Dotfiles

GitHub repository ↗ synced 2026/8/9

Awesome Dotfiles [![Awesome][2]][1]

A curated list of dotfiles resources. Inspired by the [awesome][3] list thing. Note that some articles or tools may look
old or old-fashioned, but this usually means they're battle-tested and mature (like dotfiles themselves). Feel free to
propose new articles, projects or tools!

Articles

Introductions

[Getting started with dotfiles][4], [Lars Kappert][5]
[Getting started with dotfiles][6], [Dries Vints][7]
[Managing your dotfiles][8], [Lars Kappert][5]
[Dotfiles Are Meant to Be Forked][9], [Zach Holman][10]
[Dotfile discovery][11], [Wynn Netherland][12]
[I do Dotfiles!][13], [Jogendra][14]

Tutorials

[Setting up a new (OS X) development machine: Part 3 - Dotfiles and custom SSH config][15]
[Setting Up a Mac Dev Machine From Zero to Hero With Dotfiles][16]
[Using Git and GitHub to manage your dotfiles][17]
[conf.d like directories for zsh/bash dotfiles][18]
[Managing your dotfiles][19]
[The best way to store your dotfiles: A bare Git repository][20]
[Dotfiles Management][21]

Shell startup

[Shell startup scripts][22]
[Zsh/Bash startup files loading order][23]

Using specific tools

[Using GNU Stow to manage your dotfiles][24]
[Managing Dotfile Symlinks with GNU Stow][25]
[Dotfiles and dev tools provisioned by Ansible][26]

Find dotfiles repos

There are many great dotfiles repos out there, each containing their own inspiration and gems. One way to go through
them is to [search GitHub for "dotfiles"][27].

Also see:

[Google for "dotfiles"][28]
[Archlinux collection][29]
Tip: search for a filename on GitHub, e.g. [path:**/.gitconfig][30].

Example dotfiles repos

A collection of the most popular, well-maintained, and collaborative dotfiles repositories & frameworks. Some projects
contain just the dotfiles. Others go further by allowing you to easily add your own custom dotfiles, and some include
scripts to manage dotfiles and plugins.

Bash

Title	Description	Focus
[Bash it][31]	Community bash framework.	Autocompletion, themes, aliases, custom functions. Well-structured framework
[Mathias’s dotfiles][32]	Sensible hacker defaults for macOS	🔧 .files, including ~/.macos — sensible hacker defaults for macOS
[webpro's dotfiles][33]	macOS dotfiles	Bash, Homebrew, Brew Cask, Git, Node.js, Hammerspoon.
[rootbeersoup's dotfiles][34]	Effortless Bash, Vim and macOS configuration	A `curl \| sh` installer and a Makefile offer portable and effortless setup for either permanent or temporary configuration.

Zsh

Title	Description	Focus
[Nick Khan's dotfiles][35]	Personal dotfiles for configuring macOS environment with Zsh and Homebrew. No fluff, only the stuff I actually use.	Zsh, Git (w/ aliases), Visual Studio Code, Ghostty, shell aliases, sensible macOS defaults, custom CLI script, etc.
[thoughtbot dotfiles][36]	Set of vim, zsh, git, and tmux configuration files	Zsh, vim, tmux, git, homebrew. Uses [rcm][37].
[oh-my-zsh][38]	Community-driven framework for managing your zsh configuration.	Oh My Zsh is an open source, community-driven framework for managing your Zsh configuration
[Prezto][39]	The configuration framework for Zsh.	Enriches the command line interface environment with sane defaults, aliases, functions, auto completion, and prompt themes.
[Dries's dotfiles][40]	Simplified approach to dotfiles for macOS	Zsh, Oh My Zsh, macOS, Homebrew, Mackup
[holman does dotfiles][41]	Topic-oriented, fork-friendly dotfiles	Zsh, Git, Vim, Homebrew, macOS, modular topic directories and bootstrap scripts.
[Kevin's dotfiles][42]	macOS dotfiles for Python developers	Zsh, Python, Neovim, VS Code, Homebrew, macOS defaults and security settings.
[sobolevn's dotfiles][43]	Dotfiles for the developer happiness	macOS, zsh, brew, vscode, codespaces, python, node, elixir
[yutkat's dotfiles][44]	Well-maintained dotfiles that use CI to test and measure startup speeds.	Zsh, Neovim, Wezterm, swaywm working on Arch/Ubuntu/Fedora Linux.
[Luke's voidrice][45]	My dotfiles (deployed by LARBS)	Zsh, vim/nvim, zsf
[2KAbhishek's dots2k][46]	Passionately crafted, extensible dotfiles with multi platform support	CLI tools at core, with extensions for different platforms (windows/mac/android), editors and window managers
[Zim][47]	Modular, customizable, and blazing fast Zsh framework	Zim is a Zsh configuration framework that bundles a plugin manager, useful modules, and a wide variety of themes, without compromising on speed.

