488 lines
17 KiB
Markdown
488 lines
17 KiB
Markdown
# Dotbot [![Build Status](https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot/workflows/CI/badge.svg)](https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot/actions?query=workflow%3ACI) [![Coverage](https://codecov.io/gh/anishathalye/dotbot/branch/master/graph/badge.svg)](https://app.codecov.io/gh/anishathalye/dotbot) [![PyPI](https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/dotbot?logo=pypi)](https://pypi.org/pypi/dotbot/) [![Homebrew](https://img.shields.io/homebrew/v/dotbot?logo=homebrew)](https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/dotbot) [![Python 3.6+](https://img.shields.io/badge/python-3.6%2B-blue?logo=python)](https://pypi.org/pypi/dotbot/)
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Dotbot makes installing your dotfiles as easy as `git clone $url && cd dotfiles
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&& ./install`, even on a freshly installed system!
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- [Rationale](#rationale)
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- [Getting Started](#getting-started)
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- [Configuration](#configuration)
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- [Directives](#directives) ([Link](#link), [Create](#create), [Shell](#shell), [Clean](#clean), [Defaults](#defaults))
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- [Plugins](#plugins)
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- [Command-line Arguments](#command-line-arguments)
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- [Wiki][wiki]
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---
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## Rationale
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Dotbot is a tool that bootstraps your dotfiles (it's a [Dot]files
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[bo]o[t]strapper, get it?). It does *less* than you think, because version
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control systems do more than you think.
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Dotbot is designed to be lightweight and self-contained, with no external
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dependencies and no installation required. Dotbot can also be a drop-in
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replacement for any other tool you were using to manage your dotfiles, and
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Dotbot is VCS-agnostic -- it doesn't make any attempt to manage your dotfiles.
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See [this blog
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post](https://www.anishathalye.com/2014/08/03/managing-your-dotfiles/) or more
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resources on the [tutorials
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page](https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot/wiki/Tutorials) for more detailed
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explanations of how to organize your dotfiles.
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## Getting Started
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### Starting Fresh?
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Great! You can automate the creation of your dotfiles by using the
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user-contributed [init-dotfiles][init-dotfiles] script. If you'd rather use a
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template repository, check out [dotfiles_template][dotfiles-template]. Or, if
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you're just looking for [some inspiration][inspiration], we've got you covered.
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### Integrate with Existing Dotfiles
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The following will help you get set up using Dotbot in just a few steps.
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If you're using **Git**, you can add Dotbot as a submodule:
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```bash
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cd ~/.dotfiles # replace with the path to your dotfiles
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git init # initialize repository if needed
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git submodule add https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot
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git config -f .gitmodules submodule.dotbot.ignore dirty # ignore dirty commits in the submodule
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cp dotbot/tools/git-submodule/install .
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touch install.conf.yaml
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```
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If you're using **Mercurial**, you can add Dotbot as a subrepo:
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```bash
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cd ~/.dotfiles # replace with the path to your dotfiles
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hg init # initialize repository if needed
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echo "dotbot = [git]https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot" > .hgsub
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hg add .hgsub
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git clone https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot
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cp dotbot/tools/hg-subrepo/install .
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touch install.conf.yaml
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```
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If you are using PowerShell instead of a POSIX shell, you can use the provided
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`install.ps1` script instead of `install`. On Windows, Dotbot only supports
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Python 3.8+, and it requires that your account is [allowed to create symbolic
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links][windows-symlinks].
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To get started, you just need to fill in the `install.conf.yaml` and Dotbot
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will take care of the rest. To help you get started we have [an
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example](#full-example) config file as well as [configuration
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documentation](#configuration) for the accepted parameters.
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Note: The `install` script is merely a shim that checks out the appropriate
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version of Dotbot and calls the full Dotbot installer. By default, the script
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assumes that the configuration is located in `install.conf.yaml` the Dotbot
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submodule is located in `dotbot`. You can change either of these parameters by
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editing the variables in the `install` script appropriately.
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Setting up Dotbot as a submodule or subrepo locks it on the current version.
