set-me-up installer

This is the universal installer script used to install 'set-me-up' (smu) on a Mac, debian, arch based machine.

Obtaining set-me-up installer

To start, your default shell must be set to bash prior to executing the install snippet for the first time. This is because on newer versions of Mac OS, the default shell is zsh instead of bash. To change your default shell, run the following command in your console.

sudo chsh -s $(which bash) $(whoami)

Once the default shell is bash, close and reopen the terminal window. Then, run the following command in your console.

(⚠️ DO NOT run the install snippet if you don't fully understand what it does. Seriously, DON'T!)

bash <(curl -s -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dotbrains/set-me-up-installer/main/install.sh)

You can change the smu home directory by setting an environment variable called SMU_HOME_DIR. Please keep the variable declared or else the smu scripts are unable to pickup the sources.

export SMU_HOME_DIR="some-path" \
    bash <(curl -s -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dotbrains/set-me-up-installer/main/install.sh)

Discovering modules

smu resolves a module name like productivity-tools/hyperkey against the directory tree at $SMU_HOME_DIR/dotfiles/modules/, which is laid out by OS bucket:

$SMU_HOME_DIR/dotfiles/modules/
├── macos/        # MacOS-only modules
├── debian/       # Debian/Ubuntu-only modules
├── arch/         # Arch-only modules
└── universal/    # Modules that work on any supported OS

A module is any directory under one of those buckets that contains a matching <name>.sh script, a brewfile, or (on Debian-based systems) a packages file. The path you pass to -m is the path relative to the bucket — for example, modules/macos/productivity-tools/hyperkey/hyperkey.sh is invoked as:

smu -p --no-base -m productivity-tools/hyperkey

The community-maintained module collections live in their own repositories — browse these to see what's available and to crib examples when authoring your own:

• dotbrains/set-me-up-macos-modules
• dotbrains/set-me-up-debian-modules
• dotbrains/set-me-up-universal-modules

Listing what's installed locally

To see the modules currently available in your $SMU_HOME_DIR, use -l / --list-modules:

smu -l

Output is grouped by OS bucket. Each entry is tagged [script], [brewfile], or [packages] so you know what kind of module it is, and the name shown is the exact value you'd pass to -m:

macos/
  productivity/hyperkey       [brewfile]
  terminal/alacritty          [script]

debian/
  browsers/chrome             [packages]
  development-tools/cursor    [script]

universal/
  python/pip                  [script]
  shell                       [brewfile]

Found 6 module(s) (showing 'macos' + 'universal'; use --all to include other OS buckets).
Run a module with: smu -p --no-base -m <module>

By default the list hides modules that don't apply to the current OS. Pass --all to include every bucket:

smu -l --all

To narrow the list, pass --search <query> (case-insensitive substring match against the module name):

smu -l --search hyper
smu -l --search python --all

Interactive picker (fzf)

For a faster workflow, use -i / --interactive to launch an fzf-powered multi-select picker. Type to fuzzy-filter, press SPACE (or TAB) to toggle a module, and press ENTER to provision everything you selected:

smu -i --no-base

-i honors the same filters as -l:

smu -i --search node          # pre-fill the fzf query with "node"
smu -i --all                  # include modules from other OS buckets

Selected modules are run through the same provisioning pipeline as -p -m ..., including the -b / --no-base flags. Requires fzf to be installed (brew install fzf, apt install fzf, or pacman -S fzf).

Auditing what's installed

Use -st / --status to see which modules are currently installed on the machine. Detection is read-only and never prompts:

smu --status
smu --status --search font
smu --status --all      # include modules from other OS buckets
smu --status -V         # verbose: show per-entry detail (e.g. "2/3 entries present")

Output lists every visible module with a state tag and a count summary at the bottom:

debian/
  browsers/chrome             [packages]   [OK] installed
  development-tools/cursor    [script]     [OK] installed
  development-tools/zed       [script]     [--] missing
  fonts/fira-code             [script]     [??] unknown   (no fira-code.installed marker)

3 module(s) (showing 'debian' + 'universal'; use --all to include other OS buckets):
  1 installed, 1 missing, 0 partial, 1 unknown

State meanings:

Tag	Meaning
[OK] installed	The module's payload is fully present.
[--] missing	The module's payload is fully absent.
[~~] partial	Some entries from a packages file are present, others aren't.
[??] unknown	A *.sh module without a sibling <name>.installed marker (smu refuses to guess).

How each kind is detected:

• brewfile → brew bundle check --file <brewfile> --no-upgrade.
• packages → each entry checked individually (dpkg -s, snap list, sources.list.d lookups). Reports partial when only some entries are present.
• *.sh → if the module ships an opt-in <name>.installed sibling, smu sources it under utilities.sh; exit 0 means installed. Without the marker the module reports unknown.

Uninstalling modules

Use -u / --uninstall to undo a module's install. Brewfiles and packages files are reversed declaratively; *.sh modules require an opt-in <name>.uninstall.sh sibling, otherwise they're surfaced as "cannot auto-uninstall — manual cleanup required" and skipped.

smu -u -m media/spotify productivity/raycast    # prompts [y/N]
smu -u -m media/spotify --dry-run               # show the plan, change nothing
smu -u -m media/spotify -y                      # skip the prompt (scripts/CI)
smu -iu                                         # fzf picker, multi-select uninstall

The plan is shown before any destructive action so you can sanity-check it:

The following will be uninstalled:
  - development-tools/cursor  (cursor.uninstall.sh ; apt_remove_from_file packages)
  - browsers/chrome           (apt_remove_from_file packages)

Cannot auto-uninstall:
  ! installers                (no installers.uninstall.sh)

Continue? [y/N]

How each kind is reversed:

• brewfile → brew bundle cleanup --file <brewfile> --force.
• packages → apt_remove_from_file packages (mirrors apt_install_from_file's regex set: apt remove, snap remove, add-apt-repository --remove, rm for source lists / gpg keyrings).
• *.sh → sources sibling <name>.uninstall.sh. Modules that share their directory with a packages (Debian) or brewfile (macOS) file run both inverses in order: per-module uninstaller first (apt repos, signing keys, vendor dirs the install script added), then the declarative cleanup (shared dependencies the install script asked for).

Authoring sibling files for a custom *.sh module

Two optional files alongside <name>.sh opt the module into the status and uninstall flows:

• <name>.installed — sourced by --status. Exit 0 means installed; non-zero means missing. Keep it terse:

  # development-tools/cursor/cursor.installed
  package_is_installed "cursor"

• <name>.uninstall.sh — sourced by --uninstall. Same shape as the install script: source utilities.sh, guard with is_macos / is_debian, do the inverse work. Don't re-undo what a sibling packages / brewfile declares — smu chains those automatically:

  # development-tools/cursor/cursor.uninstall.sh
  source "$HOME/set-me-up/dotfiles/utilities/utilities.sh"
  
  main() {
      if ! is_debian; then error "Debian only!"; return 1; fi
      ask_for_sudo
      sudo apt-get remove --purge -y cursor &> /dev/null
      sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/cursor.list
      sudo rm -f /etc/apt/keyrings/cursor.gpg
      sudo apt-get autoremove -qqy &> /dev/null
  }
  main

Without these sibling files a module installs as before but reports unknown under --status and is skipped by --uninstall — never silently broken.

Liability

The creator of this repo is not responsible if your machine ends up in a state you are not happy with.

Contributions

Yes please! This is a GitHub repo. I encourage anyone to contribute. 😃

License

This project is licensed under the PolyForm Shield License 1.0.0 -- see LICENSE for details.