neiljohari / dotfiles-local

Personal dotfiles for Neil Johari — macOS (Apple Silicon), zsh, tmux, Vim, iTerm2.

Layered on top of ~/dotfiles (a forked-and-owned copy of thoughtbot/dotfiles). Base provides the scaffolding; this repo (~/dotfiles-local) holds everything personal. Both are symlinked into $HOME by rcm.

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Bootstrap a fresh Mac

One command — install.sh is idempotent and safe to re-run:

# If the repos aren't cloned yet, do this two-step first:
git clone git@github.com:neiljohari/dotfiles-base.git   ~/dotfiles
git clone git@github.com:neiljohari/dotfiles.git        ~/dotfiles-local

# Then:
~/dotfiles-local/install.sh

What it does (each step is a skip if already done):

1. Ensures Xcode Command Line Tools
2. Ensures Homebrew
3. Clones both dotfiles repos (~/dotfiles and ~/dotfiles-local) if missing
4. brew bundle install --file=~/dotfiles-local/Brewfile — formulae, casks, fonts, MAS apps
5. rcup — symlinks both repos into $HOME
6. Symlinks ~/.config/starship.toml and ~/.config/mise/config.toml into the tracked config/ dir
7. mise install — pulls the pinned Node / Python / Ruby versions
8. vim-plug + :PlugInstall — installs vim plugins
9. fzf shell integration (.fzf.zsh)
10. :CocInstall for the coc extensions (solargraph, prettier, tsserver, eslint, json)
11. Points iTerm2 at ~/dotfiles-local/iterm/ for the preferences plist (if you've saved one)
12. Adds saved SSH keys to the macOS keychain

Post-install, one manual step you still have to do: iTerm2 → Settings → Profiles → Text → Font → "FiraCode Nerd Font Mono" (or trust that the saved iTerm2 prefs already set that — see below).

Saving iTerm2 preferences into the repo

iTerm2 stores everything — profiles, fonts, key bindings, color schemes — in one plist. To make those bootstrap-able:

1. ~/dotfiles-local/iterm/ already exists (empty).
2. Open iTerm2 → Settings → General → Preferences.
3. Check "Load preferences from a custom folder or URL" and point it at ~/dotfiles-local/iterm/.
4. Click "Save Now" — iTerm2 writes com.googlecode.iterm2.plist into that folder.
5. Leave "Save changes: Automatically" enabled if you want the repo to track prefs live.
6. cd ~/dotfiles-local && git add iterm/ && git commit -m "Save iTerm2 preferences".

From then on, install.sh step 11 will auto-point a fresh Mac's iTerm2 at those preferences.

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The stack

Layer	Tool
Terminal emulator	iTerm2 (Ghostty installed as option — see docs/REVAMP-2026.md)
Shell	zsh
Plugin manager	antidote (replaced antigen)
Prompt	starship (gruvbox-rainbow preset)
Multiplexer	tmux (prefix C-s, vim-aware split nav via C-h/j/k/l)
Version manager	mise — node, python, ruby, etc.
Conda/mamba	miniforge3, lazy-loaded (no startup tax)
File listing	eza (replaced exa)
Fuzzy finder	fzf + fzf-tab for zsh tab-completion
Find replacement	fd
Cat replacement	bat
Jump to dirs	zoxide — z foo
Dir-local env	direnv
Git TUI	lazygit
GitHub CLI	gh
System monitor	btop
Editor	Vim + coc.nvim (solargraph for Ruby). Neovim migration planned.
ctags	universal-ctags
Clipboard from tmux	pbcopy pipe on mouse-drag or y in copy-mode

