Config Versioning: Git + Symbolic Links

App configurations are scattered across the system:

~/.config/, AppData\Roaming\, Documents\, ~/.minecraft/
Lost on OS reinstall or device change
Manual copying is slow, error-prone, unversioned

The Solution
#

Store configurations in a Git repository and connect them to target paths via symbolic links.

~/.config/nixcfg/ (Git repo)
    ↓ (symlink)
~/.config/nix/ (actual location)

~/Git/PowerShell-Stuff/ (Git repo)
    ↓ (mklink /D)
C:\Users\<user>\Documents\PowerShell\ (actual location)

Benefits:

✅ Versioning: git log, git diff, rollbacks
✅ Backup: one git push - all configs in the cloud
✅ Sync: git clone + symlinks - new system ready in minutes
✅ Testing: branches for experiments (feature/new-prompt)

How It Works
#

Clone the repository to a convenient location (e.g., ~/Git/)
Remove the original config folder (after backing up)
Create a symbolic link from the target path to the repo
App works as usual, but configs are now in Git

Example 1: PowerShell-Stuff
#

Repository: ponfertato/PowerShell-Stuff

Structure
#

PowerShell-Stuff/
├── Modules/          # Custom modules
├── Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1  # Shell profile
└── powershell.config.json  # Engine settings

Installation (Windows)
#

# 1. Clone repo
git clone https://github.com/ponfertato/PowerShell-Stuff.git ~/Git/PowerShell-Stuff

# 2. Remove original configs (backup first)
Remove-Item "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\PowerShell\Modules" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\PowerShell\powershell.config.json" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# 3. Create symbolic links
# For directories: mklink /D <target> <source>
# For files: mklink <target> <source>
mklink /D "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\PowerShell\Modules" "$env:USERPROFILE\Git\PowerShell-Stuff\Modules"
mklink "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1" "$env:USERPROFILE\Git\PowerShell-Stuff\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1"
mklink "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\PowerShell\powershell.config.json" "$env:USERPROFILE\Git\PowerShell-Stuff\powershell.config.json"

# 4. Install Oh My Posh (optional)
winget install JanDeDobbeleer.OhMyPosh -s winget

Result
#

Profile loads on PowerShell start
Modules available via Import-Module
All changes versioned: git add . && git commit -m "Update prompt"

Example 2: BetterDiscord-Stuff
#

Repository: ponfertato/BetterDiscord-Stuff

Structure
#

BetterDiscord-Stuff/
├── data/             # Shared data
├── plugins/          # Plugins: ActivityIcons, DoNotTrack, ShowAllActivities
└── themes/           # Themes: ClearVision, Fluent Discord, Material Discord

Installation (Windows)
#

# 1. Clone repo
git clone https://github.com/ponfertato/BetterDiscord-Stuff.git ~/Git/BetterDiscord-Stuff

# 2. Remove original folders
Remove-Item "$env:APPDATA\BetterDiscord\plugins" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$env:APPDATA\BetterDiscord\themes" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$env:APPDATA\BetterDiscord\data" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# 3. Create symbolic links
mklink /D "$env:APPDATA\BetterDiscord\plugins" "$env:USERPROFILE\Git\BetterDiscord-Stuff\plugins"
mklink /D "$env:APPDATA\BetterDiscord\themes" "$env:USERPROFILE\Git\BetterDiscord-Stuff\themes"
mklink /D "$env:APPDATA\BetterDiscord\data" "$env:USERPROFILE\Git\BetterDiscord-Stuff\data"

Installation (Linux - Native)
#

# 1. Clone repo
git clone https://github.com/ponfertato/BetterDiscord-Stuff.git ~/Git/BetterDiscord-Stuff

# 2. Remove original folders
rm -rf ~/.config/BetterDiscord/plugins
rm -rf ~/.config/BetterDiscord/themes
rm -rf ~/.config/BetterDiscord/data

# 3. Create symbolic links
ln -s ~/Git/BetterDiscord-Stuff/plugins ~/.config/BetterDiscord/plugins
ln -s ~/Git/BetterDiscord-Stuff/themes ~/.config/BetterDiscord/themes
ln -s ~/Git/BetterDiscord-Stuff/data ~/.config/BetterDiscord/data

Installation (Linux - Flatpak)
#

# Path for Flatpak Discord
BD_PATH="$HOME/.var/app/com.discordapp.Discord/config/BetterDiscord"

# Remove originals
rm -rf "$BD_PATH/plugins" "$BD_PATH/themes" "$BD_PATH/data"

# Create links
ln -s ~/Git/BetterDiscord-Stuff/plugins "$BD_PATH/plugins"
ln -s ~/Git/BetterDiscord-Stuff/themes "$BD_PATH/themes"
ln -s ~/Git/BetterDiscord-Stuff/data "$BD_PATH/data"

