# Install homeshick with Homebrew, zypper Git dotfiles synchronizer written in bash. Version 2.0.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:homeshick ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install homeshick ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install homeshick ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: homeshick from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:homeshick - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 2.0.1 - **Source summary:** Git dotfiles synchronizer written in bash - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - homeshick (cli) - homeshick (alias) ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Caveats: To enable the `homeshick cd ` command, you need to `export HOMESHICK_DIR=$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/opt/homeshick` and `source "$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/opt/homeshick/homeshick.sh"` in your $HOME/.bashrc - Bottle: available on all ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 2.0.1 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/andsens/homeshick - Upstream latest detected: v2.0.1 (current) - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. ## Project history and usage homeshick is a Bash and Git based dotfile synchronizer. It stores dotfile repositories under ~/.homesick, calls each managed repository a castle, and symlinks files from a castle's home directory into the user's home directory. ### Project history Repository history starts with an initial import in April 2012 and an early commit saying homeshick was mimicking homesick as closely as possible. That ancestry is visible in the naming and model: homesick popularized the idea that a home-directory repository is a castle, and homeshick reimplemented the workflow as shell scripts rather than Ruby. The README presents the core motivation in Unix terms: configuration files define a user's working environment, and Git lets those settings travel between machines. The project stayed intentionally lightweight, requiring Bash 3 and Git 1.5, and offering shell integration for sh-like shells, csh variants, and fish. ### Adoption history homeshick became recognizable in dotfile-manager circles because it fit the common package-nerd desire to bootstrap a working shell environment on a bare machine. Its README explicitly says it installs into the user's home directory without root privileges, while the wiki documents Homebrew installation, commands, symlinking, packages, testing, and automated deployment. Its GitHub project shows a substantial niche audience for a dotfile manager, with thousands of stars and more than a hundred forks. Tags show release milestones at 1.0.0 in 2015, v1.1.0 in 2018, v2.0.0 in 2020, and v2.0.1 in 2023. ### How it is used A typical install clones homeshick into $HOME/.homesick/repos/homeshick, sources the appropriate shell integration file, then uses commands documented in the wiki to clone, link, pull, track, refresh, and manage castles. The wiki explains that on the simplest level homeshick symlinks files and folders from managed repositories into the home directory. The castle model is useful for splitting personal dotfiles, shell frameworks, editor configuration, and plugin collections into separate Git repositories. The README explicitly names oh-my-zsh, Emacs plugins, and Vim plugins as examples of larger frameworks or customizations that can be managed alongside personal settings. ### Why package nerds care homeshick is package-nerd significant because it lives at the intersection of dotfiles, Git, shell startup files, and reproducible personal environments. It is the sort of tool people install before anything else on a new machine so their editor, shell, aliases, and package-manager preferences can follow. It also has the classic dotfile-tool tradeoff: very little machinery, but high trust. A symlink manager can make a workstation feel instantly familiar, and it can also overwrite or expose important files if used carelessly, which is why its wiki and package behavior matter. ### Timeline - 2012: Repository history begins with an initial import. - 2012: Early history records intent to mimic homesick closely. - 2015: homeshick 1.0.0 tag appears. - 2018: v1.1.0 tag appears. - 2020: v2.0.0 tag appears. - 2023: v2.0.1 tag appears. ### Related projects - homesick is the closest related project because early homeshick history explicitly says it was mimicking homesick and both use the castle terminology for dotfile repositories. oh-my-zsh, Emacs plugin repositories, and Vim plugin repositories are related as common payloads a user might manage with homeshick. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. - **Geiger risk:** blue / medium - broad file, network, media, or database tool signal ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** homeshick - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - zypper - homeshick - 2.0.1-1.6: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: homeshick from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Dotfile synchronizer based on Git and Bash | https://github.com/andsens/homeshick ## Related links - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [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. - [lnk](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/lnk/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration-management, developer-tools, dotfiles, git. - [dotdrop](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dotdrop/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration-management, developer-tools, dotfiles. - [rcm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rcm/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration-management, developer-tools, dotfiles. - [dotbot](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dotbot/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, dotfiles. - [dotter](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dotter/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, dotfiles. - [punktf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/punktf/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, dotfiles. - [vcsh](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/vcsh/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration-management, developer-tools, dotfiles, git. - [yadm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/yadm/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, configuration-management, developer-tools, dotfiles, git. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/homeshick.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/homeshick.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - 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