This repo is the top-level controller for your shell/editor/terminal config. It is intentionally small and uses submodules for each config domain.

• dotfiles (this repo): meta repo that pins versions of child config repos.
• nvim/: Neovim config repo (git@github.com:stirlingwdonaldson/nvim.git).
• tmux/: tmux config repo (git@github.com:stirlingwdonaldson/tmux.git).
• zsh/: zsh config repo (git@github.com:stirlingwdonaldson/zsh.git).

Each child directory is a git submodule, not a normal folder.

1. Keep each tool's config in its own repo (nvim, tmux, zsh).
2. Use this parent repo only to pin submodule commits and document setup.
3. Do not vendor plugin repos inside dotfiles.
4. Install plugins at setup/runtime using each plugin manager.
5. Keep main as the default branch in parent and child repos.

git clone --recurse-submodules git@github.com:stirlingwdonaldson/dotfiles.git ~/dotfiles
cd ~/dotfiles
git submodule update --init --recursive

This repo stores config in subfolders; your tools read config from home paths. Use symlinks:

# zsh
ln -sfn ~/dotfiles/zsh/.zshrc ~/.zshrc

# tmux (choose one style and stay consistent)
ln -sfn ~/dotfiles/tmux/tmux.conf ~/.tmux.conf
mkdir -p ~/.config/tmux
ln -sfn ~/dotfiles/tmux/tmux.conf ~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf

# nvim
mkdir -p ~/.config/nvim
ln -sfn ~/dotfiles/nvim/init.lua ~/.config/nvim/init.lua

tmux/plugins/* is intentionally not tracked in git.

Install TPM and plugins:

# Remove old stale symlink if present from previous layout
if [ -L ~/.tmux/plugins ]; then rm ~/.tmux/plugins; fi

mkdir -p ~/.tmux/plugins
test -d ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm || git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm
~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/bin/install_plugins

Manual install/update from tmux is still available via TPM keybindings.

Example: tmux changes.

cd ~/dotfiles/tmux
git switch main
git pull --ff-only

# edit files

git add .
git commit -m "Update tmux config"
git push

cd ~/dotfiles
git add tmux
git commit -m "Bump tmux submodule"
git push

Repeat the same pattern for nvim and zsh.

From ~/dotfiles:

• modified: tmux (new commits) means submodule HEAD moved.
• modified: tmux (modified content) means uncommitted changes inside submodule.
• You will not see normal per-file diffs for submodule content in parent repo.

From ~/dotfiles/tmux (or nvim, zsh):

• You see normal file-level git status and diffs.

To pull latest parent + submodule pointers:

cd ~/dotfiles
git pull --ff-only
git submodule update --init --recursive

To update all submodules to latest remote heads intentionally:

cd ~/dotfiles
git submodule foreach 'git switch main && git pull --ff-only'
git add nvim tmux zsh
git commit -m "Bump submodules"
git push

Cause: parent directory missing or old broken symlink at ~/.tmux/plugins.

Fix:

rm -f ~/.tmux/plugins
mkdir -p ~/.tmux/plugins
git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm

Check inside the submodule:

git -C ~/dotfiles/tmux status

Commit/push there, then stage pointer in parent:

cd ~/dotfiles
git add tmux
git commit -m "Bump tmux submodule"

git submodule update --init --recursive

alias df='cd ~/dotfiles'
alias dfn='cd ~/dotfiles/nvim'
alias dft='cd ~/dotfiles/tmux'
alias dfz='cd ~/dotfiles/zsh'

• Make config edits in child repos, not by bypassing submodule git history.
• Do not commit secrets in any repo.
• Avoid force-push on shared branches unless you explicitly mean to rewrite history.
• Prefer small, focused commits in each child repo.

# parent status + submodule summary
git -C ~/dotfiles status
git -C ~/dotfiles submodule status --recursive

# child repo status
git -C ~/dotfiles/nvim status
git -C ~/dotfiles/tmux status
git -C ~/dotfiles/zsh status