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Real-World Example: Dotfiles Manager

A complete example showing how to manage and deploy dotfiles using Mooncake.

Features Demonstrated

  • Multi-file organization
  • Template rendering for dynamic configs
  • File tree iteration
  • Conditional deployment by OS
  • Variable management
  • Backup functionality
  • Tag-based workflows

Quick Start

cd examples/real-world/dotfiles-manager

# Deploy all dotfiles
mooncake run --config setup.yml

# Deploy only shell configs
mooncake run --config setup.yml --tags shell

# Preview what would be deployed
mooncake run --config setup.yml --dry-run

Directory Structure

dotfiles-manager/
├── setup.yml              # Main entry point
├── vars.yml               # User configuration
├── dotfiles/              # Your actual dotfiles
│   ├── shell/
│   │   ├── .bashrc
│   │   └── .zshrc
│   ├── vim/
│   │   └── .vimrc
│   └── git/
│       └── .gitconfig
└── templates/             # Dynamic config templates
    ├── .tmux.conf.j2
    └── .config/
        └── nvim/
            └── init.lua.j2

What It Does

  1. Backs up existing dotfiles
  2. Creates necessary directories
  3. Deploys static dotfiles
  4. Renders dynamic configs from templates
  5. Sets appropriate permissions
  6. OS-specific configuration

Configuration

Edit vars.yml to customize: 

user_email: [email protected]
user_name: Your Name
editor: nvim
shell: zsh
color_scheme: gruvbox

Usage

Full Deployment

mooncake run --config setup.yml

Selective Deployment

# Only shell configs
mooncake run --config setup.yml --tags shell

# Only vim/neovim
mooncake run --config setup.yml --tags vim

# Only git config
mooncake run --config setup.yml --tags git

Backup Only

mooncake run --config setup.yml --tags backup

Extending

Adding New Dotfiles

  1. Add file to dotfiles/ directory
  2. Add deployment step in setup.yml: 
    - name: Deploy new config
  shell: cp {{ item.src }} ~/{{ item.name }}
  with_filetree: ./dotfiles/new-app
  tags:
    - new-app

Adding Templates

  1. Create template in templates/
  2. Add rendering step: 
    - name: Render new config
  template:
    src: ./templates/new-config.j2
    dest: ~/.config/new-app/config
  tags:
    - new-app

Real-World Tips

  1. Version control - Keep this in git
  2. Test first - Use --dry-run before applying
  3. Incremental - Add configs gradually
  4. Backup - The example includes backup steps
  5. Document - Add comments for custom settings

See Also

This example combines concepts from: - 06-loops - File iteration - 05-templates - Config rendering - 08-tags - Selective deployment - 10-multi-file-configs - Organization