dotfiles

Minimal personal dotfiles for macOS, managed with GNU Stow.

This setup is focused on:

• Node.js development
• Neovim
• tmux
• iTerm2 as terminal

Fresh macOS setup

1. Xcode Command Line Tools

xcode-select --install

2. Homebrew

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

3. Brew packages

brew install stow neovim tmux asdf direnv jq ripgrep reattach-to-user-namespace
brew install --cask iterm2

Package	What it does
stow	Symlink manager for dotfiles
neovim	Neovim editor
tmux	Terminal multiplexer
asdf	Runtime manager (Node.js)
direnv	Per-directory environment variables
jq	JSON processor for shell scripts
ripgrep	Fast project search (used by nvim tools)
reattach-to-user-namespace	macOS clipboard integration for tmux
iterm2	Terminal emulator used by this setup

4. Oh My Zsh

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

5. Node.js via asdf

asdf plugin add nodejs
asdf install nodejs
asdf set -u nodejs latest

6. Clone and install dotfiles

mkdir -p ~/Documents/code
git clone <your-fork-url> ~/Documents/code/dotfiles
cd ~/Documents/code/dotfiles
make deps
make install
source ~/.zshrc

7. Neovim first run

Open nvim. Plugin manager will install configured plugins on first launch.

iTerm2 setup

The repo now tracks iTerm2 preferences in iterm2/.config/iterm2/com.googlecode.iterm2.plist, inside a directory-level symlink at ~/.config/iterm2/.

After make install or make stow-iterm2, enable the custom folder once in iTerm2:

1. Open iTerm2 → Settings → Preferences
2. Enable Load preferences from a custom folder or URL
3. Set the folder to ~/.config/iterm2
4. Restart iTerm2

Tracked defaults include:

• Report Terminal Type: xterm-256color
• Left Option key: Esc+
• Right Option key: Esc+
• Current profile appearance, fonts, and colors

This keeps tmux, zsh, and Neovim Meta/Alt mappings consistent on macOS.

Usage

make help           # Show all commands
make deps           # Check dependencies
make check          # Verify symlinks
make status         # Show stow package status
make restow         # Re-stow all packages
make stow-zsh       # Stow a single package
make unstow-zsh     # Unstow a single package
make lint           # Check for hardcoded paths

Packages

Package	What it manages
zsh	.zshenv, .zprofile, .zshrc, .profile
git	.gitconfig, .gitignore_global
tmux	.tmux.conf
tool-versions	.tool-versions (asdf defaults)
nvim	.config/nvim/
direnv	.config/direnv/direnv.toml
iterm2	.config/iterm2/