Chezmoi Sync (Interactive)
On-demand replacement for the automatic chezmoi stop guard. Run this skill whenever you want to check for chezmoi drift and sync tracked dotfiles.
Self-Evolving Skill: This skill improves through use. If instructions are wrong, parameters drifted, or a workaround was needed — fix this file immediately, don't defer. Only update for real, reproducible issues.
Workflow
Step 1: Check for drift
Run
and
to detect drift between the source repo and home directory.
bash
chezmoi source-path && chezmoi status && echo "---" && chezmoi diff --no-pager | head -80
If output is empty (no drift), report "Chezmoi is clean — no drift detected" and stop.
Step 2: Present drift to user (AskUserQuestion)
If drift exists, use
to show the user what drifted and ask what to do.
Question 1 (header: "Drift action"):
"Chezmoi detected N drifted file(s): [list files]. What would you like to do?"
Options:
- Sync all — all drifted files, commit, and push
- Review each — Walk through each file individually with per-file choices
- Ignore — Skip sync, I'll handle it later
Step 3a: Sync all (if chosen)
bash
chezmoi re-add --verbose
chezmoi git -- add -A && chezmoi git -- commit -m "sync: dotfiles" && chezmoi git -- push
chezmoi status # Verify clean
Report the commit hash and confirm clean state.
Step 3b: Review each (if chosen)
For each drifted file, use
:
Question (header: "File action"):
"[filename] has changed. What should we do?"
Options:
- Sync — Add this file to chezmoi source ()
- Diff — Show the full diff first, then ask again
- Forget — Stop tracking this file (
chezmoi forget --force <path>
- Skip — Leave it drifted for now
After processing all files, if any were synced:
bash
chezmoi git -- add -A && chezmoi git -- commit -m "sync: dotfiles" && chezmoi git -- push
Step 3c: Ignore (if chosen)
Report: "Skipped chezmoi sync. Run
/dotfiles-tools:chezmoi-sync
when ready."
Notes
- Always use (not bare ) to avoid TTY prompt issues
- The chezmoi source dir is (configured in
~/.config/chezmoi/chezmoi.toml
Post-Execution Reflection
After this skill completes, reflect before closing the task:
- Locate yourself. — Find this SKILL.md's canonical path before editing.
- What failed? — Fix the instruction that caused it.
- What worked better than expected? — Promote to recommended practice.
- What drifted? — Fix any script, reference, or dependency that no longer matches reality.
- Log it. — Evolution-log entry with trigger, fix, and evidence.
Do NOT defer. The next invocation inherits whatever you leave behind.