dotfiles

Personal macOS setup. One command on a fresh Mac brings the whole environment up: Homebrew, modern CLI stack, terminal, shell, and dotfiles.

Managed with chezmoi (declarative, no symlinks). Packages managed with Homebrew via a Brewfile.

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Quick start (fresh Mac)

git clone https://github.com/<you>/dotfiles.git ~/Documents/dotfiles
cd ~/Documents/dotfiles
./bootstrap.sh

bootstrap.sh is idempotent — re-run it anytime to sync new packages or dotfiles.

It will:

1. Install Xcode Command Line Tools (if missing)
2. Install Homebrew (if missing)
3. Install every package in Brewfile (CLI tools + GUI apps)
4. Run chezmoi init --apply, prompting once for your name + git email
5. Render templates and write dotfiles to $HOME
6. Run mise install to install language runtimes declared in home/dot_config/mise/config.toml

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Layout

.
├── README.md
├── bootstrap.sh             # entry point — fresh-Mac installer
├── Brewfile                 # everything brew installs
├── .chezmoiroot             # tells chezmoi the source root is `home/`
└── home/                    # chezmoi source — everything here ends up in $HOME
    ├── .chezmoi.toml.tmpl   # prompts on init (name, email)
    ├── .chezmoiignore       # patterns to skip when applying
    ├── dot_zshrc            # → ~/.zshrc
    ├── dot_zprofile         # → ~/.zprofile
    ├── dot_gitconfig.tmpl   # → ~/.gitconfig (templated)
    └── dot_config/          # → ~/.config/
        ├── starship.toml
        ├── ghostty/config
        ├── mise/config.toml # languages managed by mise
        └── git/ignore       # global gitignore

Naming conventions (chezmoi)

Source name	Becomes	Why
dot_zshrc	~/.zshrc	dot_ prefix → leading .
dot_gitconfig.tmpl	~/.gitconfig	.tmpl → Go template
dot_config/starship.toml	~/.config/starship.toml	nested directories work as-is

Full reference: https://www.chezmoi.io/reference/source-state-attributes/

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What gets installed

CLI (Homebrew formulae)

chezmoi, starship, eza, bat, fd, ripgrep, fzf, zoxide, atuin, jq, gh, lazygit, neovim, tmux, mise.

Apps (Homebrew casks)

• Terminal & editors: Ghostty, Zed, DataGrip
• Browsers: Google Chrome
• Communication: Discord
• Productivity: Raycast, AltTab, Shottr, Linear, Spotify
• Dev infra: OrbStack, Leapp, Cloudflare WARP
• AI: Claude desktop, Codex desktop, Wispr Flow, VibeProxy

Languages (mise)

node @ latest · python @ latest · go @ latest · rust @ latest · java 17 + 11

The version latest resolves to whatever is current when mise install runs. Re-pin or add tools by editing home/dot_config/mise/config.toml.

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Common tasks

Add a Homebrew package

1. Append a line to Brewfile (brew "tool-name" or cask "app-name").
2. Run brew bundle --file=./Brewfile.

Add or change a language runtime

1. Edit home/dot_config/mise/config.toml.
2. chezmoi apply (or re-run ./bootstrap.sh).
3. mise install.

Use a specific Java version in a project

cd my-project
mise use java@11      # writes a local mise.toml in this project

Update everything later

brew update && brew upgrade && brew bundle --file=./Brewfile
mise upgrade
chezmoi apply

Add or change a dotfile

1. chezmoi edit ~/.zshrc — opens the source file in $EDITOR.
2. chezmoi diff — preview what would change.
3. chezmoi apply — write the change to $HOME.

Add a brand-new dotfile to track

chezmoi add ~/.somefile          # imports into the source dir
# then commit the new file in this repo

Per-machine overrides (untracked)

• ~/.zshrc.local — sourced from dot_zshrc if it exists. Drop machine-specific exports, aliases, or work secrets there. Never committed.

Re-prompt for name/email

chezmoi init --source ~/Documents/dotfiles

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How it stays simple

• One installer (bootstrap.sh) — five steps, plain bash, < 60 lines.
• One package list (Brewfile) — add a line, run brew bundle.
• One dotfile manager (chezmoi) — files in home/ are the source of truth.
• No magic — every file is plain text, every alias is explicit, every tool integration is guarded by command -v so missing tools never break the shell.

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Extending

Want to add a new tool category (e.g. macOS defaults, VS Code settings, ssh config)? Create the file in home/ using the chezmoi naming convention and commit it. No code changes needed elsewhere.

Want machine variants (work vs personal)? Add fields to home/.chezmoi.toml.tmpl (e.g. promptStringOnce . "profile" "work or personal") and gate templates with {{ if eq .profile "work" }}…{{ end }}.