Why do you need to source .zshrc for every new shell in iTerm?

Question

I've used Iterm2 with zsh everyday for the past 3 years, but I got a new computer and had to set it up again. The problem is that when I run ~/.zshrc it works fine, but I have to do it on every new terminal window I open. Not a good experience.

I noticed that I don't have any bashrc, bash_profile, or profile (dot)files on my new machine.

Here's the code in ~/.zshrc:

export ZSH=/Users/healy/.oh-my-zsh
plugins=(
  git
)
ZSH_THEME="agnoster"
source ~/.zsh/zsh-autosuggestions/zsh-autosuggestions.zsh
DEFAULT_USER=healy

Again, it works perfectly (and as expected), but only after I run the source command, and that shouldn't be the case.

Answer 1

Make sure your export/source are added after the plugins in your zshrc, as stated in this post: oh-my-zsh config file not loading

Answer 2

On starting a new shell just run the command source ~/.zshrc by configuring in the

Preferences -> Profiles -> Select Default Profile(default profile will be starred) -> General -> Command -> Select Login Shell -> Send text at start:

Enter the value source ~/.zshrc.

You may add source ~/.zshrc; clear in case you need to clear the screen contents after executing the command.