I don’t like messy dotfiles.

The thought of having tons of random configuration entries in files like my .zshrc really bothers me, so I implemented something that works like a conf.d like directory structure for my shell dotfiles.

I also still use the bash shell in certain situations, and I want a more or less consistent environment, no matter which shell I use (bash, zsh).

With the following setup, it’s possible to have the following:

  • A directory called zshrc.d, which includes multiple, zsh related configuration files.
  • A directory called bashrc.d, including multiple configuration files concerning bash.
  • A directory called rc.d, including configuration items needed by both shells.
  • A directory called login.d, including elements included by .bash_profile resp. .zlogin.

This keeps your dotfiles nice and clean, and also allows you do have additional files on systems where you need them, without them being included on all your systems (e.g. your $GOPATH).

Here are the dotfiles, that do nothing but include all files in the described directories:

# .bashrc
if [[ $- != *i* ]] ; then
  # shell is non-interactive. be done now!
  return
fi

# Load all files from .shell/bashrc.d directory
if [ -d $HOME/.shellrc/bashrc.d ]; then
  for file in $HOME/.shellrc/bashrc.d/*.bash; do
    source $file
  done
fi

# Load all files from .shell/rc.d directory
if [ -d $HOME/.shellrc/rc.d ]; then
  for file in $HOME/.shellrc/rc.d/*.sh; do
    source $file
  done
fi

# .bash_profile

if [ -f $HOME/.bashrc ]; then
  source $HOME/.bashrc
fi

# Load all files from .shell/login.d directory
if [ -d $HOME/.shellrc/login.d ]; then
  for file in $HOME/.shellrc/login.d/*.sh; do
    source $file
  done
fi

# .zshrc

# Load all files from .shell/zshrc.d directory
if [ -d $HOME/.shellrc/zshrc.d ]; then
  for file in $HOME/.shellrc/zshrc.d/*.zsh; do
    source $file
  done
fi

# Load all files from .shell/rc.d directory
if [ -d $HOME/.shellrc/rc.d ]; then
  for file in $HOME/.shellrc/rc.d/*.sh; do
    source $file
  done
fi

# .zlogin

# Load all files from .shell/login.d directory
if [ -d $HOME/.shellrc/login.d ]; then
  for file in $HOME/.shellrc/login.d/*.sh; do
    source $file
  done
fi

No you can include all sorts of useful functions, settings and aliases by putting individual files in your .shellrc/* folders!

You can find my full .shellrc directory on Github. Have a look at the README.md for more information!

Happy housecleaning!