Devflow

My dotfiles and bootstrap script. Works on macOS and Debian/Ubuntu.

One-line install

Remote Linux server

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/uzairali19/devflow/main/scripts/bootstrap.sh | bash

What it does:

• installs base system packages (build-essential, curl, git, ca-certificates)
• clones or updates devflow into ~/devflow
• runs ./install.sh --remote --languages
• links configs and installs mise-managed runtimes

Supports Debian/Ubuntu (apt) and RHEL/Fedora (dnf/yum). Anything else, install git/curl/build-tools manually then run ./install.sh --remote --languages.

Custom install directory

DEVFLOW_DIR="$HOME/.devflow" \
  curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/uzairali19/devflow/main/scripts/bootstrap.sh | bash

Custom branch

DEVFLOW_BRANCH=dev \
  curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/uzairali19/devflow/main/scripts/bootstrap.sh | bash

Custom repo

DEVFLOW_REPO_URL=git@github.com:you/devflow.git \
  curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/uzairali19/devflow/main/scripts/bootstrap.sh | bash

Full details and troubleshooting in docs/bootstrap.md.

Manual install

git clone https://github.com/uzairali19/devflow.git ~/devflow
cd ~/devflow

./install.sh --local                  # macOS
./install.sh --remote                 # Linux server
./install.sh --local --languages      # macOS + mise (node/python/go/rust)
./install.sh --remote --languages     # Linux + mise
./install.sh --languages              # add mise to an existing install

Flags:

--languages        also install mise (language/runtime version manager)
--skip-packages    don't run the package installer
--skip-shell       don't change the login shell
-h, --help         usage

Existing dotfiles get renamed to *.backup.devflow.<timestamp> before anything is linked. Re-running the installer is safe.

Tools

zsh, starship, tmux, nvim, git, curl, fzf, ripgrep, fd, bat, eza, jq, tree. Ghostty is added on macOS only.

What gets linked

~/.zshrc                  -> configs/zsh/zshrc
~/.tmux.conf              -> configs/tmux/tmux.conf
~/.config/starship.toml   -> configs/starship/starship.toml
~/.config/nvim            -> configs/nvim/
~/.config/mise/config.toml -> configs/mise/config.toml
~/.config/ghostty         -> configs/ghostty/    (macOS only)
~/.local/bin/devflow      -> bin/devflow

The installer also copies configs/zsh/zshrc.local.example to ~/.zshrc.local once, only if you don't already have one. That file is never overwritten.

Secrets and host-specific env

Anything that shouldn't be in git lives in ~/.zshrc.local:

# ~/.zshrc.local
export OPENAI_API_KEY="..."
export AWS_PROFILE="staging"
alias k='kubectl'

It's sourced at the very end of .zshrc, so it can override anything above. It is git-ignored and never tracked by devflow.

Don't put secrets in configs/zsh/zshrc — that file is committed.

Ghostty

The Ghostty config in this repo is a verbatim copy of my actual ~/.config/ghostty/config: GitHub Dark High Contrast theme, JetBrainsMono Nerd Font 14, bar cursor, 16px padding, 200k scrollback, black background at 0.75 opacity with 30px blur, my Super-key splits/nav/copy/paste bindings, and macos-option-as-alt = true for tmux Alt+hjkl.

devflow does not opinionate on terminal visuals. Edit configs/ghostty/config freely; re-sync from ~/.config/ghostty/config whenever you change something there.

Prompt

Starship by default. No oh-my-zsh, no plugin manager. Cold zsh startup is fast.

Languages and runtimes

devflow uses mise as the language version manager when --languages is passed. One tool for node, python, go, rust, and more. Replaces nvm/pyenv/rbenv/asdf.

mise install                # install versions from the global config
mise current                # show what's active
mise use -g node@lts        # change a global default
mise use node@20            # set a project-local override

The starting global config is configs/mise/config.toml (node lts, python 3.12, go latest, rust stable). Full guide in docs/languages.md.

Other tooling in zsh

Loaded only when present, no errors if missing:

• pnpm (~/Library/pnpm on macOS, ~/.local/share/pnpm on Linux)
• nvm and pyenv — kept as legacy fallbacks; only loaded when mise is not installed
• Python certifi for SSL_CERT_FILE / REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE

Not included

devflow does not install services or databases (MongoDB, Postgres, Redis, etc.). Those belong per-project, usually via Docker. Docker itself is not installed by devflow either — install separately if you need it. See docs/languages.md for a MongoDB AVX gotcha worth knowing about.

devflow command

Dotfiles are the floor; the CLI is the workflow layer on top. Rule: it never wraps a command that's already perfect (ssh/git/docker) — every subcommand combines several operations or generates structure.

daily
  devflow status            project dashboard: git, docker, TODOs, latest ADR/journal
  devflow session [name]    new or attach tmux session
  devflow sessions          list sessions
  devflow journal today     create/open journal/YYYY-MM-DD.md in the project
  devflow adr new "Title"   create decisions/ADR-YYYYMMDD-title.md
  devflow notes today       create/open ~/devflow-notes/YYYY-MM-DD.md

projects
  devflow project init NAME documented project scaffold (markdown only)
  devflow project open NAME tmux session rooted at the project

servers
  devflow health <host>     one-shot remote health report (<host> = ssh alias)

devflow itself
  devflow doctor            run healthcheck
  devflow debug             PATH / version-manager triage
  devflow update            git pull + re-link
  devflow path              print repo root

Design and rationale in docs/v2.md. Self-study lessons in training/.

tmux keys

Prefix is Ctrl-a. Optimized for SSH and local workflow.

prefix |          split horizontal
prefix -          split vertical
prefix h/j/k/l    move between panes
prefix HJKL       resize (repeatable, hold prefix)
Alt-h/j/k/l       resize (no prefix)
prefix [          copy mode (v select, y yank, Esc cancel)
prefix S          toggle synchronize-panes
prefix r          reload tmux.conf

Yank pipes to pbcopy on macOS, wl-copy/xclip on Linux. Mouse is on. Splits inherit the current pane's cwd.

More in docs/tmux.md.

Uninstall

There is no uninstaller. Remove the symlinks, restore from the *.backup.devflow.* files, run chsh back to your old shell. ~/.zshrc.local is left in place.

Roadmap

• devflow sync <host> to rsync the repo and run --remote
• Arch and Fedora package paths
• Optional nvim LSP layer behind a flag