| name | update-sources |
| description | Capture/re-import live changes from the home directory back into this chezmoi source tree. Use when a deployed file changed on the machine (or you changed a live file) and you want that reflected in the tracked source under `home/`. |
Update sources (re-import live → source)
chezmoi flows source → target. To pull a change that exists in $HOME back into the
tracked source, you re-import it. This is the reverse of apply-to-machine.
Decide direction first
Run chezmoi diff <target> / chezmoi status and decide which side wins:
- Source wins →
chezmoi apply <target> (don't re-import). See apply-to-machine.
- Live wins → re-import into source (below), then commit.
Re-import
- New, untracked file:
chezmoi add <target> (adds it to the source state, applying the
filename attributes for its location).
- Already-managed file that changed live:
chezmoi re-add <target> updates the source from
the current target.
- After either, verify the source actually changed:
git status / git diff under
home/, then chezmoi status should be clean. Commit at the task boundary.
Gotchas / do-NOT for this repo
- Never
chezmoi add / re-add a templated or modify_ target. It would replace the
template/script with the concrete rendered file and you'd lose the logic:
settings.json → edit home/private_dot_claude/modify_settings.json (the jq overlay), not
the live file. Re-adding it reintroduces the key-order churn this repo deliberately removed.- Any
.tmpl → edit the .tmpl source and chezmoi cat to render-check.
known_marketplaces.json is .chezmoiignored — re-adding it won't track it (intentional).- Don't import secrets (
~/.secrets/*, ~/.claude/.credentials.json).
- Empty dirs need a placeholder file; empty files need the
empty_ attribute — git and chezmoi
both drop bare empties.
plugins/known_marketplaces.json aside, if a file shows perpetual drift, suspect an app is
rewriting it — prefer a modify_ script or .chezmoiignore over fighting it by re-adding.
