Another Mac

Every machine after the first clones the repository instead of building one. The steps are the same from the command line and from the menubar app’s setup screen.

From the command line

dotfix init --repo git@github.com:you/dotfiles.git --machine imac

dotfix clones into ~/dotfiles, records this Mac in machines/imac.toml, and installs the background check. The new machine starts with the set core; add more with dotfix sets.

Then bring it in line:

dotfix status
dotfix apply

From the app

A Mac the menubar app has never run on opens a setup screen instead of the usual window. It asks the same questions, checks the same requirements, and names the step that failed if one does.

The app can also create the remote repository for you when the GitHub CLI is installed and logged in — useful on the first machine, not needed here.

Reaching a private repository

dotfix needs read and write access: it pulls other machines’ changes and pushes yours. The setup screen checks what already works and only offers what is needed.

Method	When it fits
Existing SSH	Your Mac already reaches the host — nothing to set up. This is the common case, and dotfix skips straight past the question.
Deploy key	dotfix generates a key scoped to this one repository and shows you the public half to add on GitHub. Useful when your everyday key is passphrase-protected, since the background check runs without a terminal to unlock it.
Token	A personal access token stored in the macOS Keychain, used over HTTPS.

Note

A deploy key generated by dotfix has no passphrase. That is deliberate — an hourly background job cannot type one. It is scoped to a single repository, so the trade is narrow: that key opens your dotfiles and nothing else.

If setup was interrupted

Run it again. dotfix reuses a repository already sitting at the target path instead of refusing to continue — but on the clone path only once it has confirmed the remote is the repository you asked for. If something else is there, it says what it found and stops rather than using it.

Next steps

• Sets — decide what this machine takes.
• The background check — what runs hourly, and what it tells you.