fathrs

Overview Link to heading

fathrs is a small Rust CLI for deploying dotfiles and similar filesystem artifacts from a declarative links.toml file. It reads source-to-target mappings, resolves them relative to a configurable base directory, and then creates symlinks or copies files/directories into place.

Ambition Link to heading

A lightweight, zero-dependency alternative to complex dotfile managers for managing system symlinks.

What’s novel Link to heading

  • Minimalist design focused on speed and operational simplicity.
  • Clear TOML-based mapping for system-wide symlink management.
  • Written in Rust for guaranteed performance and reliability.

Highlights Link to heading

  • Reads link definitions from a TOML config.
  • Creates symlinks for files or directories.
  • Supports replacing existing destinations with --force.
  • Supports dry runs before touching the filesystem.
  • Can probe configured destinations and report their current state.

Stats Link to heading

  • Project page: /projects/fathrs/
  • Primary language: Rust
  • Commits: 49
  • Created: 2026-01-16T19:23:07Z
  • Last updated: 2026-05-03T22:47:19Z