Dotfiles

This repository contains my personal dotfiles, managed with chezmoi. They're designed to be portable and easy to bootstrap, whether we're setting up a long-term system or configuring a short-lived environment like a container or live session.

The instructions below walk through the setup process.

Note

The term dotfiles originally referred to configuration files located in a user's home directory, typically hidden by a leading period. Over time, the meaning has expanded. It now commonly denotes a structured system setup maintained under version control. In this context, my dotfiles also include package definitions and system-level adjustments, among others.

Install chezmoi and apply my dotfiles

For most use cases, this is the standard setup. It installs chezmoi using chezmoi bootstrap script and immediately applies dotfiles:

sh -c "$(curl -fsLS get.chezmoi.io/lb)" -- init --apply wroyca

After some times, the system should reflect the configuration defined in this repository.

One-shot setup for temporary environments

If we're working in a transient or disposable environment, such as a container or ephemeral VM, it can be useful to apply dotfiles without leaving chezmoi installed afterward.

This command installs chezmoi, applies dotfiles once, and then removes all traces of chezmoi, including its source and configuration directories:

sh -c "$(curl -fsLS get.chezmoi.io)" -- init --one-shot wroyca

Keep our setup up to date

Once chezmoi is installed, keeping things current is straightforward. We can pull the latest changes and reapply them with:

chezmoi update

Under the hood, this runs a git pull --autostash --rebase in the source directory, followed by a chezmoi apply.

Preview changes before applying them

To review what would change without making any modifications:

chezmoi git pull -- --autostash --rebase && chezmoi diff

This shows a diff between the system's current state and the target state defined in the repository. Nothing is applied unless we explicitly run:

chezmoi apply