Dotfiles

Personal machine setup for macOS workstations and Arch Linux servers.

mise is the source of truth for setup:

• system/bootstrap packages
• portable developer tools
• repository checkout
• dotfile symlinks
• macOS defaults

shared/ is applied everywhere. macos/ and arch/ are platform overlays selected with mise environments.

New Machine Bootstrap

On macOS, install or clone from a shell that can run the repo bootstrap:

./bootstrap

After mise is available, the equivalent full macOS convergence command is:

mise bootstrap --yes -E macos

On a fresh Arch server, create and SSH in as the target user, then use the public HTTPS checkout to cross the initial bootstrap boundary:

sudo pacman -Syu --needed git mise
git clone https://github.com/laulauland/dotfiles.git ~/code/laulauland/dotfiles
cd ~/code/laulauland/dotfiles
./bootstrap

Do not run the whole bootstrap as root. The script uses sudo only for the parts that need it. It installs mise through pacman; mise then owns Arch system packages, the fish login shell, portable tools, agent dependencies, and dotfiles. On Arch it installs GitHub CLI first and pauses for gh auth login before resolving GitHub-hosted tools. It also installs yay from the AUR. If a pre-existing dotfile should be replaced, inspect the dry run and re-run with ./bootstrap --force-dotfiles.

Codex is installed by a mise post-tools hook using OpenAI's standalone installer so managed features such as codex remote-control converge too. The hook authenticates the installer's GitHub API lookup with the existing gh session.

Claude Code is installed by the same post-tools phase using Anthropic's native standalone installer.

Useful focused commands:

mise bootstrap status -E macos
mise bootstrap status -E arch
mise dotfiles apply --dry-run -E macos
mise dotfiles apply --dry-run -E arch

Configuration And Tooling Changes

Tool and setup changes belong in shared/.config/mise/config.toml unless they are platform-specific.

• Add portable CLI tools under [tools].
• Add macOS Homebrew formulae or Mac App Store apps under [bootstrap.packages].
• Keep Homebrew casks in Caskfile; the mise post-packages hook installs it.
• Add Arch system packages under [bootstrap.packages] in shared/.config/mise/config.arch.toml.
• Arch bootstrap installs yay after mise-owned system packages are available; use it from an idempotent mise bootstrap hook when an AUR package is needed.

After changing tooling, verify with the relevant dry run or status command:

mise bootstrap status -E macos
mise bootstrap status -E arch
mise install --dry-run

New Dotfile Configuration

Put cross-platform configuration in shared/, macOS-only configuration in macos/, and Arch-only configuration in arch/.

When adding a new dotfile directory or file, add a matching [dotfiles] entry:

• Shared entries go in shared/.config/mise/config.toml.
• macOS overlay entries go in shared/.config/mise/config.macos.toml.
• Arch overlay entries go in shared/.config/mise/config.arch.toml.

Prefer explicit entries over broad directory links. Do not link mutable state, caches, histories, generated installs, secrets, or host-local files such as:

• ~/.local/share
• ~/.local/state
• ~/.config/fish/fish_variables
• app caches, logs, databases, and generated package/tool installs

Validate dotfile changes before applying them:

mise dotfiles apply --dry-run -E macos
mise dotfiles apply --dry-run -E arch