curator - A Home-Manager Like Tool for Universal Blue builds

A lightweight CLI that provides repository and dotfile management and package installation functionality through a centralized TOML configuration. Ported and expanded from forge and inspired by home-manager.

Overview

curator is a Python CLI that helps you manage your Fedora system configuration by:

• Managing COPR repositories (enable/disable automatically)
• Installing and managing system packages via dnf or rpm-ostree
• Installing and managing userspace packages via brew, flatpak, or nix
• Managing dotfiles through symlinks to actual files
• Centralized configuration via a single inventory.toml file
• Declarative user-level configuration similar to home-manager/nixos
• Automatic backup of existing files before replacement

Installation

Install the CLI directly from GitHub with uv:

uv tool install --from git+https://codeberg.org/randogoth/curator/ curator

Quick Start

# Initialize the configuration structure
curator init

# Edit the configuration file to add packages and dotfiles
nano ~/.config/curator/inventory.toml

# Apply configuration
curator switch

# Check status
curator status

Commands

init

Initialize the configuration structure and create inventory.toml.

curator init
# or ./curator init

Creates:

• ~/.config/curator/ - Main configuration directory
• ~/.config/curator/inventory.toml - Central configuration file

switch

Apply the current configuration (enable COPR, install packages, deploy dotfiles). Use --rollback to restore the previous inventory.toml snapshot before applying.

curator switch
# or ./curator switch
# rollback to the previous inventory.toml and apply it
curator switch --rollback

This command:

1. Enables all COPR repositories listed in inventory.toml
2. Disables COPR repositories that are no longer configured
3. Installs all packages listed in inventory.toml
4. Creates symlinks for all configured dotfiles
5. Applies environment variables to ~/.config/environment.d/20-curator.conf and imports them into the user session
6. Creates backups of existing files before replacing them
7. Updates the last switch timestamp

status

Show current configuration status and information.

curator status
# or ./curator status

Displays:

• Configuration directory paths
• Last switch timestamp
• List of configured COPR repositories, packages and dotfiles

help

Show help message with all available commands.

curator help
# or ./curator help

from

Import currently installed packages/repos for a manager into inventory.toml so curator can manage them.

curator from dnf
curator from brew
curator from flatpak
curator from rpm-ostree
curator from nix
curator from copr

add / remove

Add or remove entries directly in inventory.toml using section:value pairs. Supports dnf, brew, flatpak, rpm-ostree, nix, and copr.

curator add dnf:uv nix:micro
curator remove dnf:curl flatpak:org.mozilla.firefox

reset

Remove the rollback snapshot (inventory.toml.rollback).

curator reset

env

Apply environment variables defined in [variables] and propagate them to systemd/DBus. For your current shell, run:

curator env
# then, to update this shell:
eval "$(curator env --eval-only)"

Use curator env --eval-only in shell init files if you want each shell to export the current [variables] values without touching environment.d or systemd/DBus.

Configuration

inventory.toml

The central configuration file located at ~/.config/curator/inventory.toml:

# curator Configuration File
# User-level configuration similar to home-manager/nixos

[curator]
version = "1.0"
last_switch = ""

[copr]
# copr.fedorainfracloud.org/username/repository
# copr.fedorainfracloud.org/anotheruser/anotherrepo

[dnf]
# git
# vim
# curl
# wget

[brew]
# wget
# coreutils

[flatpak]
# org.mozilla.firefox
# com.spotify.Client

[rpm-ostree]
# podman
# htop

[nix]
# nixpkgs#git   # or just "git" (curator will prefix nixpkgs#)
# nixpkgs#htop  # or just "htop"

[variables]
# ENV_VAR = "value"
# ANOTHER = "another value"

[dotfiles]
# Dotfiles to manage with symlinks
# Format: "target_path" = "source_path"
# target_path: where the symlink should be created (relative to home directory)
# source_path: where the actual file is stored (relative to dotfiles directory)
".bashrc" = ".bashrc"
".config/vimrc" = "vimrc"
".config/alacritty/alacritty.yml" = "alacritty.yml"

[options]
# Additional options
backup = true
backup_dir = "backup"

Configuration Sections

[curator]

• version: Configuration file version
• last_switch: Timestamp of last switch operation (auto-updated)

[copr]

List of COPR repositories to enable via dnf copr enable. One repository per line—presence means enable, absence means don't enable.

Examples:

[copr]
copr.fedorainfracloud.org/username/repository
copr.fedorainfracloud.org/anotheruser/anotherrepo

To remove a COPR repository, simply delete the line containing the repository name. curator will automatically disable it during the next switch.

[dnf]

List of packages to install via dnf. One package per line—presence means install, absence means don't install.

Examples:

[dnf]
git
vim
curl
wget
nodejs
npm

To remove a package, simply delete the line containing the package name.

[brew]

List of packages to install via Homebrew. One package per line—presence means install.

[flatpak]

List of Flatpak refs to install. One ref per line—presence means install.

[rpm-ostree]

List of rpm-ostree layered packages. One package per line—presence means install.

[nix]

List of nix packages. One package per line—presence means install. You can specify plain names (e.g., neovim) or nixpkgs#name; curator will prefix nixpkgs# for installs and use the base name for removals.

[variables]

User environment variables to set via systemd environment.d. curator writes them to ~/.config/environment.d/20-curator.conf during curator switch; new sessions will load them automatically.

Examples:

[variables]
EDITOR = "nvim"
PAGER = "less -R"

Notes:

• Values are imported into the user systemd and DBus environments during curator switch or curator env.
• To update a currently running shell, run eval "$(curator env --eval-only)" after applying.
• Later shell init files (e.g., .bashrc, .zshrc) can still override these values.

[dotfiles]

Dotfile mappings using symlinks:

• Key: Target path where symlink should be created (relative to home directory)
• Value: Source path where actual file is stored (relative to dotfiles directory)
• Note: Source path automatically prefixed with "dotfiles/" if not present

[options]

Additional configuration options:

• backup: Enable/disable backup of existing files (default: true)
• backup_dir: Directory name for backups (relative to curator directory)

File Structure

~/.config/curator/
├── inventory.toml          # Main configuration file
├── dotfiles/           # Your actual dotfiles (source files)
│   ├── .bashrc
│   ├── vimrc
│   └── alacritty.yml
└── backup/            # Backups of replaced files
    ├── .bashrc.20231121_143022.bak
    └── vimrc.20231121_143022.bak

Environment Variables

• CURATOR_DIR: Override the default configuration directory (default: ~/.config/curator)