Dotfiles

Personal macOS development environment configuration and setup automation.

Overview

This repository contains my dotfiles and configuration files for a reproducible development environment. It uses GNU Stow for symlink management and Homebrew for package management.

What's Included

• zsh: Shell configuration and customizations
• git: Git configuration and aliases
• config: Application-specific configurations
• kube: Kubernetes-related configurations, encrypted with sops
• Brewfile: Declarative package management for all installed tools

Quick Start

Prerequisites

# Install Homebrew
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Installation

# Clone repo
git clone https://github.com/alexandrbyzov/dotfiles.git ~/dotfiles
cd ~/dotfiles

# Install package from Brewfile
brew bundle --file ~/dotfiles/Brewfile

Create symlinks with Stow

stow zsh git config

Usage

Managing Homebrew Packages

Install packages from Brewfile:

brew bundle --file ~/dotfiles/Brewfile

Update Brewfile with currently installed packages:

brew bundle dump --file ~/dotfiles/Brewfile --force

Managing Dotfiles with Stow

The dotfiles directory is the source of truth. Stow creates symlinks from this repo to your $HOME directory.

# Add new dotfiles
stow <directory-name>

# Remove symlinks
stow -D <directory-name>

# Restow (useful after changes)
stow -R <directory-name>

Configuration Guides

Multiple GitHub Accounts

Configure multiple GitHub accounts by setting up separate SSH hosts in ~/.ssh/config:

Host github.com
    HostName github.com
    User git
    IdentityFile path-to-identity-file
    IdentitiesOnly yes
    AddKeysToAgent yes
    UseKeychain yes

Configuration options:

• IdentitiesOnly yes - Prevents SSH from trying all keys (improves security & performance)
• AddKeysToAgent yes - Caches passphrase in SSH agent
• UseKeychain yes - (macOS) Stores passphrase in system keychain

Usage:

git clone git@github.com:username/repo.git

Storing Secrets in macOS Keychain

For sensitive data like age keys, SSH keys, or API tokens, store them securely in macOS Keychain instead of plain files.

Store a Secret

# Store from file
security add-generic-password -s "secret-name" -a "$USER" -w "$(cat /path/to/secret)"

# Store from clipboard
security add-generic-password -s "secret-name" -a "$USER" -w "$(pbpaste)"

# Add -U flag to sync via iCloud Keychain (optional)
security add-generic-password -s "secret-name" -a "$USER" -w "$(cat /path/to/secret)" -U

Retrieve a Secret

# Print to stdout
security find-generic-password -s "secret-name" -w

# Print to stdout multi-line secret (they are usually Hex-encoded)
security find-generic-password -s "secret-name" -w | xxd -r -p

# Write to file
security find-generic-password -s "secret-name" -w > /path/to/secret

macOS Tweaks

Enable Key Repeat

For a smoother typing experience in editors like VS Code:

defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

Restart your applications for the change to take effect.