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New Machine Bootstrap

On a new machine, the first chezmoi apply can do more than "copy dotfiles".

Preconditions

  • chezmoi is installed.
  • You can authenticate where required (GitHub, 1Password, sudo).
  • You are ready for first-run installs (Xcode CLT, Homebrew, shells, package hooks).

Steps

  1. Initialize from remote:
chezmoi init kapral18
  1. Preview:
chezmoi diff
  1. Apply:
chezmoi apply

What To Expect

There are additional "converge" scripts for:

  • mise runtimes and pinned tool versions
  • language tooling (cargo/go/gems/yarn/uv)
  • GitHub CLI extensions
  • macOS defaults (.osx.core / .osx.extra)

Secrets tooling setup can also run:

On non-work machines, this script also attempts to clone a second password store into ~/.password-store-work so wpass can switch.

Verification

chezmoi doctor
which fish
which brew

Spot-check one or two managed files in $HOME (for example ~/.gitconfig, ~/.config/fish/config.fish).

Rollback / Undo

  • Revert local changes in the source repo if needed.
  • Re-run apply after fixing prompt/config issues:
chezmoi diff
chezmoi apply

If You Get Stuck

Start here: