mydot -- A Python module for managing dotfiles

Super-charged version of the Atlassian approach to managing dotfiles using a bare git repo + fzf magic! Quickly edit files, add changes, run scripts, grep through dotfiles, or discard work-tree changes with ease.

Quick Start

1. Install dependencies:

   sudo apt install fzf git    # Ubuntu/Debian
   brew install fzf git        # MacOS/Homebrew

2. Configure shell: At the bottom of your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshhrc add:

   export DOTFILES="$HOME/.config/dotfiles"
   alias config='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$DOTFILES --work-tree=$HOME'

   what and why?:

   • DOTFILES: variable pointing to your local --bare dotfiles repository
   • config: git alias to directly address the --bare dotfiles repository

3. Initialize dotfiles repository:

   # reload shell configu
   source ~/.bashrc            # if using bash
   source ~/.zshrcc            # if using zsh
   
   mkdir -pv $DOTFILES         # create directory
   git init --bare $DOTFILES   # initialize --bare git repository

4. Install mydot and disable viewing of untracked files

   pip install --user mydot    # if using pip
   pipx install mydot          # if using pipx
   mydot git config --local status.showUntrackedFiles no

5. Add files to your dotfiles repo

   mydot git add ~/.vimrc ~/.tmux.conf ~/.bashrc ~/.bash_aliases ~/.zshrc
   mydot git commit -m "the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step"

   protip: You can use all your regular git commands, including aliases, when calling mydot git

6. Feel the power with mydot (and the pre-installed alias d.)

   d. -e           # modify tracked files in your $EDITOR (tab in fzf for multiselect)
   d. -a           # choose which modified files to stage for commit
   d. git commit   # commit changes
   
   d. -g "EDITOR"  # find all files with lines containing the string EDITOR
                   # works with regex too! e.g, EDITOR$ something.*var ^$
   
   d. -r           # run any executable script in your dotfiles repo
   d. -s           # see the state of your repo
   d. -l           # list all files under version control
   
   d. --export     # make a tarball of your dotfiles + bare git repo
   d. --clip       # put file paths into the clipboard
   
   d. --restore    # remove files from staging area
   d. --discard    # discard unstaged changes from work tree
   
   d.              # see the help message detailing available commands

Going Deeper

Useful aliases

alias es="mydot --edit"     # quick select a file to edit
alias rs="mydot --run"      # quick select a script to run

If you ever run into an issue where the mydot CLI is reading flags meant for mydot git you can fallback to the config alias from step 1 which acts as a special git command that only applies for the dotfiles repo.

For example mydot git rm -r ~/.tmux would see the -r flag and try to run an executable in your dotfiles. Instead use config rm -r ~/.tmux and the files in the directory will be removed recursively.

Source of Truth

This project is available on GitHub and GitLab. Each push to master automatically goes to both so choose whichever platform you prefer. All releases are published to PyPi