Fish

Title	Description	Focus
[oh-my-fish][48]	The Fish Shell Framework	Core infrastructure to allow you to install packages to extend/modify your shell
[Paul's dotfiles][49]	paul's fish, bash, git, etc config files. good stuff.	Fish, macOS, Homebrew, Custom Shell functions

Ansible

Title	Description	Focus
[.dots][50]	New and upgraded dotfiles, now with Ansible!	Completely automated desktop setup, configuration and maintenance using Ansible
[Mac Dev Playbook][51]	Mac setup and configuration via Ansible	Full macOS dev machine setup including Homebrew, dotfiles, apps, and OS config
[sloria's dotfiles][52]	sloria's dotfiles as Ansible roles	Sets up a full local development environment with a single command

Tools

[Ansible][53] - Radically simple configuration-management, application deployment, task-execution, and multinode
orchestration engine.
[chezmoi][54] - Manage your dotfiles securely across multiple machines.
[dotbot][55] - Tool that bootstraps your dotfiles.
[dotdrop][56] - Save your dotfiles once, deploy them everywhere.
[dotly][57] - Modular Zsh-based dotfiles framework for macOS, Linux, and WSL.
[DotState][58] - Git-backed dotfile manager with profiles, automatic backups, and an interactive terminal interface.
[dotter][59] - A dotfile manager and templater written in Rust.
[dots][60] - Opinionated dotfiles generator that allows quick configuration of different window managers in multiple
OSs!
[Fisher][61] - A package manager for Fish.
[fresh][62] - Keep your dotfiles fresh. Fresh is a tool to source shell configuration (aliases, functions, etc) from
others into your own configuration files.
[GNU Stow][63] - Symlink farm manager which takes distinct packages of software and/or data located in separate
directories on the filesystem, and makes them appear to be installed in the same place.
[home-manager][64] - Manage a user environment using Nix.
[homeshick][65] - Git dotfile synchronizer written in Bash.
[homesick][66] - Clone and manage Git-based dotfiles repositories with symlinks.
[lnk][67] - Git-native dotfiles management without extra config.
[mackup][68] - Keep your application settings in sync (macOS/Linux).
[OpenBoot][69] - Mac dev environment manager that captures and restores Homebrew packages, dotfiles, shell
configuration, and macOS preferences via interactive TUI.
[rcm][37] - rc file (dotfile) management.
[rotz][70] - Fully cross-platform dotfile manager and dev environment bootstrapper written in Rust.
[themer][71] - Manage and generate themes across your development tools from within your dotfiles.
[toml-bombadil][72] - Templatize and manage your dotfiles.
[Tuckr][73] - Cross-platform, Stow-style dotfile manager with groups, hooks, and deployment validation.
[xdg-ninja][74] - A shell script which checks your $HOME for unwanted files and directories.
[yadm][75] - Tool for managing a collection of files across multiple computers, using a shared Git repository and some
additional features.
[yolk][76] - Dotfile manager with inline templating via comments, so files stay valid even un-deployed.

macOS

[dockutil][77] - Command line tool for managing dock items.
[mas][78] - Mac App Store command line interface.

Miscellaneous

[dotfiles.github.io][79] - Your unofficial guide to dotfiles on GitHub.
[Filesystem Hierarchy Standard][80] - Directory structure and directory contents in Linux distributions.
[XDG Base Directory Specification][81] - [Summary][82]
[A lesson in shortcuts][83] - How the idea of "hidden" or "dot" files was born, by Rob Pike (originally posted on
Google+).

Archive/abandoned projects

[antigen][90]
[bashdot][91]
[Bashstrap][92]
[battleschool][93]
[Bork][94]
[Cider][95]
[dev-setup][96]
[dotbare][97]
[dotfiles][98]
[dotstow][99]
[Eduardo's dotfiles][100]
[ellipsis][101]
[emplace][102]
[kody][103]
[macOS Defaults][104]
[osxc][105]
[Pearl][106]
[rkalis's dotfiles][107]
[vcsh][108] ([article][109], [article][110])
[YADR][111]
[Zero.sh][112]