dotfiles

Personal zsh configuration for macOS with Oh My Zsh.

Structure

.zprofile              # Homebrew bootstrap (runs at login, before .zshrc)
.zshrc                 # Oh My Zsh config + sources modular scripts
.zsh/
  prompt.zsh           # Prompt overrides (full relative path instead of dir name)
  environment.zsh      # LANG, EDITOR, PATH entries
  gnu-utils.zsh        # GNU coreutils/findutils/etc. PATH setup
  asdf.zsh             # asdf version manager + custom `which` extension
  aliases.zsh          # Custom shell aliases
  brew-check.zsh       # Daily Homebrew update check with upgrade prompt
Brewfile               # Homebrew packages (GNU utils, git, asdf, pdm, fonts)
install.sh             # Bootstrap script for a fresh machine

Setup

Clone to ~/dotfiles and run the install script:

git clone https://github.com/jpstroop/dotfiles.git ~/dotfiles
~/dotfiles/install.sh
exec zsh

The install script will:

1. Install Xcode Command Line Tools (if not already present)
2. Install Homebrew packages from the Brewfile
3. Install Oh My Zsh (if not already present)
4. Symlink .zprofile, .zshrc, and .zsh/ into your home directory
5. Back up any existing files before overwriting
6. Install asdf plugins (python, ruby), generate .tool-versions with latest versions on first run, and install them
7. Make deployed dotfiles read-only to prevent accidental edits

Homebrew itself must be installed first: https://brew.sh

What's customized

GNU coreutils over BSD

GNU coreutils, findutils, grep, sed, tar, and others are more full-featured than the BSD versions that ship with macOS. This config installs them via Homebrew and prepends them to PATH so they take precedence. LS_COLORS is set via dircolors for colored ls output.

asdf version manager

Adds asdf shims to PATH and sets up completions. Extends asdf which with an optional third argument to look up the binary path for a specific version:

asdf which python 3.7.6
# /Users/you/.asdf/installs/python/3.7.6/bin/python

Homebrew update check

On shell startup, if it's been more than 24 hours since the last check, runs brew update and lists outdated packages with an interactive upgrade prompt.

Prompt

Overrides the robbyrussell theme to show the full path relative to $HOME (%~) instead of just the current directory name.

Aliases

Overrides Oh My Zsh's ls alias to use GNU-compatible flags (--color=auto) and show hidden files (-a).

Development workflow

The deployed copy lives at ~/dotfiles. Make changes in a separate working copy (e.g. ~/workspace/dotfiles), then push to GitHub and pull into the deployed copy. The install script makes deployed files read-only, so accidental edits there will fail with a permission error.

Adding new modular configs

Create a new .zsh file in the .zsh/ directory and add a source line to .zshrc:

source "${0:A:h}/.zsh/my-new-config.zsh"

The ${0:A:h} pattern resolves symlinks, so source paths work whether .zshrc is accessed directly or via the ~/.zshrc symlink.

License

MIT