v0.1.0
Pre-release
🎉 dotref v0.1.0 — First Release
This is the first working release of dotref — a tldr-style reference CLI for Linux configuration knobs.
What started as a README and an RFC two days ago is now a working command-line tool. That's entirely thanks to @jshaofa-ui who picked up the idea and delivered a complete implementation in one pull request. Open source at its best.
What's included
This release ships a fully working Python CLI with a small but real dataset to get you started. You can look up ZSH history parameters and GTK environment variables right now, out of the box.
pipx install dotref
dotref list # see available apps
dotref show zsh # list zsh categories
dotref show zsh history # show zsh history knobs
dotref show gtk environment # show GTK env vars
dotref search <keyword> # search across everythingWhat's in the box
The CLI reads from a local ~/.dotref/data/ directory of plain TOML files — one file per category per app. The format is intentionally simple so anyone can contribute a new subsystem without knowing how to code. Two subsystems ship by default: zsh/history and gtk/environment.
Known limitations
This is a v0.1.0 — it works, but there's a lot of road ahead. The dataset is tiny right now and needs community contributions to grow. The dotref update command is a stub that tells you to clone the repo manually. Dynamic routing (dotref zsh without a show subcommand) is being cleaned up. Search works but requires the data to be in ~/.dotref/data/.
What's next
The most valuable thing you can do right now is contribute a .toml file for a subsystem you know well — XDG, Qt, Wayland, Bash, SDL, Mesa, or anything else. You don't need to know Python. Just copy the format from an existing file in data/, fill it in, and open a PR.
The dream is a community-maintained reference that covers everything — the kind of tool you reach for before opening a browser.
