Set up a machine with mise

Keep editing your dotfiles where they are. This guide shows how to save local history, restore a file, and optionally share your setup through a Git repository. Start with one file; add more once you have tried restoring a change.

Install mise

You need Git installed. If mise is already installed, skip the first two commands.

curl https://mise.run | sh
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Track a file

On macOS with zsh:

mise bootstrap dotfiles track ~/.zshrc

On Omarchy with Bash, use ~/.bashrc instead. Choose a file that already exists; the remaining examples use ~/.zshrc.

Tracking saves a baseline and adds a declaration to ~/.config/mise/config.toml. The file stays in place:

[dotfiles]
"~/.zshrc" = { mode = "track" }

Save edits automatically

Add this table to ~/.config/mise/config.toml:

[bootstrap.services.mise-history]
builtin = "history-watch"

Install the service and check that it is running:

mise bootstrap
mise bootstrap dotfiles status

The watcher runs as a systemd user service on Linux or a LaunchAgent on macOS. It commits edits to the local Git history. No origin connection is needed. The repository is stored separately from your live files.

If you prefer to save manually, skip the service and run mise bootstrap dotfiles save after editing.

Inspect and restore a change

Edit your tracked file, then save a checkpoint explicitly so you can inspect it without waiting for the watcher:

mise bootstrap dotfiles save
mise bootstrap dotfiles history --path ~/.zshrc

To see a checkpoint's changes, replace CHECKPOINT_ID with an ID from that list:

mise bootstrap dotfiles history diff CHECKPOINT_ID --path ~/.zshrc --patch

To restore the previous version:

mise bootstrap dotfiles rollback ~/.zshrc

Review the proposed changes before confirming. Rollback saves a protective checkpoint first. To reverse the rollback:

mise bootstrap dotfiles undo

A rollback creates a new commit, preserving the versions you left behind. A connected origin receives that commit according to your sync mode.

Share your setup (optional)

Explicitly track the bootstrap configuration too, so another machine can recreate your tools and watcher service. Managing .zshrc did not enroll this file:

mise bootstrap dotfiles track ~/.config/mise/config.toml

Create an empty private GitHub repository, then authenticate on this machine:

mise use -g gh
mise x gh -- gh auth login --hostname github.com --git-protocol https --web
mise x gh -- gh auth setup-git --hostname github.com

The credential helper lets background synchronization authenticate without an interactive prompt. You can also use an SSH remote with credentials available to the watcher.

Replace you/setup with your repository. This example chooses manual sync:

mise bootstrap dotfiles origin set https://github.com/you/setup.git --sync manual

Before confirming, review your tracked files and their history. Connecting an origin makes every committed version eligible for synchronization, including earlier local saves. There is no separate backup or per-file local-only mode.

For encrypted contents in the repository, use encrypt = true on an explicitly tracked file and configure public recipients before its first capture. Keep the decryption identity outside tracking. See encrypted files.

Choose the mode that fits your workflow:

Mode	Watcher behavior
manual	Saves locally; does not use the network automatically.
fetch-only	Fetches remote changes; does not publish or apply them.
sync	Publishes saved changes, fetches, and applies incoming changes.

Change modes with mise settings set history.sync MODE.

Manual mode postpones network publication, not local commits. A later sync pushes the accumulated commits unchanged, then you can apply fetched changes:

mise bootstrap dotfiles save
mise bootstrap dotfiles sync
mise bootstrap dotfiles pull

sync exchanges saved changes with the repository; pull applies fetched changes to your files. Applying changes does not run bootstrap tasks or render templates. Run mise bootstrap when updated declarations need to be applied.

Set up another machine

Install Git first. Then install mise and authenticate with the same repository host:

curl https://mise.run | sh
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
mise use -g gh
mise x gh -- gh auth login --hostname github.com --git-protocol https --web
mise x gh -- gh auth setup-git --hostname github.com
mise bootstrap --from-git you/setup

Review the proposed files before confirming. Bootstrap reads enrollment from the repository, restores the tracked files, and applies the explicitly tracked configuration, including the watcher declaration added earlier. If configuration or required template sources were not enrolled, bootstrap reports the missing prerequisites rather than silently tracking them.

If an existing file differs, mise holds it for a decision instead of silently overwriting it. Follow the reported conflict instructions. Check this machine's sync mode with mise bootstrap dotfiles status and choose its mode explicitly with mise settings set history.sync MODE.

For setup over SSH, see remote bootstrap. For a private GitHub repository, borrow read-only access from this machine:

mise bootstrap remote --host devbox --install-mise --from-git you/setup \
  --github-relay-read-only --github-relay-repo you/setup

GitHub access is borrowed read-only for this run. The target needs its own credentials for ongoing synchronization.

Resolve a conflict

If two machines change the same lines, mise preserves both versions and pauses publication and incoming application for the entire setup. Local commits and fetching continue. Desktop notifications are enabled by default; status and mise doctor report the pause even without a working notifier.

Inspect the conflict:

mise bootstrap dotfiles status

Choose the repository's version of a file:

mise bootstrap dotfiles pull --take-remote ~/.zshrc

Or keep this machine's version:

mise bootstrap dotfiles pull --keep-local ~/.zshrc

Resolve every reported conflict before sharing can resume. In manual mode, run mise bootstrap dotfiles sync to publish your resolution.

Use a template (optional)

Use tracking for files you edit directly. Use a template when you want mise to render a file from configuration values.

Add these entries to ~/.config/mise/config.toml, merging them into any existing [vars] and [dotfiles] tables:

[vars]
email = "you@example.com"

[dotfiles]
"~/templates" = { mode = "track" }
"~/.gitconfig" = { source = "~/templates/gitconfig.tera", mode = "template" }

Create ~/templates/gitconfig.tera (create ~/templates first if needed):

[user]
    email = {{ vars.email }}

Run mise bootstrap to render ~/.gitconfig. Edit the template or its variables for future changes. The explicitly enrolled template directory is committed and synchronized. The rendered file is not tracked unless you explicitly enroll it too.

See dotfiles for templates and OS-specific variants.

Add more files

On Omarchy, start with individual configuration files you edit. Inspect a directory before tracking it: themes, plugins, backgrounds, and application state may not belong in your dotfile history. Nested Git repositories are recorded as Git pointers, not copied recursively.

Before an update, save the current tracked files:

mise bootstrap dotfiles save --best-effort

This saves dotfiles, not installed packages or the rest of the operating system.

On macOS, you can keep a tracked file separate from its Linux counterpart:

mise bootstrap dotfiles track ~/.zshrc --os macos

On either platform, check tracking and watcher status with:

mise bootstrap dotfiles status

For directory exclusions and capture policies, see dotfiles. For service management and other platforms, see user services.