From Shell Scripts

If you already have shell scripts that set up your machine, dotkit can improve them incrementally. You don’t need to rewrite everything at once.

Progressive adoption

Run your scripts through dotkit

Put your existing .sh files in a folder. Dotkit executes them as-is, no changes required:
```
dotkit/
  personal.dotkit
  setup/
    install-tools.sh
    configure-git.sh
    configure-dock.sh
```
personal.dotkit
```
dotkit run setup
```
Terminal window
```
dotkit run ~/dotkit
```
A folder with no dotkit file runs its .sh, .txt, and .md files alphabetically. You immediately get consistent order, --dry-run, and the bootstrap curl command.

To control the order explicitly, name the files in the dotkit file instead:
```
map dotkit run setup/{{item}}

install-tools
configure-git
configure-dock
```
Convert repeated commands to map blocks

Before:
Terminal window
```
brew install gh
brew install ripgrep
brew install neovim
brew install fzf
```
After (.sh):
Terminal window
```
dotkit map 'brew install {{item}}' <<BODY
gh
ripgrep
neovim
fzf
BODY
```
Adding a new package is now one line. dotkit add packages/brew neovim handles both editing the file and running the install.
Use community modules for common tools

Replace boilerplate installer scripts with community modules:
Terminal window
```
dotkit map 'dotkit run :tools/{{item}}' <<BODY
brew
rust
node-fnm
BODY
```

A folder executes .sh, .txt, and .md files. Mix them freely:

packages/
  brew.md        ← dotkit format
  mas.txt        ← dotkit format
  custom-tool.sh ← plain shell, runs as-is

Keep scripts you haven’t converted yet. They still run in the correct order.

Convert to .txt / .md when:

The script is mostly repeated commands (brew install, git config, mas install)
You want dotkit add to stay in sync as you install new things
The install has a clear “already installed?” check

Keep as .sh when: