dotfiles

Config files to set up my macOS systems and keep them in sync — Homebrew, editor configs, guided defaults, workflow scripts, and Agent Skills for Codex and Cursor.

Maintained by Gil Desmarais (Berlin). Profile, projects, and links: gildesmarais/gildesmarais.

Getting started

• Install homebrew

• brew install rcm topgrade

• git clone git@github.com:gildesmarais/dotfiles.git ~/.dotfiles && cd ~/.dotfiles && rcup -v

• topgrade

• cd ~/.dotfiles && brew bundle

• Setup vim:

  mkdir -p ~/.vim/backups
  mkdir -p ~/.vim/swaps
  mkdir -p ~/.vim/undo

Quick-start tools

Script	What it does	Prerequisites
./scripts/macos-defaults-apply	Guided wizard that applies my preferred macOS defaults and prompts for the manual tweaks listed below.	macOS, sudo access for protected settings.
./scripts/wiki	fzf-powered browser for the local wiki directory that opens files in your preferred editor.	fzf, git, rg, optional VISUAL/EDITOR or WIKI_* overrides.
./scripts/download-audio	Fetches remote audio (e.g., YouTube URLs) and normalises them via the process-audio pipeline for library-ready files.	aria2, ffmpeg, yt-dlp; installs live in the Brewfile.
./scripts/skill	Store hygiene for agents/skills (list, promote, rename). Agent install on this machine is rcup; any machine can use npx skills.	Ruby 2.6+, optional git for auto-detecting the project root.
./scripts/playground	Picks or creates playground projects for pg; interactive mode supports Ctrl-O to open the highlighted folder in Finder.	fzf, rg; macOS open for Finder shortcut.

Agent Skills

Personal and custom Agent Skills live in agents/skills/. Domain map, compose rules, and optional packs: agents/skills/README.md.

Who	How to install
Any machine (no clone / rcup)	npx skills — see below
This machine (dotfiles + rcm)	rcup → ~/.agents/skills/ (also via topgrade RCM: rcup)
Optional third-party packs	Separate npx skills add — agents/skills/README.md

Install skills (any machine)

Requires Node.js / npx. Skills ship from GitHub path agents/skills/.

npx skills add gildesmarais/dotfiles/agents/skills --list
npx skills add gildesmarais/dotfiles/agents/skills -g -a cursor -a codex -y
npx skills add gildesmarais/dotfiles/agents/skills --skill review.gil --skill docs -g -a cursor -y

Browse with --list, then install all (-g = user-level) or pick skills with --skill. Full options: agents/skills/README.md.

This machine (store hygiene)

1. Experiment in any repo under .agents/skills/.
2. Promote proven skills: skill promote <name> → moves into agents/skills/ in this repo.
3. Install with rcup (or wait for topgrade) so agents see ~/.agents/skills/<name>/.

skill list
skill promote my-skill
skill rename ruby-dev ruby
rcup -v

promote and rename update the store only — run rcup next. Use skill --project /path/to/project ... to target a project other than the current git root or working directory.

List the published set: skill list (this machine) or npx skills add gildesmarais/dotfiles/agents/skills --list (any machine).

macOS System Configuration

Run the following script to apply system-wide defaults:

./scripts/macos-defaults-apply

For settings that cannot be scripted, follow these manual steps:

• Apple Watch Unlock: Enable via System Settings > Touch ID & Password.
• Three Finger Swipe: Verify in System Settings > Trackpad > More Gestures.
• Pointer Outline Color: Configure in System Settings > Accessibility.
• Screenshot Location: Open the Screenshot App, navigate to Options, and set your preferred save location.
• Sudo with Touch ID:
  1. Open the sudoers file for editing: sudo vim /etc/pam.d/sudo
  2. Add the following line at the top of the file:

     auth       sufficient     pam_tid.so

macOS homebrew

After symlinking the Brewfile, install the specified applications with:

brew bundle install --global

This step pulls down the command-line helpers the shell expects to find:

• lsd for the ls/ll aliases defined in zshrc.
• zsh-autosuggestions to enable inline completions when the plugin is available.

ZSH Setup

1. git clone --recursive https://github.com/sorin-ionescu/prezto.git "${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zprezto"
2. mkdir -p ~/.zprezto-contrib
3. open a fresh zsh shell

VSCode

Key repeat on hold is enabled via the macos-defaults script.

macOS: use another default text editor

brew install duti yq
curl "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/linguist/master/lib/linguist/languages.yml" \
  | yq -r "to_entries | (map(.value.extensions) | flatten) - [null] | unique | .[]" \
  | xargs -L 1 -I "{}" duti -s com.microsoft.VSCode {} all

Find other editors by lsappinfo | grep 'bundleID="' | cut -d'"' -f2 | sort.

Source: https://alexpeattie.com/blog/associate-source-code-files-with-editor-in-macos-using-duti/