GitBak

Get your dotfiles/config files backed up and managed with Git.

GO ON, GIT!

GitBak is a simple tool to help you back up your dotfiles and configuration files using Git.

Installation

Homebrew (macOS)

The easiest way to install GitBak on macOS is with Homebrew:

brew tap kennyparsons/gitbak
brew install gitbak

Build from Source

You can also build GitBak from source:

git clone https://github.com/kennyparsons/gitbak.git
cd gitbak
go build -o gitbak main.go
chmod +x gitbak

Usage

Commands

Command	Description
backup	Copy configured files to the backup directory and commit to Git
restore	Restore files from the backup directory

Flags

Flag	Description
--dry-run	Print actions without making changes
--config	Path to config file (default ./gitbak.json)
--app	Restore only a specific app
--no-commit	Skip git add/commit/push after backup
--version	Show the version number

Configuration

GitBak uses a gitbak.json file to define what to back up and how. The configuration must include:

• backup_dir: The destination directory for backups. This must be an existing Git repository.
• custom_apps: A map of app names with their backup details.
• global_ignores (optional): An array of glob patterns for files or directories to exclude (applies globally).

Example gitbak.json

{
  "backup_dir": "/Users/kennyparsons/.dotfiles",
  "custom_apps": {
    "gitbak": {
      "paths": [
        "/Users/kennyparsons/.config/gitbak/gitbak.json"
      ]
    },
    "brew": {
      "paths": [
        "/Users/kennyparsons/.config/brew/Brewfile",
        "/Users/kennyparsons/.config/brew/brew_list.txt"
      ],
      "pre_backup_script": "/Users/kennyparsons/bin/brew_backup.sh backup"
    }
  },
  "global_ignores": [
    "/Users/kennyparsons/.config/some_app/cache",
    "/Users/kennyparsons/.local/share/some_other_app/*.log"
  ]
}

Custom Apps

Each app under custom_apps must include:

• paths: An array of absolute file or directory paths to back up.
• pre_backup_script (optional): An absolute path to a script to run before backing up that app’s files (runs with bash -c). This is useful for apps like brew or pgdump that can create snapshots or dumps before backing up.

Global Ignores

Use global_ignores to skip caches, logs, or other files you don’t want to version. Patterns use doublestar syntax for flexible matching.

Note: Always use absolute paths — ~ and relative paths will not work.

Versioning

This project uses semantic-release to automate versioning. New versions are released automatically when changes are merged into the main branch.

Requirements

• Go 1.23+
• Git

Notes

• The backup directory must be an existing Git repository.
• Use absolute paths in gitbak.json. Do not use ~ or relative paths.

Inspiration

I built GitBak because I wanted a flexible way to manage my dotfiles and configs without relying on symlinks (the primary method of the former Mackup utility), which can be problematic (see mackup issues #2012, #2008, #2051, and more).

GitBak makes it easy to copy, version, and restore config files while giving you full control over what gets backed up, and not interfering with the original files.

Thanks to some awesome coworkers for the inspiration and a solid starting point to build on (that's you, James).