I love to manage my dotfiles with Chezmoi, which I highly recommend! In a single Git repository, I have common dotfiles and Window Manager specific (KDE, GNOME, Hyprland, and Sway).

However, I prefer to have my Neovim configuration in another Git repository, separate from my Chezmoi dotfiles. I’ve just started learning Neovim, and I’m not yet 100% sure the configuration I use will be the ultimate one (I use Lazyvim); that’s why I want to keep them separate.

Chezmoi offers mechanisms for such situations: https://www.chezmoi.io/user-guide/include-files-from-elsewhere/. In particular, I use “Include a subdirectory from a git repository”: this way, Chezmoi will clone the external Git repository for my Neovim configuration on the first run and will keep it up to date (i.e., “git pull”) at some specified intervals (remember, the default interval is 0!).

You need to create the file “.chezmoiexternal.toml” in the root folder of your Chezmoi file and follow the syntax in the documentation.

For example, I want my “~/.config/nvim” directory (where Neovim configuration lives) to be populated (and kept up-to-date) with the contents of my GitHub repository “https://github.com/LorenzoBettini/starter” (as I said above, I’m using a fork of the Starter repository of Lazyvim):

Note that I specified a 1-hour refresh interval. Thus, if I issue a “chezmoi update,” it will keep that interval into consideration when deciding whether to check for updates (i.e., “pull”) in the Git repository. However, you also have this option in Chezmoi to force the Git update:

That’s all, and enjoy your dotfiles! 🙂