dotfiles

Zsh-first dotfiles, descended from Paul Irish's dotfiles and rebuilt for modern macOS. The shell setup is built on oh-my-zsh (history, completion, prompt, key bindings), with topic files (.aliases, .exports, .functions) sourced by the committed .zshrc.

Install

git clone <this repo> && cd dotfiles
./install.sh        # symlinks dotfiles into ~, installs oh-my-zsh + plugins
brew bundle         # optional: install CLI tools
./macos.sh          # optional: apply macOS defaults (review first — they're opinions)

install.sh backs up anything it replaces to ~/.dotfiles-backup/, installs oh-my-zsh if missing, and clones the two plugins it doesn't bundle (zsh-autosuggestions, zsh-syntax-highlighting).

wt

Each wt worktree owns a Claude Code session. wt mints the session id itself and passes it to claude --session-id, so the id is stable and wt resume lands back in the same conversation. It is stored in worktree-scoped git config (wt.sessionId), which keeps it out of git status.

Every operation takes an explicit command — there is no bare wt.

wt list                             worktrees with session id, status, description
wt new [flags] [branch] [-- args]   create worktree + session, launch claude
wt resume [flags] <ref> [-- args]   cd back into a worktree, resume its session
wt rm <ref>                         remove worktree and delete its branch
wt help

<ref> is a session-id prefix (like a short sha), a branch name, or a worktree directory name. With no branch, wt new picks the next free wt/N.

wt owns every argument up to --; claude owns everything after it. The separator is required, so a flag wt does not know is an error that tells you where it belongs rather than a confusing one from claude later:

$ wt new --safe-mode wt/9 -- --model opus     # wt gets --safe-mode, claude gets --model opus

$ wt new wt/9 --model opus
wt new: unknown flag '--model'
       pass claude args after --, e.g. wt new wt/9 -- --model
       flags wt accepts here: --safe-mode --no-launch --keep-worktree --max-ignored --worktree-dir

Worktrees live under ~/.worktrees/<repo>/<branch>, not beside the repo, so your project directory only ever holds real checkouts.

$ wt list
  SESSION   BRANCH          PATH                            DESCRIPTION
            main            ~/Projects/dotfiles             (main worktree)
* 4f21a8c3  wt/1            ~/.worktrees/dotfiles/wt-1      rework wt list with session ids
  b5fb2fdf  feature/x       ~/.worktrees/dotfiles/feature-x add the ingress shim

$ wt resume 4f21

* marks a busy session, . an idle or waiting one — read from ~/.claude/sessions/, so only live sessions are marked. Descriptions are the session's first real prompt, read from ~/.claude/history.jsonl; Claude Code does not store a summary anywhere, so that is the best available label.

On exit

When claude exits, wt asks whether to keep the worktree and then returns you to the directory you started from — a session never strands you in a tree you did not choose to be in.

$ wt new                                  # from ~/Projects/dotfiles
…
wt: wt/3 has nothing to keep — remove it? [Y/n]
$ pwd
/Users/you/Projects/dotfiles

A worktree with commits or uncommitted files says so and defaults to keeping:

wt: wt/3 has 2 commit(s), 1 uncommitted file(s) — remove it anyway? [y/N]

Answering y there forces the worktree away but leaves the branch, since git branch -d refuses unmerged work — committed work survives either way. Non-interactive shells are never prompted and always keep the worktree.

Flags

Flag	Commands	Effect
--safe-mode	new, resume	launch with permission prompts enabled
--no-launch	new, resume	set up the worktree and cd there, don't launch
--keep-worktree	new, resume	skip the on-exit prompt, always keep the worktree
--max-ignored <n>	new, resume	cap the missing-gitignored-paths list (default 20)
--worktree-dir <path>	new	worktree root (default: ~/.worktrees)

Both --flag value and --flag=value work. Each command accepts only the flags listed for it — wt list --safe-mode is an error, not a no-op. --worktree-dir is new-only on purpose: resume and rm locate worktrees through git worktree list, which reports real paths, so they find a tree wherever --worktree-dir put it.

Layout

File	Purpose
.zshrc	oh-my-zsh setup (theme, plugins) + sources the topic files
.zprofile	Homebrew shellenv (Apple Silicon or Intel)
.aliases / .exports / .functions	Shell topic files, sourced by .zshrc
.functions.claude	wt — run Claude Code sessions in throwaway git worktrees (below)
.gitconfig	Git defaults and aliases — no identity
.gitignore_global	Global git excludes (OS/editor junk only)
.vimrc, .vim/	Vim config and colorschemes
.tmux.conf	tmux: truecolor, mouse, vi copy mode, 1-based windows
ssh/config	ssh defaults (keychain, keepalive) — no hosts
.ripgreprc	ripgrep defaults (smart case, search hidden files)
.curlrc / .wgetrc	Follow redirects, timestamping, sane timeouts
.hushlogin	Silences the "Last login" banner
install.sh	Symlink everything into $HOME with backups
macos.sh	macOS defaults tweaks
Brewfile	CLI tools (brew bundle)
colors.sh	Print terminal color chart

Identity and machine-specific config

Nothing personal is committed. Three gitignored files hold it, seeded by install.sh:

• ~/.extra (template: .extra.example) — private shell config, sourced at the end of .exports. Work GitHub hosts, machine-specific PATH entries, etc.
• ~/.gitconfig.local (template: .gitconfig.local.example) — git user name, email, and GitHub username, pulled in by .gitconfig via [include].
• ~/.ssh/config.local (seeded empty) — host-specific ssh entries, included first by ssh/config so they win over the committed defaults.