dots

Nick's dotfiles — configuration for fish, tmux, Neovim, Ghostty, and more.

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Setup

New machine:

# Clone somewhere sensible
git clone https://github.com/nickbutler/dots.git ~/.config/dotfiles

# Run the installer
~/.config/dotfiles/bin/dots

Checks for required programs, offers to install missing ones, symlinks configs and bin scripts, and prompts for optional extras. After that dots is on your $PATH.

Updates — run dots at any time to check for new commits and apply them:

$ dots
3 new commits on main:
  abc1234 Fish: Add new abbreviation
  def5678 Nvim: Update LSP config
  ghi9012 Tmux: Tweak status line

Pull updates? [y/N]

Pulling re-runs the link steps automatically so any new configs or scripts are wired up.

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Fish

Auto-start tmux — interactive shells outside tmux attach to (or create) a main session automatically. SSH sessions skip this.

Smart window launch — when a new tmux window is created, fish runs its name as a command or jumps to the matching directory via z.

Key bindings (inside tmux):

Key	Action
Ctrl+T	fzf file picker
Ctrl+R	fzf history search
Tab	fzf directory jump (uses z frecency)
Alt+K / Alt+J	history token search backward/forward
Ctrl+X Ctrl+E	edit current command in $EDITOR

Abbreviations — common shortcuts including:

• v/nvim
• g/git
• s/git status
• r/ranger
• t/tig --all
• ./cd -
• ../cd ..
• .../cd ../.. (and so on up to .......)

Notable functions:

Function	Description
mux <cmd> <var1,var2,...>	Run a command against multiple args in a tiled tmux layout with panes synced
biome	Per-directory environment loader — sources a .biome file on cd, restores on exit; masks secrets in list output
z	Frecency-based directory jumping
mkcd	mkdir -p + cd
pssh <proxy> <opts>	SSH via a proxy host
ai	Quick Claude Haiku query from the shell
reload	Restart fish shell (exec fish)

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Tmux

| tmuxnew | fzf-style tmux window picker based on z history | | tmuxpasskey | Toggle key pass-through to vim/fzf vs tmux (used for shared C-j/k/l bindings) |

Prefix: C-Space

Pane navigation — shared with Neovim via tmuxpasskey:

Key	Action
C-j / C-k / C-l	Move between panes (or Neovim splits)
C-z	Zoom/unzoom current pane
h/j/k/l (with prefix)	Resize pane (large, can be repeated without prefix)
H/J/K/L (with prefix)	Resize pane (small, can be repeated without prefix)
C-1 – C-5	Select pane 1–5

Window management:

Key	Action
Alt+N	New window (tmuxnew picker)
Alt+R	Rename window
Alt+1–5	Go to window 1–5
F10	choose-tree session/window switcher
s (with prefix)	Split horizontal
v (with prefix)	Split vertical, main-vertical layout
Space (with prefix)	Reset to main-vertical layout

Copy mode (vi keys):

Key	Action
C-q	Enter copy mode
C-[	Enter copy mode
/ (with prefix)	Search in copy mode
Enter / MouseDragEnd	Copy selection to system clipboard
K/J	Select line up/down
. (with prefix)	Copy previous line and paste

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Neovim

Plugin manager: vim.pack (Neovim native, 0.11+). Update with :Install.

Theme: Nordfox with transparent background (inherits pane background from tmux).

Leader: Space

Command line mode: ; - swaps with : to reduce key presses

Navigation

Key	Action
<Leader><Leader>	open ranger file picker
C-f	fzf file picker
C-s	fzf ripgrep search
C-b	fzf buffer picker
C-h	fzf recent file history
C-g	tig (git browser)
C-j/k/l	Move between splits / tmux panes
Tab	Alternate buffer
C-n / C-p	Next/previous buffer (barbar)
1–5 Tab	Jump to buffer 1–5
F6	Symbols outline

Editing

Key	Action
S	Start global substitution :%s::
C-_	Toggle comment (line)
C-\	Toggle comment (paragraph)
Leader+q	Reflow paragraph
Leader+w	Strip trailing whitespace
Leader+p/P	Paste from system clipboard
Leader+y (visual)	Yank to system clipboard
Enter (visual)	Yank to system clipboard + trim

Git (gitsigns + fugitive)

Key	Action
gs / gr	Stage / reset hunk
go	Preview hunk
]c / [c	Next/previous hunk
Leader+gd/gD	Diff this / against HEAD~
C-g	Open tig
Leader+g	:Git command prompt

Commands

Command	Description
:Reload	Re-source init.lua
:Install	Reload + update plugins
:PwdHistory	fzf history scoped to current directory
:Password [n]	Generate a password with pwgen
:TabFix	Convert tabs to spaces
:Copy	Trim whitespace from clipboard register

Alt-key mappings

Cmd+a/b/c/f/j/k/n/p/r/w send the corresponding Esc+<key> sequence, enabling readline-style word movements and other alt-bindings in the terminal.

Plugins

Plugin	Purpose
barbar	Buffer tabs
fzf / fzf.vim	Fuzzy finding
gitsigns	Inline git hunks
vim-fugitive	Git commands
vim-tig	tig integration
vim-ranger	ranger file manager
lualine	Status line
nightfox	Colour scheme
vim-surround / vim-abolish	Text objects
vim-commentary	Commenting
vim-table-mode	Markdown table formatting
symbols-outline	Code symbol tree
vim-dadbod	Database client
auto-pairs	Bracket completion
vim-tmux-navigator	Shared pane navigation