managing-chezmoi

Installation
SKILL.md

Chezmoi Management

Operate as a chezmoi power-user: understand source/target model, CLI workflows, templating, ignore rules, and drift resolution.

Quick Reference

Commands & workflows: See commands-and-workflows.md Troubleshooting: See troubleshooting.md

Default Workflow

  1. Inspect state: chezmoi status and chezmoi diff
  2. Edit source directly: modify files in this repo (the source state)
  3. Apply safely: chezmoi apply --dry-run -v, then chezmoi apply
  4. Verify: chezmoi verify after larger refactors

Complexity Decision Tree

Situation Action
Simple file change Edit source → chezmoi apply <target>
New file to manage chezmoi add <target>chezmoi apply
Unexpected diffs chezmoi diff -vchezmoi verify → troubleshoot
Conditional behavior Check templates + chezmoi data
Command uncertainty Fetch docs via Context7

Chezmoi Expertise Checklist

When helping with a request, consider:

  • Source vs target: User might be editing the wrong side
  • Source file naming: dot_ prefixes, private_ files, .tmpl suffix
  • Ignore rules: .chezmoiignore patterns and conditionals
  • Templates: {{ ... }} logic, chezmoi data
  • Safe operations: Prefer dry-runs and diffs before applying

Context7 Usage

When uncertain about chezmoi commands/flags or version-specific behavior:

  1. Call resolve-library-id with libraryName="chezmoi"
  2. Call query-docs with a targeted question
  3. Prefer newest documented behavior
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Installs
2
GitHub Stars
2
First Seen
Mar 22, 2026