Most people who’ve tinkered with customizing their bash prompt are familiar with the PS1 variable which controls what the prompt displays. (read more about PS1 here)

I learned there are actually 3 additional PS variables available for customization.

PS2 controls the prompt during a multiline request. For example when passing a bunch of arguments to a script.

Try entering echo \ in your prompt. the next line should be a > symbol, indicating the interpreter is awaiting further input before running the command. (the \ char tells the interpreter to offer a new line to the user)

The > symbol is a default, but it can be customized just like PS1.

Try this:

export PS2="awaiting additional instructions...> "
echo \

bash will offer you a new line with your new continuation message.

PS3 doesn’t seem terribly useful and PS4 seems a little more so. I’m not going to address them now but you can read more here if interested.

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PS: speaking of all this PS business….I’ve missed a few posts over the last 2 weeks. What a bum. Life’s been crazy busy, but I’m going to continue the effort!