Dotfiles — Ricky Nelson

Configuration files for my development environment using a Git bare repo strategy.

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Installation

# Clone the bare repo
git clone --bare [email protected]:socketwiz/dotfiles.git $HOME/.dotfiles

# Define a temporary alias
alias dotfiles='/usr/bin/git --git-dir="$HOME/.dotfiles" --work-tree="$HOME"'

# Backup any conflicting files
dotfiles checkout 2>&1 | grep -E "^\s+" | awk '{print $1}' | \
  xargs -I{} mv {} {}.bak

# Checkout the dotfiles
dotfiles checkout

# Don't show untracked files (reduces noise in home directory)
dotfiles config status.showUntrackedFiles no

# Restart your shell
exec zsh

After restart, the git function in .zshrc automatically uses the dotfiles repo when in $HOME, $HOME/.config, or $HOME/.emacs.d.

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Tools & Features

Prompt & Shell

• Starship — cross-shell prompt
• zoxide — smart directory jumping (use z to jump)
• fzf — fuzzy finder integration

CLI Replacements

Original	Replacement
cat	bat
ls	eza --git
vim	nvim

Version Management

• mise — runtime version manager
• pyenv — Python version management (lazy loaded)

Aliases

Git: ga (add), gc (commit), gco (checkout), gcb (checkout -b), gd (diff), gl (pull), gp (push), gst (status), glog (log graph)

Docker: sdc (sudo docker compose), dcup, dcstop, dclogs, dcps, dcdestroy

Safety: rm -I, mv -i, cp -i

Emacs

• ed — start daemon (emacs --daemon)
• ec — connect to daemon (emacsclient -c -nw)
• et — terminal mode (emacs --no-window-system)

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Tracked Configurations

Shell

.zshrc, .zshenv, .zprofile, .bashrc, .bash_profile, .bash_logout, .profile

Platform-specific

.darwin, .linux, .sun — sourced based on uname

Editors

• .emacs.d/*.el — Emacs config
• .config/nvim/ — Neovim config
• .config/Code/ — VS Code settings
• .config/helix/ — Helix editor

Terminals

.config/alacritty/, .config/kitty/, .config/wezterm/, .config/termite/, .config/iterm2/

Window Managers & Desktop

.config/i3/, .config/i3status-rs/, .config/sway/, .config/waybar/, .config/rofi/, .config/dunst/, .config/picom.conf

Other

• .config/tmux/, .config/zellij/ — terminal multiplexers
• .config/fish/, .config/nushell/ — alternative shells
• .config/gitui/ — git TUI
• .config/starship.toml — prompt config
• .ssh/config — SSH configuration
• .local/bin/ — custom scripts
• .deno/ — Deno runtime

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Secret Management

Secrets like API keys are stored in files excluded from Git:

~/.zshrc.local
~/.zshenv.local

Sourced at the end of .zshrc:

[[ -f ~/.zshrc.local ]] && source ~/.zshrc.local

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Philosophy

Keep only what you need. Track only what you trust. Automate the rest.

— Ricky Nelson