# Install dotter with Homebrew, apt, Nix, scoop, winget Dotfile manager and templater written in rust. Version 0.13.4 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:dotter ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install dotter ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install dotter ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: dotter from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#dotter ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/do/dotter/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Windows - Scoop (92%): ```sh scoop install main/dotter ``` Evidence: Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/dotter.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - winget (92%): ```sh winget install --id SuperCuber.Dotter -e ``` Evidence: Windows Package Manager source index: SuperCuber.Dotter from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:dotter - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.13.4 - **Source summary:** Dotfile manager and templater written in rust - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** Unlicense - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - dotter (cli) - dotter (alias) ## Build dependencies - rust ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.13.4 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/SuperCuber/dotter - Upstream latest detected: v0.13.4 (current) - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. ## 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 Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## 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 - Unix: .dotter/global.toml, .dotter/local.toml ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** dotter - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - dotter - 4.44.1+dfsg-7.1+b3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: dotter from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | detailed comparison of two genomic sequences | https://www.sanger.ac.uk/science/tools/seqtools - Nix - dotter: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/do/dotter/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - dotter - 4.44.1+dfsg-7.1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: dotter from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | detailed comparison of two genomic sequences | https://www.sanger.ac.uk/science/tools/seqtools - Scoop - main/dotter: normalized package name match | Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/dotter.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - winget - SuperCuber.Dotter: normalized package name match | Windows Package Manager source index: SuperCuber.Dotter from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix ## Related links - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [rust](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rust/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [punktf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/punktf/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools, dotfiles, rust. - [dotbot](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dotbot/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools, dotfiles. - [dotdrop](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dotdrop/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, dotfiles. - [homeshick](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/homeshick/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, dotfiles. - [lnk](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/lnk/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, dotfiles. - [rcm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rcm/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools, dotfiles. - [jrsonnet](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/jrsonnet/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration, developer-tools, rust. - [zola](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/zola/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, rust, templates. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/dotter.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/dotter.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph