Dotman is built with Nim and can be installed via several methods.
curl -fsSL gabrielcapilla.github.io/install | bash -s dotman
Requirements: Nim 2.2.6 or later
nimble install https://github.com/gabrielcapilla/dotman.git@#head
Clone the repository and build the binary:
git clone https://github.com/gabrielcapilla/dotman.git cd dotman nimble build nimble install
Once installed, initialize dotman and start managing your configuration files in minutes.
# Initialize dotman (creates ~/.dotfiles/main) dotman init # Add your nvim config (moves file and creates symlink) dotman set ~/.config/nvim # Check status of your configs dotman status
By default, dotman uses ~/.dotfiles as the root directory. The structure is organized by categories that map to specific system locations.
Dotman automatically categorizes files based on their destination path. Each category maps to a specific system location. When adding files, dotman automatically links them in the correct path. For example:
# config/nvim → ~/.config/nvim dotman add nvim # share/fonts → ~/.local/share/fonts dotman add fonts
The status command shows the state of each file in your profiles:
Linked - The file is properly symlinked from the profile to the system
NotLinked - The file exists in the profile but is not symlinked
Conflict - A file exists at the target location but is not managed by dotman
OtherProfile - The file is linked to another profile
Profiles allow you to manage different configurations for different environments (e.g., experimental, laptop, main). The main profile is created by default and cannot be deleted.
# Create a new profile dotman make experimental # Clone an existing profile dotman clone main laptop # List all profiles dotman list # Delete a profile (main cannot be deleted) dotman --delete-profile experimental
Dotman automatically validates symlinks before creating them to prevent conflicts and data loss:
Initialize dotman directory structure in ~/.dotfiles.
dotman init dotman -i
Create a new profile with the specified name.
dotman make <name> dotman -m <name>
Clone an existing profile to create a new one.
dotman clone <source> <destination> dotman -c <source> <destination>
List all available profiles.
dotman list dotman -l
Move a file or directory from the system to the current profile and create a symlink in its place.
dotman set <file> dotman -s <file>
set vs add: Use set to move existing files from your system into dotman management. Use add when files already exist in the profile and you just want to create symlinks.
Remove a symlink and restore the original file or directory from the profile back to its system location.
dotman unset <file> dotman -u <file>
Create a symlink from the profile to the system. The file must exist in the profile directory.
dotman add <file> dotman -a <file>
Remove a symlink from the profile.
dotman remove <file> dotman -r <file>
Display the status of all files in the current main profile.
dotman status
Options:
--category <cat> - Filter by category (config, share, home, local, bin)--linked - Show only linked files--not-linked - Show only unlinked files--conflicts - Show only conflicting files--other - Show other profile files--verbose, -v - Show detailed information--profile <name> - Use specific profile--ascii - Use ASCII characters in tabledotman status --category config dotman status --linked --verbose dotman status --conflicts dotman status --profile work --ascii
Link all files from the profile to the system.
dotman push <profile>
Remove all symbolic links from the selected profile.
dotman pull <profile>
Version control your dotfiles with Git by initializing a repository in ~/.dotfiles:
cd ~/.dotfiles git init git add . git commit -m "Initial commit"
If dotman detects a conflict, resolve it by:
--conflicts flag to identify issues--other flagSwitching configurations cleanly:
# Clone your main profile and create an experimental profile dotman clone main experimental # Remove all symbolic links from the main profile dotman pull main # Link all files from the experimental profile to the system dotman push experimental
# Move nvim config to profile and link it dotman set ~/.config/nvim # Check status of config category dotman status --category config # View detailed breakdown by subdirectory dotman status --verbose
# Create profiles for different environments dotman make exp dotman make laptop # Add experimental-specific config to experimental profile dotman --profile exp set ~/.config/alacritty # Check experimental profile status dotman status --profile exp # Remove a symlink and restore the original file or directory dotman --profile exp unset alacritty