Dotfiles

This repo manages user and system configuration with the dotman repo layout.

Repo Layout

Active repo content lives under:

• packages/ — package definitions and tracked source files under packages/<id>/files/...
• groups/ — reusable selector composition
• profiles/ — variable-only profile definitions
• scripts/ — shared helper scripts used by package hooks and target commands
• repo.toml — repo-wide defaults such as ignore rules

First Bootstrap

Use init.sh to install bootstrap dependencies:

./init.sh

Source ./activate.sh before ./init.sh and before first dotman push; do not run it directly.

activate.sh loads repo core env (packages/shell/files/env.core.sh) into the current shell, including XDG dirs and PATH entries such as ~/.local/bin, then exports a hash token for stale-shell detection. This is to align current shell with the repo's profile env. Skip if already running a login shell started after the shell package was pushed. dotman push is guarded by that shell env token. If current shell does not carry current repo core env token yet, the guard stops with a fix message instead of prompting.

. ./activate.sh
./init.sh

What init.sh does:

• installs uv if needed
• registers this checkout in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/dotman/config.toml (or ~/.config/dotman/config.toml) as repos.main, preserving unrelated TOML config with the repo TOML transform helper
• seeds missing manager defaults from this repo owner's current config: ui.compact_path_tail_segments = 3, symlinks.file_symlink_mode = "prompt", and symlinks.dir_symlink_mode = "follow"; existing values are kept
• installs dotman with uv tool install

By default init.sh installs dotman from:

git+https://github.com/ewgdg/dotman.git

Override it with DOTMAN_TOOL_SPEC only if you need a different source:

DOTMAN_TOOL_SPEC='git+https://github.com/ewgdg/dotman.git' ./init.sh

The manager repo entry defaults to name main, order 10, and state_key = "main". Override only for unusual multi-repo bootstraps:

DOTFILES_DOTMAN_MANAGER_REPO_NAME=work ./init.sh

Normal Workflow

After bootstrap, use dotman as the primary interface.

If the shell package is pushed and you start a new login shell, the managed profile sources the deployed ~/.config/shell/env.core.sh automatically, so manual ./activate.sh is no longer needed.

Typical flow:

1. Run ./init.sh to register this repo in your dotman manager config.
2. Track the binding you want.
3. Use dotman push for repo-to-live changes.
4. Use dotman pull for live-to-repo changes.

Example commands below assume the repo is registered as main in your dotman config:

dotman track main:host/linux-niri@host/linux-niri
dotman push
dotman pull

dotman list tracked
dotman info tracked git

For narrower work, you can track or inspect smaller selectors directly:

dotman track main:git@host/linux-niri
dotman push git
dotman pull git

Choosing Bindings

Common host entrypoints:

• main:host/linux-niri@host/linux-niri
• main:host/mac@host/mac

Examples of smaller selectors:

• main:git@host/linux-niri
• main:nvim@host/linux-niri
• main:shell@host/linux-niri

Groups choose what to manage. Profiles provide the variable context used to resolve those selections.

Notes

• Helpers in scripts/ are still part of the active repo and are used by package target commands.
• Repo Python helpers are expected to run through uv run ... (or uv run --project "$DOTMAN_REPO_ROOT" ... inside dotman hooks). Do not rely on direct python path/to/script.py execution.

Related Docs

check docs/ directory.