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You can upgrade Dotbot at any point. If using a submodule, run `git submodule
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update --remote dotbot`, substituting `dotbot` with the path to the Dotbot
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submodule; be sure to commit your changes before running `./install`, otherwise
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the old version of Dotbot will be checked out by the install script. If using a
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subrepo, run `git fetch && git checkout origin/master` in the Dotbot directory.
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### PyPI and Homebrew
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If you prefer, you can install Dotbot from [PyPI] and call it as a command-line
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program:
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```bash
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pip install dotbot
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touch install.conf.yaml
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```
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For [Homebrew] call it:
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```bash
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brew install dotbot
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touch install.conf.yaml
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```
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In these cases, rather than running `./install`, you can invoke Dotbot with
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`dotbot -c <path to configuration file>`.
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### Full Example
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Here's an example of a complete configuration.
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The conventional name for the configuration file is `install.conf.yaml`.
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```yaml
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- defaults:
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link:
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relink: true
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- clean: ['~']
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- link:
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~/.tmux.conf: tmux.conf
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~/.vim: vim
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~/.vimrc: vimrc
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- create:
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- ~/downloads
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- ~/.vim/undo-history
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- shell:
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- [git submodule update --init --recursive, Installing submodules]
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```
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The configuration file is typically written in YAML, but it can also be written
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in JSON (which is a [subset of YAML][json2yaml]). JSON configuration files are
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conventionally named `install.conf.json`.
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## Configuration
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Dotbot uses YAML or JSON-formatted configuration files to let you specify how
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to set up your dotfiles. Currently, Dotbot knows how to [link](#link) files and
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folders, [create](#create) folders, execute [shell](#shell) commands, and
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[clean](#clean) directories of broken symbolic links. Dotbot also supports user
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[plugins](#plugins) for custom commands.
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**Ideally, bootstrap configurations should be idempotent. That is, the
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installer should be able to be run multiple times without causing any
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problems.** This makes a lot of things easier to do (in particular, syncing
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updates between machines becomes really easy).
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Dotbot configuration files are arrays of tasks, where each task
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is a dictionary that contains a command name mapping to data for that command.
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Tasks are run in the order in which they are specified. Commands within a task
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do not have a defined ordering.
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When writing nested constructs, keep in mind that YAML is whitespace-sensitive.
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Following the formatting used in the examples is a good idea. If a YAML
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configuration file is not behaving as you expect, try inspecting the
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[equivalent JSON][json2yaml] and check that it is correct.
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## Directives
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Most Dotbot commands support both a simplified and extended syntax, and they
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can also be configured via setting [defaults](#defaults).
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### Link
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Link commands specify how files and directories should be symbolically linked.
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If desired, items can be specified to be forcibly linked, overwriting existing
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files if necessary. Environment variables in paths are automatically expanded.
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#### Format
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Link commands are specified as a dictionary mapping targets to source
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locations. Source locations are specified relative to the base directory (that
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is specified when running the installer). If linking directories, *do not*
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include a trailing slash.
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Link commands support an optional extended configuration. In this type of
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configuration, instead of specifying source locations directly, targets are
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mapped to extended configuration dictionaries.
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| Parameter | Explanation |
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| --- | --- |
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| `path` | The source for the symlink, the same as in the shortcut syntax (default: null, automatic (see below)) |
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| `create` | When true, create parent directories to the link as needed. (default: false) |
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| `relink` | Removes the old target if it's a symlink (default: false) |
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| `force` | Force removes the old target, file or folder, and forces a new link (default: false) |
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| `relative` | Use a relative path to the source when creating the symlink (default: false, absolute links) |
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| `canonicalize` | Resolve any symbolic links encountered in the source to symlink to the canonical path (default: true, real paths) |
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| `if` | Execute this in your `$SHELL` and only link if it is successful. |
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| `ignore-missing` | Do not fail if the source is missing and create the link anyway (default: false) |
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| `glob` | Treat `path` as a glob pattern, expanding patterns referenced below, linking all *files* matched. (default: false) |
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| `exclude` | Array of glob patterns to remove from glob matches. Uses same syntax as `path`. Ignored if `glob` is `false`. (default: empty, keep all matches) |
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| `prefix` | Prepend prefix prefix to basename of each file when linked, when `glob` is `true`. (default: '') |
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When `glob: True`, Dotbot uses [glob.glob](https://docs.python.org/3/library/glob.html#glob.glob) to resolve glob paths, expanding Unix shell-style wildcards, which are **not** the same as regular expressions; Only the following are expanded:
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| Pattern | Meaning |
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|:---------|:-----------------------------------|
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| `*` | matches anything |
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| `**` | matches any **file**, recursively |
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| `?` | matches any single character |
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| `[seq]` | matches any character in `seq` |
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| `[!seq]` | matches any character not in `seq` |
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However, due to the design of `glob.glob`, using a glob pattern such as `config/*`, will **not** match items that begin with `.`. To specifically capture items that being with `.`, you will need to include the `.` in the pattern, like this: `config/.*`.
