managing-dotfiles

• Remote: Your dotfiles git repository
• Work tree: $HOME
• Yadm repo: ~/.local/share/yadm/repo.git

Always start by checking the current state:

```bash

yadm status # Show modified/staged files

yadm ls-files # List all tracked files

yadm diff # Show unstaged changes

```

Run yadm ls-files to get the authoritative list. Common categories:

| Category | Files |

|----------|-------|

| Shell | .config/fish/ (config.fish, aliases, env, functions, keybindings, plugins) |

| Editor | .vimrc, Library/Application Support/Code/User/ (settings.json, keybindings.json) |

| Terminal | .tmux.conf, .config/ghostty/config, .config/starship.toml |

| Git | .gitconfig, .gitignore, .gitmodules |

| Claude | .claude/skills/ (commit, creating-pull-requests, managing-dotfiles) |

| Yadm | .config/yadm/ (bootstrap, hooks, README, install-hooks.sh) |

| Other | .config/bat/config, .config/ruff/pyproject.toml, .duti, .hushlogin, Caddyfile |

Pull from Remote

```bash

yadm pull

```

If merge conflicts occur:

1. Run yadm status to see conflicted files
2. Edit files to resolve conflicts (remove conflict markers)
3. Stage resolved files: yadm add
4. Complete the merge: yadm commit

Commit and Push Changes

```bash

yadm add # Stage specific file

yadm add -u # Stage all modified tracked files

yadm commit -m "message" # Commit with message

yadm push # Push to remote

```

Commit conventions (from commit skill):

• No AI/Claude attribution
• No Co-Authored-By headers

Modify Configuration Files

When asked to modify a config (e.g., "update tmux to do X"):

1. Find the relevant file: yadm ls-files | grep -i tmux
2. Read and understand the current config
3. Make the requested changes
4. Stage, commit, and push:

```bash

yadm add

yadm commit -m "Update to "

yadm push

```

Add a new file to tracking

```bash

yadm add

yadm commit -m "Add to dotfiles"

yadm push

```

Stop tracking a file (without deleting it)

```bash

yadm rm --cached

yadm commit -m "Stop tracking "

yadm push

```

Pre-commit is configured via ~/.pre-commit-config.yaml. Hooks check for:

• Private keys and secrets
• Large files (>500KB)
• Trailing whitespace
• Merge conflicts

Run manually:

```bash

yadm enter pre-commit run --all-files

```

If a commit fails due to pre-commit fixes, stage the fixes and retry.

This skill is itself tracked by yadm at ~/.claude/skills/managing-dotfiles/.

When updating this skill:

1. Make changes to the skill files
2. Commit with yadm:

```bash

yadm add ~/.claude/skills/managing-dotfiles/

yadm commit -m "Update managing-dotfiles skill"

yadm push

```

When files are added/removed from yadm tracking, update the "Managed Files Reference" section above if the categories change significantly.

See yadm-command-reference.md for a quick reference of common yadm commands.

On a new system after cloning:

```bash

yadm bootstrap

```

This runs ~/.config/yadm/bootstrap which installs Homebrew, uv, vim-plug, and other dependencies.