DotFiles CLI

DotFiles CLI (dotfiles) is a powerful command-line tool designed to seamlessly manage and install your dotfiles into your home directory.

Features

• Installation Methods: Choose between copying or creating symbolic links for your dotfiles.
• Rule-Based Installation: Install files based on rules, e.g., only install files for installed software. Configuration
• Theme Support: Install different configuration files based on defined themes. Theme Support
• Template Processing: Leverage Go templating for dynamic file content. Template Processing
• Automatic Cleanup: Automatically remove files that are not tracked anymore, keeping your home directory clean.

Installation

Download the binary from the GitHub Releases.

curl -L -o ~/.local/bin/dotfiles https://github.com/PhilippHeuer/dotfiles-cli/releases/latest/download/linux_amd64
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/dotfiles

Usage

Command	Description
dotfiles install ~/dotfiles --mode symlink	Installs files by creating symlinks
dotfiles install ~/dotfiles --mode copy	Installs files by making copies
dotfiles query FontFamily	Queries the state file for app information (e.g. theme properties)
dotfiles clean	Cleans all tracked files, keeping directories (from state)

After the first installation, you can run the dotfiles install command without the source directory as it is stored in the app state.

The --mode flag is optional, the default is copy.

Configuration

Your ~/dotfiles repository needs to contain a dotfiles.yaml file, which defines the configuration for all directories. You can make use of rules to only install files based on the installed software.

# alacritty
- path: config/alacritty
  target: $HOME/.config/alacritty
  rules:
  - rule: inPath("alacritty")

For alle available rules, see the Rule Reference.

Theme Support

You can specify themes for your dotfiles, which can be used to copy/link files based on the selected theme. The following example shows a simple theme configuration for Alacritty, you can import $HOME/.config/alacritty/themes/current.toml in your Alacritty configuration.

# themes
themes:
- name: catppuccin-mocha
  font-family: JetBrainsMono Nerd Font Mono
  font-size: 11
  properties:
    yourCustomProperty: value

# alacritty
- path: config/alacritty
  target: $HOME/.config/alacritty
  rules:
  - rule: inPath("alacritty")
  theme_files:
  # this allows you to import the themes/current.toml from your config and symlink the content based on the theme
  - target: $HOME/.config/alacritty/themes/current.toml
    sources:
      catppuccin-mocha: themes/catppuccin-mocha.toml
      rose-pine: themes/rose-pine.toml
      nord: themes/nord.toml
      tokyo-night: themes/tokyo-night.toml

Template Processing

You can toggle template processing by setting the templateFiles property in your configuration, files will always be copied regardless of the mode (copy, symlink, ...).

# themes
themes:
- name: catppuccin-mocha
  font-family: JetBrainsMono Nerd Font Mono
  font-size: 11
  properties:
    yourCustomProperty: value

# alacritty
- path: config/alacritty
  target: $HOME/.config/alacritty
  rules:
  - rule: inPath("alacritty")
  templateFiles: # allows the use of {{ .FontFamily }}, {{ .YourCustomProperty }} and other variables in your config
   - config/alacritty/alacritty.toml

The following values are available for templating: Name, ColorScheme, WallpaperDir, FontFamily, FontSize, GtkTheme, CosmicTheme, IconTheme, CursorTheme. Additionally, any value you define in the theme properties will be available (in CamelCase).

Rule Reference

The rules make use of cel-go expressions, additionally the following functions are available:

• inPath("alacritty"): Checks if path contains the given executable.
• TODO: document all functions

License

Released under the MIT license.