getdotfiles

Fetch dotfiles from a GitHub user's dotfiles repo and install them to your home directory.

npx getdotfiles <username>

Usage

# Fetch from github.com/username/dotfiles
npx getdotfiles ashleyjackson

# Use a custom repo
npx getdotfiles ashleyjackson --repo my-configs

# Preview without installing
npx getdotfiles ashleyjackson --dry-run

# Overwrite existing files without backup
npx getdotfiles ashleyjackson --force

# Skip confirmation prompt
npx getdotfiles ashleyjackson -y

How it works

1. Lists root contents of github.com/<username>/dotfiles via the GitHub API
2. Recursively finds all files whose name starts with . (dotfiles)
3. Downloads each file from raw.githubusercontent.com
4. Writes each file to ~/ preserving its repo path

Rate limits

Unauthenticated GitHub API allows 60 requests per hour. Set GITHUB_TOKEN env var for 5,000 req/hr:

GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxx npx getdotfiles ashleyjackson

Existing files

If a target file already exists in your home directory, it's backed up with a .backup.{timestamp} suffix before being overwritten. Use --force to skip backup.

License

MIT