Slicker

Opinionated macOS dotfiles framework with a two-layer config system.

Concept

Slicker separates configs into two layers:

• configs/ (base) — upstream configs managed by Slicker. Updated via git pull.
• user/ (personal) — your overrides, gitignored. Copied from user.example/ on first install.

Every base config explicitly sources/includes its user counterpart at the end. This means git pull on Slicker never breaks your personal configs — they're loaded last and always win.

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/youruser/slicker ~/.config/slicker
cd ~/.config/slicker
./install.sh

On first run, if user/ doesn't exist, Slicker copies user.example/ into it.

How It Works

~/.config/slicker/
├── configs/                    # base layer (stowed to ~)
│   ├── zsh/.zshrc
│   ├── git/.gitconfig
│   ├── ghostty/config
│   ├── starship/.config/starship.toml
│   └── tmux/.config/tmux/
├── themes/
│   ├── palettes/               # color variables per theme
│   └── templates/              # tool configs with ${VAR} placeholders
├── theme/                      # generated output (gitignored)
├── user/                       # personal overrides (gitignored)
│   ├── zsh/user.zsh
│   ├── git/user.gitconfig
│   ├── ghostty/user.conf
│   ├── nvim/.config/nvim/          # full nvim config (lives in user/nvim/)
│   ├── tmux/user.conf
│   ├── bin/                    # user scripts (added to PATH)
│   └── meta.sh
├── user.example/               # template for user/
├── scripts/                    # install/update/theme logic
├── bin/slicker                 # CLI entry point (added to PATH)
└── Brewfile

CLI

slicker install              # Full setup: brew, stow, user config
slicker update               # Pull + sync new user configs + re-stow
slicker update --skip-user   # Same but skip user config sync
slicker user init [repo-url] # Clone or initialize user config
slicker user edit            # Open user/ in $EDITOR
slicker theme list           # List available themes
slicker theme set <name>     # Generate theme from palette + templates
slicker theme current        # Show current theme
slicker status               # Show config info

The Two-Layer Pattern

Each config type uses its tool's native include mechanism:

Config	Base file	How it loads user overrides
zsh	configs/zsh/.zshrc	source user/zsh/user.zsh
zsh plugins	configs/zsh/plugins.txt	cat … user/zsh/plugins.txt → antidote load
git	configs/git/.gitconfig	[include] path = ...user.gitconfig
ghostty	configs/ghostty/config	config-file = ...user.conf
neovim	configs/nvim/.config/nvim → user/nvim/	Entirely in user/ (stow symlinks through)
starship	configs/starship/.config/starship.toml	STARSHIP_CONFIG env var in user.zsh
tmux	configs/tmux/.config/tmux/	source-file -q ...user.conf

All includes fail silently if the user file doesn't exist.

Themes

Themes are generated from palettes. Each palette is a shell file with color variables:

# themes/palettes/catppuccin-mocha.sh
THEME_ACCENT="#b4befe"
THEME_BG="#1e1e2e"
THEME_FG="#cdd6f4"
...

Templates in themes/templates/ use ${THEME_*} placeholders. Running slicker theme set <name> generates tool-specific configs into theme/.

Built-in themes: catppuccin-mocha, tokyo-night, rose-pine.

Documentation

Detailed docs in docs/:

• Overview — architecture and how things fit together
• Install — what slicker install does step by step
• Update — what slicker update does, --skip-user flag
• User Config — user/ structure, meta.sh, nvim, private repos
• Themes — palettes, templates, custom themes
• ZSH — shell config load order, aliases, functions
• Adding a Tool — how to add a new tool config

License

MIT