dfm

dfm is a standalone, single-binary dotfiles manager designed to streamline the management of configuration files across different systems. The profile format used in dfm takes inspiration from dotbot, yet dfm operates independently without relying on a Python runtime or git submodules.

Key Features

• Simplicity: Provides a straightforward command-line interface for easy usage without complex dependencies.
• Quick Start: Easily apply profile configurations with a simple command:

  dfm apply <profile>...
  

• Flexible Profile Management: Profiles are loaded from the ./profiles/<name>.conf.yaml directory relative to the base working directory.
• Command Overview:

  Command	Purpose
  dfm apply <profile>...	Apply one or more profiles sequentially
  dfm diff <profile>	Display planned changes without modifying the system
  dfm doctor	Check for unresolved symlinks in the installation
  dfm status	List the most recently applied profiles along with timestamps
  dfm list	Show all profiles available in the ./profiles/ directory

Global flags such as -C <dir>, -c <path>, --dry-run, and --dbg are available for enhanced control during execution.

Supported Directives

dfm supports several directives, which include:

• defaults: Set default configurations.
• link: Create symlinks for specified files.
• shell: Execute shell commands with flexibility in defining command scripts.
• clean: Remove specified symlinks or files.
• create: Generate necessary files or directories.

Additionally, the when: condition can be utilized to gate directives based on the operating system, architecture, or hostname. In instances where the target is not a symlink, dfm will back it up to ~/.dotfiles-backup/<timestamp>/ instead of failing.

For detailed documentation, refer to the full YAML specification.

Non-Goals

dfm does not aim to provide templating, secret management, package installation, plugins, or profile inheritance, which keeps it focused and efficient for managing dotfiles.