Lev's dotfiles

I use macOS, Visual Studio Code, Codex, Ghostty, Fish, and mise.

Notable places

• home/.config/mise/config.toml — global tools, environment, packages, dotfiles, macOS defaults, and sync tasks
• bin — reusable commands
• home — files linked into $HOME
• home/Library/Application Support/Code (VS Code)
• home/.config/git

Migrate this Mac

Once this version is checked out at ~/code/gh/vrslev/dotfiles, migrate the existing installation with:

mise bootstrap --yes

Bootstrap is the migration. It installs anything missing, replaces the old linker with mise-managed symlinks, applies macOS defaults, configures Fish, and verifies the resulting state. It is safe to re-run.

Restart the Mac after the first successful migration so applications reload the managed defaults.

Set up a new Mac

Install Homebrew:

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

Clone this repository:

mkdir -p ~/code/gh/vrslev
git clone https://github.com/vrslev/dotfiles ~/code/gh/vrslev/dotfiles
cd ~/code/gh/vrslev/dotfiles

Install mise:

eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
brew install mise

Bootstrap from the global config source before it has been linked into place:

MISE_GLOBAL_CONFIG_FILE="$PWD/home/.config/mise/config.toml" \
  mise bootstrap --yes

The config is global once ~/.config/mise points to home/.config/mise; there is no project-local mise.toml. Restart the computer after the first bootstrap.

Maintenance

The routine command to remember is:

mise run dotfiles:sync

It fast-forwards the repository, re-applies links, and synchronizes tools and packages. It then checks Fish startup and the essential commands. Run the check separately with mise run dotfiles:check-shell-tools.

Available tasks and read-only bootstrap status are discoverable:

mise tasks
mise bootstrap status

Use mise directly to manage dotfiles:

mise bootstrap dotfiles add --global ~/.example
mise bootstrap dotfiles apply --yes

Caveats

• dotfiles:sync uses git pull --ff-only; it stops instead of rebasing a divergent checkout.
• Removing a package from [bootstrap.packages] does not uninstall it. Prune packages only when removal is intentional.
• Removing a [dotfiles] entry does not remove its existing target. Delete obsolete targets explicitly.
• Mise refuses conflicting dotfile targets by default. Inspect the conflict instead of reaching for --force.
• The config assumes this repository lives at ~/code/gh/vrslev/dotfiles, and most versions are latest, so a fresh bootstrap can resolve newer software.
• Safari defaults and VS Code extensions are intentionally unmanaged.
• The official ChatGPT cask currently owns the same /Applications/ChatGPT.app used by Codex. An identical existing bundle can be adopted; a different bundle at that path blocks installation rather than being overwritten.

Mail merge request filtering

Set OPEN_MAIL_MRS_IGNORED_PROJECTS to a space-separated list of repository paths in the ignored ~/.config/mise/.env file. For those repositories, open-mail-mrs skips threads containing only opening, reviewer assignment, approval, or merge notifications, except for your own MRs. When unset, all repositories are included.

Codex projects

See project reconciliation for product folders, separate package projects, and automatic additions after repository sync.

Personal writing skill

writing-style guides drafts in my voice, with Russian and English examples and notes on its evidence. Mise installs it at ~/.agents/skills/writing-style. Invoke it with $writing-style, or ask Codex to write in my style. Refinements use my own corrections and human-authored prose, excluding generated or assisted drafts.