Chezmoi

chezmoi manages dotfiles across machines from a single git repository, applying per-machine differences through templating. See chezmoi-templates for the templating syntax.

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Install

sh -c "$(curl -fsLS https://get.chezmoi.io/lb)"

Initialize from an existing repo

chezmoi init git@github.com/<user>/<repo>.git

Apply a single file

init only clones the repo; nothing touches $HOME until you apply. Skip --apply and pass the target to apply:

chezmoi init git@github.com/<user>/<repo>.git
chezmoi diff <target>
chezmoi apply <target>

A bare chezmoi apply applies everything, so keep passing the target. Other files’ run_* scripts don’t run, but init still renders .chezmoi.toml.tmpl and may prompt for values.

To keep files from ever being applied on a machine, list them in .chezmoiignore (templates allowed). To read a file without applying it, use chezmoi cat <target>.

Add a File

chezmoi add <file>

To turn a tracked file into a template, use chezmoi chattr template <file> — see chezmoi-templates.

Add an On-Change Script

Chezmoi runs any source file prefixed run_onchange_ when its rendered content changes.

chezmoi cd
touch run_onchange_install-dependencies.sh.tmpl
chmod +x run_onchange_install-dependencies.sh.tmpl

Example: per-distro dependency install

#!/bin/bash
 
{{ if eq .chezmoi.os "darwin" }}
brew install tmux zoxide fzf ripgrep
 
{{ else if eq .chezmoi.os "linux" }}
 
    {{ if eq .chezmoi.osRelease.id "debian" "ubuntu" }}
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install -y tmux zoxide fzf ripgrep
 
    {{ else if eq .chezmoi.osRelease.id "fedora" }}
    sudo dnf install -y tmux zoxide fzf ripgrep
 
    {{ else if eq .chezmoi.osRelease.id "arch" }}
    sudo pacman -S --noconfirm tmux zoxide fzf ripgrep
 
    {{ end }}
 
{{ end }}