# Is a remote default a good idea? If so can I change the prompt?

**URL:** <https://discourse.flox.dev/t/is-a-remote-default-a-good-idea-if-so-can-i-change-the-prompt/947>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [August 26, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/is-a-remote-default-a-good-idea-if-so-can-i-change-the-prompt/947 "2024-08-26T20:18:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lofidevops](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/lofidevops/32/682_2.png) [@lofidevops](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/lofidevops)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/is-a-remote-default-a-good-idea-if-so-can-i-change-the-prompt/947/1 "2024-08-26T20:18:11Z")

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I followed the [Extreme $HOME makeover](https://flox.dev/blog/extreme-home-makeover) to:

- create my default environment
- store it on FloxHub
- always activate it in `.bashrc`

So far so good! But now when I launch a terminal I get:

```auto
flox [lofidevops/default (remote)] user@machine:~$

```

Rather than just

```auto
flox [default] user@machine:~$

```

There is also a noticeable pause every time a launch a new terminal, which I _assume_ is flox pinging FloxHub for updates? I really like the idea of sharing my default environment between machines (that is my motivation to use flox) but this seems like a big tradeoff. I’d be happy to pull on demand.

Are other people using remote defaults or is it currently experimental? Assuming I can fix the pause, is there some way to adjust the unwieldy prompt?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ghudgins](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/ghudgins/32/588_2.png) [@ghudgins](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/ghudgins)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/is-a-remote-default-a-good-idea-if-so-can-i-change-the-prompt/947/2 "2024-08-28T14:57:23Z")

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I definitely use a remote environment for my default but if you want faster activate performance it is currently faster to `flox pull` in your home directory and then eval the `flox activate` (in your ~ directory) to that so you have a cache and don’t have to wait for the upstream check.

this is something we should address: [repeat flox activate -r fetches updates lazily · Issue #1976 · flox/flox · GitHub](https://github.com/flox/flox/issues/1976)

you can disable the prompt in `flox config` and, specifically for default environments, disable it only for the default. checkout the `hide-default` option in [flox config - Flox Docs](https://flox.dev/docs/reference/command-reference/flox-config/#supported-configuration-options)