install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install dotter

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install dotter

Debian stable package indexes · dotter · source: deb.debian.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#dotter

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/do/dotter/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Windows

Scoopverified · 92%

scoop install main/dotter

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/dotter.json · source: api.github.com

Windows Package Managerverified · 92%

winget install --id SuperCuber.Dotter -e

Windows Package Manager source index · SuperCuber.Dotter · source: cdn.winget.microsoft.com

overview

Package summary

Dotfile manager and templater written in rust

Project links

Commands and aliases

dotter

history

Project history and usage

dotter is a Rust dotfile manager and templater for users who keep their shell, editor, desktop, and application configuration in a version-controlled dotfiles repository. It packages the common symlink-farm workflow into a single CLI with package selection, templating, deployment, undeployment, and watch modes.

Project history

The public GitHub repository was created in May 2017 and describes Dotter as a response to the friction of managing many dotfiles by hand: tracking what links where, bootstrapping a new machine, and handling per-machine differences. Its default configuration names, `.dotter/global.toml` and `.dotter/local.toml`, reflect that split between shared packages and local machine choices.

Dotter's history sits in the post-chezmoi, post-rcm era of dotfile tooling, where users wanted more than raw symlinks but less than a full configuration-management system. Its use of Rust, TOML, and Handlebars-style templating made it attractive to package-manager users who prefer a small static CLI for personal environment reproducibility.

Adoption history

The official README documents installation through Homebrew, Scoop, Cargo, AUR packages, and release binaries. The repository API shows continuing maintenance through releases such as v0.13.4 in 2025 and activity into 2026, while Homebrew packaging gives macOS users the familiar `brew install dotter` path.

Dotter has remained a niche but visible dotfiles tool rather than a platform. Its adoption is mostly among terminal-heavy users who keep dotfiles in Git and want templated deployment without pulling in a general-purpose automation stack.

How it is used

Dotter is run from inside a dotfiles repository. Users declare packages and target paths, select machine-local packages in local configuration, then run `dotter` or `dotter deploy` to create symlinks or render templates to their target locations.

The CLI also supports `init`, `watch`, `undeploy`, shell completion generation, dry runs, verbose diffs, force overwrites, pre/post deploy hooks, and cache paths. Those options make it scriptable enough for package bootstrap flows while still being centered on personal configuration files.

Why package nerds care

For package nerds, Dotter is another specimen in the dotfiles-manager family: opinionated enough to encode host-specific deployment, but small enough to ship as one Rust executable across Homebrew, Scoop, Cargo, and distro channels.

It is significant less because it invented dotfile management and more because it captures a durable packaging pattern: a personal-environment tool whose real value is reproducible state, boring config files, and easy installability on a freshly provisioned machine.

Timeline

2017: Public GitHub repository created for SuperCuber/dotter.
2023: Dotter 0.13.0 release line begins.
2024: v0.13.3 release continues the 0.13 series.
2025: v0.13.4 is published.
2026: Repository activity continues on GitHub.

Related projects

GNU Stow and rcm represent older symlink-oriented dotfile workflows that Dotter automates more explicitly.
chezmoi and yadm are adjacent dotfile managers with broader feature sets and different opinions about templating, secrets, and host state.
Homebrew, Scoop, Cargo, and AUR are important distribution paths because dotfile managers are often installed early in a machine bootstrap.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 8 platform targets.
Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: .dotter/global.toml.dotter/local.toml

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`dotter`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version0.13.4

manager updated

local dataok

upstreamcurrent

latest detectedv0.13.4

https://github.com/SuperCuber/dotter

infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:dotter
Version	0.13.4
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/dotter
Homepage	https://github.com/SuperCuber/dotter
Repository	https://github.com/SuperCuber/dotter
Upstream docs	https://github.com/SuperCuber/dotter#readme
License	Unlicense
Source archive	https://github.com/SuperCuber/dotter/archive/refs/tags/v0.13.4.tar.gz
Build dependencies	rust
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	dotter
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

dotter 4.44.1+dfsg-7.1+b3

detailed comparison of two genomic sequences

https://www.sanger.ac.uk/science/tools/seqtools

sudo apt install dotter

Section: science
Architecture: amd64
Source Package: seqtools
10 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Dotter

Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: dotter from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

Nix95%

dotter

nix profile install nixpkgs#dotter

normalized package name match
Matched by: Dotter

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/do/dotter/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

Ubuntu apt95%

dotter 4.44.1+dfsg-7.1build2

detailed comparison of two genomic sequences

https://www.sanger.ac.uk/science/tools/seqtools

sudo apt install dotter

Section: universe/science
Architecture: amd64
Source Package: seqtools
10 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Dotter

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: dotter from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz

Scoop95%

main/dotter

scoop install main/dotter

normalized package name match
Matched by: Dotter

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · api.github.com · Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/dotter.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1

winget95%

SuperCuber.Dotter

winget install --id SuperCuber.Dotter -e

normalized package name match
Matched by: Dotter

Windows Package Manager source index · cdn.winget.microsoft.com · Windows Package Manager source index: SuperCuber.Dotter from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/dotter.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated configuration and credential file locations
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install dotter with Homebrew, apt, Nix, scoop, winget