claude-dotfiles

Portable Claude Code setup. Clone on any new machine, run the installer, get the same ~/.claude/ configuration everywhere.

Why this exists

This is my personal Claude Code config, kept in git so a fresh machine is one git clone + ./install.sh away from feeling like home. I got tired of re-creating the same CLAUDE.md, skills, and statusline every time I switched workstations.

Fork it if useful, but treat it as personal config, not a best-practices template — what works for me may not match how you like Claude to behave.

What's included

• settings.json — global Claude Code settings (statusline, effort level, permission prompt behavior)
• CLAUDE.md — global behavioral guidelines loaded into every conversation
• statusline-command.sh — custom status line script
• skills/ — invokable skills:
  • api-design
  • db-migrations
  • debugging
  • karpathy-guidelines (+ EXAMPLES.md)
  • rfc
  • tdd

Install on a new machine

git clone <repo-url> ~/Developer/claude-dotfiles
cd ~/Developer/claude-dotfiles
./install.sh

The installer symlinks each item into ~/.claude/. If ~/.claude/ already has matching files, they're moved to ~/.claude/backups/dotfiles-<timestamp>/ first — nothing is deleted.

Re-running install.sh is safe; already-correct symlinks are skipped.

How updates work

Because the installer uses symlinks:

• git pull in this repo → updates apply to ~/.claude/ immediately.
• Editing a file in ~/.claude/ actually edits the file inside this repo → commit and push when you want it on other machines.
• Adding a new skill in ~/.claude/skills/ writes into this repo automatically.

Uninstall

cd ~/.claude
rm settings.json CLAUDE.md statusline-command.sh skills
# restore from ~/.claude/backups/dotfiles-* if you want the originals back