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When using glob with the `exclude:` option, the paths in the exclude paths should be relative to the base directory, same as the glob pattern itself. For example, if a glob pattern `vim/*` matches directories `vim/autoload`, `vim/ftdetect`, `vim/ftplugin`, and `vim/spell`, and you want to ignore the spell directory, then you should use `exclude: ["vim/spell"]` (not just `"spell"`).
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#### Example
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```yaml
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- link:
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~/.config/terminator:
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create: true
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path: config/terminator
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~/.vim: vim
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~/.vimrc:
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relink: true
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path: vimrc
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~/.zshrc:
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force: true
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path: zshrc
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~/.hammerspoon:
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if: '[ `uname` = Darwin ]'
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path: hammerspoon
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~/.config/:
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path: dotconf/config/**
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~/:
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glob: true
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path: dotconf/*
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prefix: '.'
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```
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If the source location is omitted or set to `null`, Dotbot will use the
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basename of the destination, with a leading `.` stripped if present. This makes
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the following two config files equivalent.
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Explicit sources:
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```yaml
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- link:
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~/bin/ack: ack
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~/.vim: vim
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~/.vimrc:
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relink: true
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path: vimrc
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~/.zshrc:
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force: true
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path: zshrc
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~/.config/:
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glob: true
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path: config/*
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relink: true
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exclude: [ config/Code ]
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~/.config/Code/User/:
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create: true
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glob: true
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path: config/Code/User/*
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relink: true
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```
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Implicit sources:
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```yaml
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- link:
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~/bin/ack:
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~/.vim:
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~/.vimrc:
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relink: true
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~/.zshrc:
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force: true
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~/.config/:
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glob: true
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path: config/*
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relink: true
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exclude: [ config/Code ]
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~/.config/Code/User/:
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create: true
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glob: true
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path: config/Code/User/*
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relink: true
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```
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### Create
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Create commands specify empty directories to be created. This can be useful
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for scaffolding out folders or parent folder structure required for various
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apps, plugins, shell commands, etc.
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#### Format
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Create commands are specified as an array of directories to be created. If you
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want to use the optional extended configuration, create commands are specified
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as dictionaries. For convenience, it's permissible to leave the options blank
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(null) in the dictionary syntax.
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| Parameter | Explanation |
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| --- | --- |
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| `mode` | The file mode to use for creating the leaf directory (default: 0777) |
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The `mode` parameter is treated in the same way as in Python's
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[os.mkdir](https://docs.python.org/3/library/os.html#mkdir-modebits). Its
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behavior is platform-dependent. On Unix systems, the current umask value is
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first masked out.
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#### Example
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```yaml
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- create:
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- ~/downloads
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- ~/.vim/undo-history
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- create:
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~/.ssh:
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mode: 0700
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~/projects:
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```
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### Shell
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Shell commands specify shell commands to be run. Shell commands are run in the
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base directory (that is specified when running the installer).
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#### Format
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Shell commands can be specified in several different ways. The simplest way is
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just to specify a command as a string containing the command to be run.
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Another way is to specify a two element array where the first element is the
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shell command and the second is an optional human-readable description.
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Shell commands support an extended syntax as well, which provides more
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fine-grained control.
