ROS-Hacks

This is a repository for the ROS-Hacks package, a productivity toolkit that enhances the ROS2 development experience with workspace management tools, convenient aliases, keyboard shortcuts, and utility functions.

Supported platforms

Ubuntu	ROS 2
20.04 (focal)	Foxy
22.04 (jammy)	Humble
24.04 (noble)	Jazzy

ROS-Hacks detects the matching ROS 2 distribution from your Ubuntu release and falls back to any installed /opt/ros/<distro> if detection is inconclusive.

Adding this repository to your system

1. Download and add the GPG key:

wget -qO /tmp/ros-hacks.key https://danlil240.github.io/ros-hacks-apt/ros-hacks.key
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
cat /tmp/ros-hacks.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/ros-hacks.gpg

2. Add the repository to your sources:

echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/ros-hacks.gpg] https://danlil240.github.io/ros-hacks-apt stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros-hacks.list

3. Update and install:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ros-hacks

4. After installation, run the setup script:

ros-hacks-setup

Features and Usage

Powerlevel10k Integration

ROS-Hacks now includes integration with Powerlevel10k (p10k) to display your current ROS workspace and domain ID in your prompt:

• 🤖 Workspace: Shows current ROS workspace name
• 🌐 Domain: Shows current ROS_DOMAIN_ID
• Auto-refresh: Prompt updates when switching workspaces or domains

Setup:

# Run the p10k setup script
ros-hacks-setup-p10k

# Or manually add to your ~/.p10k.zsh:
POWERLEVEL9K_LEFT_PROMPT_ELEMENTS=(
  # ... your existing elements ...
  ros_workspace
  ros_domain
  # ... more elements ...
)

See docs/P10K-INTEGRATION.md for detailed configuration options.

ROS2 Workspace Management

• Select workspace: Press F3 or run select_ws
• Create new workspace: Press Shift+F3 or run prompt_new_ws
• Rebuild current workspace: Press F9 or run rebuild_curr_ws
• Force CMake reconfigure: Press Ctrl+F9 or run rebuild_curr_ws --cmake-force-configure
• Build specific package: Press F8, then enter the package name

ROS2 Command Shortcuts

• List topics: rtl or ros2 topic list or press Alt+Ctrl+t
• Echo topic: rte <topic> or ros2 topic echo <topic>
• List nodes: rnl or ros2 node list or press Alt+Ctrl+n
• List services: rsl or ros2 service list
• List parameters: rpl or ros2 param list
• List actions: ral or ros2 action list

Workspace Navigation

• Go to workspace root: cw
• Go to workspace src directory: cs
• Go to a package directory: ros2cd <package_name>

Build Commands

• Build workspace: cob or colcon build --symlink-install
• Build in Debug mode: cobd
• Build in Release mode: cobr
• Build specific package: cobp <package_name>
• Build up to package: cobput <package_name>
• Clean workspace: coc

ROS_DOMAIN_ID Management

• Set domain ID: set_ros_domain_id <id>
• Get current domain ID: print_ros_domain_id
• Change domain ID: Available in the select_ws menu

Utility Functions

• Show ROS environment variables: pR
• Source ROS2 setup: sr
• Clean ROS2 environment: csr
• Source current workspace: sw
• Show cached ROS-Hacks stdout: rhout or show_ros_hacks_stdout or press F4
• Show colcon build errors: se or show_colcon_errors
• Monitor topic: ros2_topic_monitor <topic>
• Check topic frequency: ros2_topic_hz <topic>
• Check topic bandwidth: ros2_topic_bw <topic>

Keyboard Shortcuts (via inputrc)

• F4: Show cached ROS-Hacks stdout for this terminal (show_ros_hacks_stdout / rhout)
• F5: Reload bash configuration
• Shift+F9: Rebuild workspace and exit terminal
• Ctrl+g: Add grep filter to command
• Alt+Ctrl+i: Start apt install command
• Alt+Ctrl+p: Start pip install command
• Shift+F2: Install ROS2 package

Workspace Alias Management

ROS-Hacks automatically discovers and sources alias files in your workspace:

• Automatic discovery: When sourcing a workspace, ROS-Hacks searches for files ending with "aliases"
• Smart caching: Alias files are cached for fast terminal startup - only searches when switching workspaces
• Manual refresh: Run cache_ws_aliases to manually refresh the alias cache for current workspace
• Workspace-specific: Each workspace can have its own set of alias files anywhere in the directory tree

How it works:

1. When you select a new workspace (F3 or select_ws), ROS-Hacks searches for all files ending with "aliases"
2. Found alias files are cached and automatically sourced
3. On subsequent terminal sessions, cached aliases are sourced instantly without searching
4. Cache refreshes automatically when switching to a different workspace

Example alias file locations:

• ~/my_ws/src/my_package/scripts/.my_aliases
• ~/my_ws/src/custom_aliases
• ~/my_ws/src/tools/robot_aliases

Quick Commands

• Set a quick command: set-quick-command "your command here"
• Execute saved command: exec-quick-command
• View saved command: print-quick-command

The prompt shows the current workspace name and ROS_DOMAIN_ID for easy reference.