Stow Management

GNU Stow creates symlinks from package directories to target locations (default: $HOME).

Quick Reference

# Install multiple packages via install script
PKGS="zsh tmux nvim git" ./install/install

# Manual stow (from repo root)
stow -Rt "$HOME" package-name

# With --no-folding (when .no-fold file exists)
stow -Rt "$HOME" --no-folding bin

Install Script

The install/install script:

1. Reads PKGS environment variable (space-separated package names)
2. Checks for .no-fold file in each package
3. Runs stow with appropriate flags

The --no-folding Flag

By default, stow creates symlinks at the highest possible directory level. The --no-folding flag creates symlinks for individual files instead.

Use --no-folding when:

• Package directory might receive additional files not from this repo
• Want to mix stowed and non-stowed files in same directory

Controlled by: .no-fold file in package root (presence triggers flag)

Common Operations

See examples.md for detailed examples of:

• Adding new packages
• Unstowing packages
• Handling conflicts
• Restowing after changes