Dotfiles Manager

A self-managing Fish shell configuration that tracks its own version, can automatically update itself from a Git repository, and manages standard dotfiles (~/.tmux.conf, ~/.gitconfig, etc.) from version-controlled templates.

Quick Install

curl -fsSL https://git.toomuchtaco.net/taco/dots/raw/branch/main/install.fish | fish

This one-liner clones the repository, installs everything to ~/.config/fish/, creates ~/.tmux.conf and other dotfiles from templates, and prints next steps.

Prerequisites: Fish shell 3.2+, Git.

Commands

Command	Description
`dotfiles help`	Show all subcommands
`dotfiles version`	Display current version, repo URL, shell info
`dotfiles status [name ...]`	Checksum-compare installed files against templates
`dotfiles init [name ...]`	Create dotfiles from templates (backs up existing)
`dotfiles update [name ...]`	Re-apply template contents (backs up existing)
`dotfiles edit <name>`	Open `~/.<name>` in `$EDITOR`
`dotfiles repo [url]`	Show or set the remote Git repository URL
`dotfiles sync`	Pull latest templates from remote and re-apply
`dotfiles publish`	Bump version, commit local changes, push to remote

Examples

dotfiles status                # Check every managed file
dotfiles init gitconfig        # Create only ~/.gitconfig
dotfiles edit tmux             # Open ~/.tmux.conf in your editor
dotfiles repo                  # Show current remote URL
dotfiles sync                  # Pull updates and re-apply
dotfiles publish               # Bump version, commit, push

File Structure

~/.config/fish/
├── config.fish              Main entry point — version, PATH, interactive setup
├── install.fish             Bootstrap/install script (also at repo root)
├── README.md                This file
├── conf.d/
│   └── aliases.fish         Example: Git abbreviations, helper functions
├── functions/
│   ├── dotfiles.fish        The `dotfiles` command and all subcommands
│   └── gitea_key.fish       Helper: generate SSH key for Gitea
└── dotfiles/
    ├── tmux.conf            Template → ~/.tmux.conf
    ├── gitconfig            Template → ~/.gitconfig
    └── config/
        └── starship.toml    Template → ~/.config/starship.toml

How It Works

Versioning

A single DOTFILES_VERSION variable at the top of config.fish is the source of truth. When you run dotfiles publish, you are prompted for a new version (auto-suggested minor bump, or custom), and both the local config.fish and the remote repository are updated.

Templates

Each file in ~/.config/fish/dotfiles/ is a template. When you run dotfiles init, templates are copied to ~/ with a leading dot prepended (e.g. tmux.conf → ~/.tmux.conf). Templates in subdirectories are placed under ~/ preserving the path (e.g. config/starship.toml → ~/.config/starship.toml).

To add a new dotfile, simply drop a template file into dotfiles/ and run dotfiles init <name>. No registration needed.

Sync & Publish

dotfiles sync — clones the remote repo (shallow) and copies templates into dotfiles/, then re-applies them. Pulls changes down.
dotfiles publish — clones the remote repo (full), copies your local config.fish, functions/, dotfiles/, and conf.d/ into the clone, prompts for a version bump, commits, and pushes. Sends changes up.

Extending

Add a template: create a file in ~/.config/fish/dotfiles/.
Add shell config: create a file in ~/.config/fish/conf.d/ (auto-sourced by Fish in alphabetical order).
Add a function: create a file in ~/.config/fish/functions/ (auto-loaded by Fish when first called).

Custom Install

Pass a different repository URL to the install script:

curl -fsSL https://git.toomuchtaco.net/taco/dots/raw/branch/main/install.fish | fish -s -- https://github.com/you/your-dotfiles

Or clone manually and run the install script locally:

git clone git@gitssh.toomuchtaco.net:taco/dots.git /tmp/dots
fish /tmp/dots/install.fish