SN-Dotfiles

Important

This is an early release to add support for SN accounts using encryption version 004 so please ensure you have a backup in case of any issues caused by this app. This is only compatible with accounts either created since November 2020, or older accounts that have backed up, then restored to force an upgrade to 004.

Please create an issue if you receive any errors or notice anything unexpected.

about

sn-dotfiles is a command-line tool to sync dotfiles with a Standard Notes account.
It works by creating a tag called 'dotfiles' and then maps dotfile directories with tags and dotfiles as notes.

why?

I wanted a simple way of securely storing, managing, and syncing my dotfiles across multiple machines. Standard Notes uses client-side encryption and provides numerous editors (some require extended subscription).

installation

macOS

$ curl -L -O https://github.com/jonhadfield/sn-dotfiles/releases/latest/download/sn-dotfiles_darwin_amd64  
$ install ./sn-dotfiles_darwin_amd64 /usr/local/bin/sn-dotfiles && rm ./sn-dotfiles_darwin_amd64

Linux

$ curl -L -O https://github.com/jonhadfield/sn-dotfiles/releases/latest/download/sn-dotfiles_linux_amd64  
$ sudo install ./sn-dotfiles_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/sn-dotfiles && rm ./sn-dotfiles_linux_amd64

running

authentication

By default, your credentials will be requested every time, but you can store them using either environment variables or, on MacOS and Linux, store your session using the native Keychain application.

environment variables

Note: if using 2FA, the token value will be requested each time

export SN_EMAIL=<email address>
export SN_PASSWORD=<password>
export SN_SERVER=<https://myserver.example.com>   # optional, if running personal server

session (macOS Keychain / Gnome Keyring)

Using a session is different from storing credentials as you no longer need to authenticate. As a result, if using 2FA (Two Factor Authentication), you won't need to enter your token value each time.

add session

sn-dotfiles session --add   # session will be stored after successful authentication

To encrypt your session when adding:

sn-dotfiles session --add --session-key   # either enter key as part of command, or '.' to hide its input

using a session

Prefix any command with --use-session to automatically retrieve and use the session. If your session is encrypted, you will be prompted for the session key. To specify the key on the command line:

sn-dotfiles --use-session --session-key <key> <command>

commands

add

example:

sn-dotfiles add /home/me/.file1 /home/me/.dir1/file2

Add will take a copy of the specified file(s) and convert the files to Notes and each path to a Tag. The above command would generate the following structure:

dotfiles           <- tag
    - .file1       <- note 
    - dir1         <- tag
        - file2    <- note

sync

example:

sn-dotfiles sync --exclude /home/me/.file1

Sync will compare any dotfiles currently tracked in Standard Notes with their local equivalents and:

• Update the filesystem dotfile if the remote was updated more recently
• Update the remote if the filesystem dotfile is newer
• Create any missing dotfiles and paths that exist remotely

The example command would sync the /home/me/dir1 path and the file it contains, but ignore /home/me/.file1.

remove

example:

sn-dotfiles remove /home/me/.dir1

Remove will recursively (if path specified) remove the remote Notes for the specified filesystem path. In the above example, the Note file2 and the Tag dir1 will be deleted. Remove will never change files on the filesystem.

diff

example:

sn-dotfiles diff /home/me/.dir1

Diff will compare the filesystem with the remote and then use the diff tool to generate a list of differences.

bash autocompletion

tool

the bash completion tool should be installed by default on most Linux installations.

To install on macOS (Homebrew)
$ brew install bash_completion
then add the following to ~/.bash_profile:
[ -f /usr/local/etc/bash_completion ] && . /usr/local/etc/bash_completion

installing completion script (found here)

macOS

$ cp bash_autocomplete /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d/sn-dotfiles

Linux

$ cp bash_autocomplete /etc/bash_completion.d/sn-dotfiles

autocomplete commands

$ sn-dotfiles <tab>

known issues

• Notes moved to trash using the Standard Notes app will still be managed by sn-dotfiles until they are permanently deleted