dot-linker

symlink's your dots

Features

A simple, GNU Stow-like utility for managing your configuration files (dotfiles) by creating symbolic links. It allows you to keep your dotfiles in a version-controlled directory and link them to their proper locations.

• Link & Unlink: Easily create and remove symbolic links.
• Dry Run Mode: See what changes will be made without actually performing any actions (--no-symlink).
• Interactive Confirmation: Ask for confirmation before creating or removing each link (--visual).
• Flexible: Link an entire directory or just specific files.
• Ignore Files: Supports .gitignore-style patterns to exclude files from linking.
• Customizable: Specify source and target directories, making it useful for more than just dotfiles.

Installation

dot-linker is available in crates.io install it with cargo

cargo install dot-linker

or clone the repo and build with cargo

# Clone the repository
git clone <your-repo-url>
cd dot-linker

# Build the release binary
cargo build --release

# The binary will be at target/release/dot-linker
./target/release/dot-linker --help

Usage

The command-line interface provides all the options you need to manage your links.

Usage: dot-linker [OPTIONS] [DIR]

Arguments:
  [DIR]  The directory to symlink from

Options:
  -t, --target <TARGET>     The directory to symlink to
  -f, --files <FILE>...     The files to symlink highier precedence than dir
  -i, --ignore <IGNORE>...  The files to ignore
  -n, --no-symlink          simulate the  symlink no actual linking
  -v, --visual              asks for confirmation before actions
      --verbose             prints verbose output
  -u, --unset               unset symlink
  -c, --config <CONFIG>     path to config file
  -h, --help                Print help
  -V, --version             Print version

Configuration

dot-linker can be configured using an ignore file to prevent certain files or patterns from being linked.

The application looks for an ignore file in the following order:

1. A path specified with the -c, --config option.
2. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/dotlinker/dotignore (e.g., ~/.config/dotlinker/dotignore).
3. The base directory being linked from (e.g., ~/dotfiles/.dotlinker/dotignore).

If no ignore file is found, a default one will be created at ~/.config/dotlinker/dotignore with the following content:

# This file is used to ignore files when symlinking
.git*
README.md
LICENSE

Examples

Assume your dotfiles are stored in ~/dotfiles.

1. Link all files to your home directory

This will link files like ~/dotfiles/.zshrc to ~/.zshrc.

# The target directory defaults to $HOME/.config if not provided
# and the source directory defaults to the current directory.
cd ~/dotfiles
dot-linker

# Or, more explicitly:
dot-linker -t ~ ~/dotfiles

2. Unlink all files

This removes the symlinks from your home directory. Your original files in ~/dotfiles are safe.

dot-linker --unset -t ~ ~/dotfiles

3. See what would happen (Dry Run)

Simulate linking to see which files would be created, without making any changes.

dot-linker --no-symlink -t ~ ~/dotfiles

4. Link with interactive confirmation

Prompt for a (y/n) confirmation before creating each symlink.

dot-linker -v -t ~ ~/dotfiles

5. Link only specific files

Link only your niri and foot configurations into ~/.config.

cd dotfiles
dot-linker -t ~/.config -f nvim alacritty 

5. passing files to be ignored

Link eveything other than niri and foot configurations into ~/.config.

cd dotfiles
dot-linker -t ~/.config -i nvim alacritty 

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.