin
omf new theme my-theme

This creates a scaffold in ~/.config/omf/pkg/my-plugin/ or ~/.config/omf/themes/my-theme/.

Plugin structure:

my-plugin/
├── completions/
│   └── my-plugin.fish
├── functions/
│   └── my-plugin.fish
├── init.fish
└── uninstall.fish

init.fish runs when the plugin loads. uninstall.fish runs when it’s removed.

Troubleshooting

OMF commands not found — restart your shell after installation, or run source ~/.config/fish/conf.d/omf.fish.

Theme not changing — some themes need a Nerd Font. Install MesloLGS NF and set it in your terminal.

Plugin errors after update — OMF’s unmaintained status means some plugins may break. Check the plugin’s GitHub page for patches, or find a Fisher-compatible alternative.

Related guides

• Best Fish Shell plugins (Fisher) — the recommended plugin manager
• Fish Shell themes and prompts — Tide, Starship, Pure, Hydro
• Fish Shell vs Zsh — if you’re comparing OMF to Oh My Zsh
• Best Oh My Zsh plugins — the Zsh equivalent
• Install Fish Shell on Ubuntu — getting started
• Fish Shell on macOS — Mac setup