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Repo layout

~/dotfiles-local/
├── README.md                      (this file)
├── install.sh                     (idempotent bootstrap for a fresh Mac)
├── docs/
│   └── REVAMP-2026.md             (2026-04 modernization writeup)
├── Brewfile                       (formulae + casks + fonts + MAS apps)
├── Dockerfile.dev                 (legacy, unused)
├── aliases.local                  (eza/bat/btop aliases)
├── config/                        (symlinked into ~/.config by install.sh)
│   ├── starship.toml              (prompt)
│   └── mise/config.toml           (pinned language versions)
├── iterm/                         (iTerm2 preferences plist — save into here)
├── gitconfig.local                (gitconfig overrides)
├── gitignore                      (global gitignore)
├── ssh/config                     (ssh config — single Host *, ControlMaster)
├── tmux.conf.local                (tmux overrides — truecolor, mouse, copy)
├── tmuxline-generated.conf        (tmuxline snapshot, sourced by tmux.conf.local)
├── vim/coc-settings.json          (coc.nvim config — Ruby, TS, Prettier)
├── vimrc.bundles.local            (extra vim plugins: coc, gruvbox, vimspector, …)
├── vimrc.local                    (vim config — gruvbox, coc mappings, rspec, …)
├── zsh_plugins.txt                (antidote plugin manifest)
├── zshenv.local                   (PATH for non-interactive shells — Homebrew + cargo)
└── zshrc.local                    (interactive shell config — antidote, starship, mise, …)

rcup resolves dotfiles-local/foo → ~/.foo (leading dot is added automatically).

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Extending the setup

Add a shell plugin

Append a line to zsh_plugins.txt (user/repo form), then antidote reset && exec zsh.

Add a new language

mise use -g go@latest
mise use -g rust@latest

mise writes to ~/.config/mise/config.toml.

Add a vim plugin

Append Plug 'author/repo' to vimrc.bundles.local, then in vim :PlugInstall.

Change the prompt

Pick a new starship preset (starship preset --list), then:

starship preset nerd-font-symbols -o ~/.config/starship.toml

All presets except plain-text-symbols need a Nerd Font.

Add per-project shell env

Put an .envrc file in the project, add export SOMETHING=value, then run direnv allow.

Add a Brew formula

Append to Brewfile, then brew bundle install --file=~/dotfiles-local/Brewfile.

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Key bindings worth remembering

tmux

Binding	Action
C-s (prefix)	All tmux commands
C-h / C-l	Prev / next window (no prefix)
C-h/j/k/l inside tmux + vim	Seamless pane + split navigation
prefix + - / \	Split horizontally / vertically
prefix + b	Break pane into new window
prefix + j	Join pane from another session (prompt)
prefix + s	Swap pane (prompt)
prefix + [	Enter copy-mode
v in copy-mode	Start selection
y in copy-mode	Copy to system clipboard (pbcopy)
Mouse drag	Select + copy to system clipboard

zsh

Binding / Command	Action
z foo	jump to frecent dir matching "foo" (zoxide)
lg	launch lazygit
ll / la	eza -lh --git / eza -lah --git
grt	cd $(git root)
direnv allow	approve an .envrc in this directory
tat	create-or-attach tmux session for this dir

vim (leader = <space>)

Mapping	Action
<leader>t/s/l/a	RSpec: file / nearest / last / all
<leader>db	Termdebug (gdb)
gd gi gr gy	coc: def / impl / refs / type-def
K	coc: show docs
[g / ]g	prev / next diagnostic
<leader>rn	coc: rename symbol
<leader>f	coc: format selected
ii in insert	<Esc>
C-p	:Files (fzf)
\	:Ag (prompt for pattern)

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Troubleshooting

• ? boxes in the prompt → iTerm2 isn't using a Nerd Font. Fix in Settings → Profiles → Text → Font.
• compinit: no such file or directory after a brew change → rm -f ~/.zcompdump* && exec zsh.
• Tmux copy still feels broken → make sure you're on tmux 3.5+ (brew upgrade tmux). set-clipboard on was removed because tmux 3.3a crashes under heavy output.
• Shell startup got slow again → zmodload zsh/zprof at the top of zshrc.local, zprof | head -30 at the bottom, open a new shell, read.
• SSH asks for passphrase every time → ssh-add --apple-use-keychain ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 once to store in macOS keychain.

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History

See docs/REVAMP-2026.md for the 2026-04 modernization that rebuilt this setup from a 2020-era thoughtbot fork.