untaped-dotfiles

Install it as part of untaped: uv tool install 'untaped[dotfiles]' or pip install 'untaped[dotfiles]'. To add it to an existing install, see Getting started.

untaped dotfiles places config files from one or more git repos on a machine, with a policy per item per machine. A repo carries a manifest, dotfiles.yml, of named items; each item lists files with a mode (link, copy or merge). The manifest suggests a policy; the machine decides when it enables the item: sync (new versions apply as they arrive), once (apply, then leave alone) or manual (report that a new version exists; apply when asked). Items not enabled are ignored.

dotfiles is experimental and may change in a minor release.

Set up

A repo needs a dotfiles.yml at its root:

version: 1
items:
  fish:
    policy: manual            # suggestion; absent means manual
    files:
      - source: fish/config.fish
        target: ~/.config/fish/config.fish
        mode: link            # or copy, or merge (JSON/YAML)
      - source: fish/conf.d   # a directory: each file under it is placed
        target: ~/.config/fish/conf.d

Every entry key, the three modes, per-OS and per-tag filters and how a directory source is placed are in the manifest. Where clones, kept files and state live, and the machine's tags and OS, are in the configuration reference. On Windows, link needs symlink permission (Developer Mode or elevation); copy and merge work. Nothing is tested there yet.

Subscribe, enable, apply

untaped dotfiles subscribe git@github.com:acme/dotfiles.git
untaped dotfiles enable fish starship --policy sync
untaped dotfiles enable claude --skip settings
untaped dotfiles apply --dry-run
untaped dotfiles apply

subscribe clones a URL under dotfiles.repos_dir, or registers the checkout at a path (fetched, never pulled: its owner pulls it). Several repos can be subscribed: a personal one everywhere, a work one on the work machine. enable records the machine's choice and places nothing; apply shows the plan, asks, then places the paths. A local file in the way is never destroyed: it moves to dotfiles.kept_dir, and the row says where.

Keep up to date

untaped dotfiles sync            # what a timer runs
untaped dotfiles status
untaped dotfiles status --check  # exit 3 while anything needs you
untaped dotfiles diff
untaped dotfiles apply fish

sync fetches every repo, applies the sync items and reports the rest. It only ever writes a path that is absent or still exactly what the tool wrote, so it never prompts and never loses a local edit. What each policy does to a path in each state, and when a clone is pulled, is in policies. A timer is the machine's business (a launchd agent on macOS, a systemd user timer on Linux); untaped dotfiles sync is what it runs.

Show it in the prompt

status reads nothing from the network. Run without item names or --repo, it writes the status files, so a prompt segment needs only the shell:

# starship.toml
[custom.dotfiles]
command = "cat ~/.untaped/dotfiles/attention"
when = 'test "$(cat ~/.untaped/dotfiles/attention 2>/dev/null)" != 0'
format = "[⇣ $output dotfiles]($style) "

Reference

The packaged skill is the full reference: every command, the manifest, the policy table and the pitfalls. Install it for your agent with untaped skills install dotfiles --target claude (or another agent); untaped dotfiles COMMAND --help lists each command's options.

• Output records and exit codes
• Settings