stow

Symlink farm manager for dotfiles

TLDR

Stow a package (create symlinks)

$ stow [package]

Stow to specific target

$ stow -t [/target/directory] [package]

Unstow a package (remove symlinks)

$ stow -D [package]

Restow (unstow then stow)

$ stow -R [package]

Simulate stow (dry run)

$ stow -n [package]

Stow with verbose output

$ stow -v [package]

Stow from specific directory

$ stow -d [/path/to/stow/dir] [package]

Adopt existing files

$ stow --adopt [package]

stow is a symlink farm manager that creates symbolic links from a source tree to a target directory. It's commonly used to manage dotfiles, organize software installed in /usr/local, and maintain configuration files.Packages are directories containing files organized as they should appear in the target. Stow creates symlinks in the target directory pointing to files in the package directory, maintaining the directory structure.For dotfiles management, stow directories typically mirror home directory structure, allowing version control of configurations while keeping them active via symlinks.

PARAMETERS

-d dir, --dir= dir

Stow directory (default: current).

-t dir, --target= dir

Target directory (default: parent of stow dir).

-S, --stow

Stow packages (default action).

-D, --delete

Unstow packages.

-R, --restow

Restow (unstow then stow).

-n, --no, --simulate

Dry run, don't make changes.

-v, --verbose

Increase verbosity.

--adopt

Adopt existing files into package.

--ignore= regex

Ignore files matching pattern.

--defer= regex

Defer to existing files.

--override= regex

Override existing files.

INSTALL

sudo dnf install stow

sudo pacman -S stow

sudo apk add stow

sudo zypper install stow

brew install stow

nix profile install nixpkgs#stow

CAVEATS

Doesn't handle conflicts automatically. Target directory must exist. Symlinks point to absolute paths by default. Some applications don't follow symlinks properly. Adopt mode moves files, potentially causing issues.

HISTORY

GNU Stow was written by Bob Glickstein in 1993 to manage software compiled into separate directories. It was initially designed for /usr/local/stow organization. The tool was later adopted by the dotfiles management community for organizing configuration files under version control.