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Shell and Repo Workflow

Working with the dotfiles repo itself, plus general shell utilities shipped by this repo.

Tip 20.1: Working with the Dotfiles Repo​

The on-ramp tip — everything else assumes you can edit, reload, and re-apply this repo.

dot           # cd ~/.dotfiles
qs            # open the repo in $EDITOR
qv            # open ~/.vimrc in $EDITOR (use 'qs' to roam from there)
reload        # re-source ~/.zshrc / ~/.bashrc after editing source/*.sh
dotfiles      # re-run init scripts (apply new copy/link entries, install new homebrew/cask/flatpak entries)

Typical loop: edit a file in source/, run reload, the new alias/function is live. For changes to copy/, link/, or init/, run dotfiles to apply them. From source/30_aliases.sh, source/22_editor.sh, bin/dotfiles.

Tip 20.2: File and Directory Helpers​

mkcd path/to/dir       # mkdir -p + cd into it
cl path                # cd + ls -la
extract foo.tar.gz     # auto-detect archive type, unpack
extract foo.zip
dict word              # search the system dictionary (uses `ag`)

From source/40_functions.sh. For Python cache cleanup, the omz python plugin's pyclean is preferred — see Tip 30.1.

Tip 20.3: The q Editor Shortcut​

Open files in $EDITOR, or pipe stdin into vim.

q some-file.txt              # open in $EDITOR
q file1 file2 file3          # multiple files
ps aux | q                   # pipe stdin into vim (a stand-in for clipboard editing)

The :q muscle-memory alias also exits the shell. From source/22_editor.sh.

Tip 20.4: eachdir — Run a Command Across Many Directories​

Useful when you have a parent dir full of repos and want to run something in each.

cd ~/src
eachdir 'git status -s'             # quick repo overview
eachdir 'git pull --rebase'         # update everything
eachdir 'mvn test' repo-* repo2-*   # filter to matching subdirs

eachdir is sourced (via the eachdir alias) so it can use your shell aliases and functions inside the wrapped command. From bin/eachdir.

Tip 20.5: isip — Check Bound IP Addresses​

isip                  # list all IPs bound to local interfaces
isip 192.168.1.42     # exit 0 if that IP is bound, non-zero otherwise

Handy for scripts that need to wait for a VPN or detect a particular network. From bin/isip.

Tip 20.6: Documentation Site​

README.md, TIPS.md, tips/*.md, init/README.md, and source/README.md are also rendered to https://dotfiles.lindjo.no via Docusaurus on every push to main. Source files stay in their canonical locations; website/scripts/gather-docs.ts copies them into website/docs-generated/ (gitignored) at build time.

cd ~/.dotfiles/website
npm install                  # first time only
npm start                    # local dev server with live reload
npm run build                # production build (catches broken links)

CI is .github/workflows/deploy-docs.yml. If you add a new top-level dir or root-level file referenced from a gathered doc, extend SOURCE_DIRS / ROOT_FILES in gather-docs.ts so links rewrite correctly.