dotrs

dotrs is a minimalist dotfiles manager focused on practicality and simplicity.

• No bloated features.
• Straightforward workflow.
• Clean and fast.

Built for users who want full control over their environment with minimal overhead.

Design goals

• Keep dotfile management simple and predictable.
• Avoid symlinks and hidden magic.
• Make every action explicit and reversible.
• Follow a clean, UNIX-like workflow.

Usage

Usage: dotrs [OPTIONS] --action <ACTION>

Options:
  -a, --action <ACTION>  [possible values: init, apply, sync, add, remove, list, status]
  -f, --file <FILE>
  -h, --help             Print help
  -V, --version          Print version

• Typical workflow: init → add → status → apply

• Initialize dotfiles

$ dotrs --action init

Creates a ~/dots directory and initializes a Git repository inside it.

• Check status

$ dotrs --action status

Legend: + missing | M modified | = clean | ! error
= .config/noctalia/templates/pywalfox-colors.json
= .config/noctalia/templates/zathura-colors
= .config/niri/config.kdl
= .config/alacritty/alacritty.toml
= .config/ghostty/config
= .config/rmpc/config.ron

• Add a file

$ dotrs --action add --file alacritty.toml

~/dots/
.
└── .config
    └── alacritty
        └── alacritty.toml

• Apply dotfiles

$ dotrs --action apply

B .config/alacritty/alacritty.toml.bak
→ .config/alacritty/alacritty.toml
done

Copies dotfiles into $HOME Automatically creates .bak backups for modified files

• Sync local changes back to dotfiles

Use sync when local files have been modified and you want to update the dotfiles repository.

$ dotrs --action status

Legend: + missing | M modified | = clean | ! error
= .config/noctalia/templates/pywalfox-colors.json
= .config/noctalia/templates/zathura-colors
M .config/niri/config.kdl
= .config/ghostty/config
= .config/rmpc/config.ron

$ dotrs --action sync

→ synced .config/niri/config.kdl
done

$ dotrs --action status

Legend: + missing | M modified | = clean | ! error
= .config/noctalia/templates/pywalfox-colors.json
= .config/noctalia/templates/zathura-colors
= .config/niri/config.kdl
= .config/ghostty/config
= .config/rmpc/config.ron