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| Parameter | Explanation |
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| --- | --- |
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| `command` | The command to be run |
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| `description` | A human-readable message describing the command (default: null) |
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| `quiet` | Show only the description but not the command in log output (default: false) |
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| `stdin` | Allow a command to read from standard input (default: false) |
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| `stdout` | Show a command's output from stdout (default: false) |
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| `stderr` | Show a command's error output from stderr (default: false) |
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Note that `quiet` controls whether the command (a string) is printed in log
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output, it does not control whether the output from running the command is
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printed (that is controlled by `stdout` / `stderr`). When a command's `stdin` /
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`stdout` / `stderr` is not enabled (which is the default), it's connected to
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`/dev/null`, disabling input and hiding output.
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#### Example
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```yaml
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- shell:
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- chsh -s $(which zsh)
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- [chsh -s $(which zsh), Making zsh the default shell]
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-
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command: read var && echo Your variable is $var
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stdin: true
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stdout: true
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description: Reading and printing variable
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quiet: true
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-
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command: read fail
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stderr: true
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```
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### Clean
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Clean commands specify directories that should be checked for dead symbolic
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links. These dead links are removed automatically. Only dead links that point
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to somewhere within the dotfiles directory are removed unless the `force`
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option is set to `true`.
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#### Format
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Clean commands are specified as an array of directories to be cleaned.
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Clean commands also support an extended configuration syntax.
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| Parameter | Explanation |
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| --- | --- |
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| `force` | Remove dead links even if they don't point to a file inside the dotfiles directory (default: false) |
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| `recursive` | Traverse the directory recursively looking for dead links (default: false) |
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Note: using the `recursive` option for `~` is not recommended because it will
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be slow.
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#### Example
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```yaml
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- clean: ['~']
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- clean:
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~/:
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force: true
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~/.config:
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recursive: true
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```
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### Defaults
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Default options for plugins can be specified so that options don't have to be
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repeated many times. This can be very useful to use with the link command, for
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example.
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Defaults apply to all commands that come after setting the defaults. Defaults
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can be set multiple times; each change replaces the defaults with a new set of
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options.
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#### Format
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Defaults are specified as a dictionary mapping action names to settings, which
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are dictionaries from option names to values.
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#### Example
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```yaml
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- defaults:
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link:
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create: true
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relink: true
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```
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### Plugins
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Dotbot also supports custom directives implemented by plugins. Plugins are
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implemented as subclasses of `dotbot.Plugin`, so they must implement
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`can_handle()` and `handle()`. The `can_handle()` method should return `True`
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if the plugin can handle an action with the given name. The `handle()` method
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should do something and return whether or not it completed successfully.
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All built-in Dotbot directives are written as plugins that are loaded by
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default, so those can be used as a reference when writing custom plugins.
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Plugins are loaded using the `--plugin` and `--plugin-dir` options, using
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either absolute paths or paths relative to the base directory. It is
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recommended that these options are added directly to the `install` script.
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See [here][plugins] for a current list of plugins.
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## Command-line Arguments
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Dotbot takes a number of command-line arguments; you can run Dotbot with
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`--help`, e.g. by running `./install --help`, to see the full list of options.
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Here, we highlight a couple that are particularly interesting.
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### `--only`
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You can call `./install --only [list of directives]`, such as `./install --only
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link`, and Dotbot will only run those sections of the config file.
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### `--except`
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You can call `./install --except [list of directives]`, such as `./install
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--except shell`, and Dotbot will run all the sections of the config file except
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the ones listed.
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## Wiki
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Check out the [Dotbot wiki][wiki] for more information, tips and tricks,
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user-contributed plugins, and more.
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## Contributing
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Do you have a feature request, bug report, or patch? Great! See
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[CONTRIBUTING.md][contributing] for information on what you can do about that.
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## License
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Copyright (c) Anish Athalye. Released under the MIT License. See
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[LICENSE.md][license] for details.
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[PyPI]: https://pypi.org/project/dotbot/
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[Homebrew]: https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/dotbot
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[init-dotfiles]: https://github.com/Vaelatern/init-dotfiles
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[dotfiles-template]: https://github.com/anishathalye/dotfiles_template
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[inspiration]: https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot/wiki/Users
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[windows-symlinks]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/create-symbolic-links
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[json2yaml]: https://www.json2yaml.com/
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[plugins]: https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot/wiki/Plugins
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[wiki]: https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot/wiki
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[contributing]: CONTRIBUTING.md
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[license]: LICENSE.md
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