chezmoi-init

name	chezmoi-init
description	Bootstrap chezmoi on a new machine, clone an existing dotfiles repo, migrate existing dotfiles, or run one-shot init scripts.

First-time initialization

See references/setup.md for more details.

chezmoi init

Creates the source directory at ~/.local/share/chezmoi as a git repository. If the source directory contains a .chezmoi.$FORMAT.tmpl file, generates the config file from that template. Does not apply any files — run chezmoi apply separately. Re-running chezmoi init with no repo regenerates the config file (e.g. after editing the config template).

Initialize from an existing dotfiles repo

chezmoi init https://github.com/user/dotfiles.git

Use --apply to clone and apply in one step:

chezmoi init --apply https://github.com/user/dotfiles.git

Use --purge to remove the source, config, and cache directories after applying (useful for ephemeral environments):

chezmoi init --apply --purge https://github.com/user/dotfiles.git

Use --one-shot for transitory environments (e.g. containers) — equivalent to --apply --depth=1 --force --purge --purge-binary:

chezmoi init --one-shot user/dotfiles

Repo URL guessing

chezmoi init user           # https://[e-mail]/user/dotfiles.git
chezmoi init user/myrepo    # https://[e-mail]/user/myrepo.git
chezmoi init gitlab.com/user/myrepo  # https://[e-mail]/user/myrepo.git

Pass --ssh to guess SSH URLs instead ([e-mail]:user/dotfiles.git), or --guess-repo-url=false to disable guessing. See references/commands.md for the full pattern table.

Overriding directories

--source, --destination, and --config are global flags, not init-specific — see the chezmoi-cli-commands skill. Init's own -C/--config-path flag writes the generated config file to a different location.

chezmoi init --source ~/.dotfiles
chezmoi init --config-path /path/to/chezmoi.toml

To persist a custom source directory, set the sourceDir config option (see the chezmoi-configuration skill). See references/commands.md for full init flag details.

One-line bootstrap on a new machine

Install chezmoi, clone the repo, and apply in a single command:

sh -c "$(curl -fsLS https://get.chezmoi.io)" -- init --apply user/dotfiles

For transitory environments, use --one-shot to also remove all traces of chezmoi afterwards:

sh -c "$(curl -fsLS https://get.chezmoi.io)" -- init --one-shot user/dotfiles

Handling existing files

If a target file has been modified since chezmoi last wrote it, chezmoi apply prompts before overwriting. Preview changes with chezmoi diff, overwrite without prompting with chezmoi apply --force, or merge with chezmoi merge <file>.

To incorporate existing dotfiles into chezmoi:

chezmoi add ~/.bashrc ~/.gitconfig

Custom source directory

chezmoi init --source ~/.dotfiles

This overrides the source directory for chezmoi commands. It does not set up a bare repository. Then migrate files using chezmoi add.

Verifying the initialized state

chezmoi doctor         # check for problems
chezmoi data           # confirm template data loaded
chezmoi diff           # preview what would be applied
chezmoi managed        # list managed files

Re-initialization

To reset and start over (destructive):

chezmoi purge --binary  # removes source dir, config, and chezmoi binary
chezmoi init            # start fresh