⚠️ Note: if the repo is outside Flatpak sandbox, grant filesystem access:
flatpak override --user --filesystem=~/Git com.discordapp.Discord

Key Plugins
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Plugin	Purpose
`ActivityIcons`	Custom status icons (Spotify, games)
`DoNotTrack`	Block Discord telemetry
`enhancecodeblocks`	Syntax highlighting, line numbers in code blocks
`ShowAllActivities`	Display all user activities
`SplitLargeMessages`	Auto-split long messages
`PluginRepo` / `ThemeRepo`	Install plugins/themes directly from Discord

Example 3: Minecraft-Stuff
#

Repository: ponfertato/Minecraft-Stuff

Structure
#

Minecraft-Stuff/
├── config/           # Mod configs (CraftPresence, Iris, Sodium)
├── mods/             # Quilt mods for 1.20.1
├── resourcepacks/    # Resource packs
├── shaderpacks/      # Shaders (Iris-compatible)
└── texturepacks/     # Texture packs

Installation (Windows)
#

# 1. Clone repo
git clone https://github.com/ponfertato/Minecraft-Stuff.git ~/Git/Minecraft-Stuff

# 2. Remove original folders (.minecraft)
$MC_PATH = "$env:APPDATA\.minecraft"
Remove-Item "$MC_PATH\config" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$MC_PATH\mods" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$MC_PATH\resourcepacks" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$MC_PATH\shaderpacks" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# 3. Create symbolic links
mklink /D "$MC_PATH\config" "$env:USERPROFILE\Git\Minecraft-Stuff\config"
mklink /D "$MC_PATH\mods" "$env:USERPROFILE\Git\Minecraft-Stuff\mods"
mklink /D "$MC_PATH\resourcepacks" "$env:USERPROFILE\Git\Minecraft-Stuff\resourcepacks"
mklink /D "$MC_PATH\shaderpacks" "$env:USERPROFILE\Git\Minecraft-Stuff\shaderpacks"

Installation (Linux - Flatpak PrismLauncher)
#

# Instance path
MC_PATH="$HOME/.var/app/org.prismlauncher.PrismLauncher/data/PrismLauncher/instances/1.20.X/.minecraft"

# Clone repo
git clone https://github.com/ponfertato/Minecraft-Stuff.git ~/Git/Minecraft-Stuff

# Remove originals
rm -rf "$MC_PATH/config" "$MC_PATH/mods" "$MC_PATH/resourcepacks" "$MC_PATH/shaderpacks"

# Create links (one-liner)
ln -s ~/Git/Minecraft-Stuff/{config,mods,resourcepacks,shaderpacks} "$MC_PATH/"

Key Mods
#

Mod	Purpose
`CraftPresence`	Discord Rich Presence integration
`CustomPlayerModels`	Custom 3D player models
`Iris` + `Sodium`	Shaders + rendering optimization
`Quilted Fabric API` + `QSL`	Base for Quilt mods

🔄 Updating Configurations
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# 1. Navigate to repository
cd ~/Git/PowerShell-Stuff  # or BetterDiscord-Stuff / Minecraft-Stuff

# 2. Pull changes
git pull

# 3. (Optional) Commit your changes
git add .
git commit -m "Update prompt colors"
git push

For Discord/Minecraft: changes apply immediately or after app restart.

⚠️ Nuances and Solutions
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Issue	Solution
Link creation fails (Windows)	Run terminal as Administrator or enable “Developer Mode”
Flatpak can’t see files outside sandbox	Grant permission: `flatpak override --user --filesystem=~/Git <app-id>`
Conflict when updating mod/plugin	Use `git stash` before `pull`, then `git stash pop`
Backup before removing originals	`mv ~/.config/app ~/.config/app.bak` or `git add . && git commit`
Verify link works	`ls -l ~/.config/app` (Linux) or `dir /AL "%APPDATA%\BetterDiscord"` (Windows)

Links
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The Solution#

How It Works#

Example 1: PowerShell-Stuff#

Structure#

Installation (Windows)#

Result#

Example 2: BetterDiscord-Stuff#

Structure#

Installation (Windows)#

Installation (Linux - Native)#

Installation (Linux - Flatpak)#

Key Plugins#

Example 3: Minecraft-Stuff#

Structure#

Installation (Windows)#

Installation (Linux - Flatpak PrismLauncher)#

Key Mods#

🔄 Updating Configurations#

⚠️ Nuances and Solutions#

Links#

The Solution
#

How It Works
#

Example 1: PowerShell-Stuff
#

Structure
#

Installation (Windows)
#

Result
#

Example 2: BetterDiscord-Stuff
#

Structure
#

Installation (Windows)
#

Installation (Linux - Native)
#

Installation (Linux - Flatpak)
#

Key Plugins
#

Example 3: Minecraft-Stuff
#

Structure
#

Installation (Windows)
#

Installation (Linux - Flatpak PrismLauncher)
#

Key Mods
#

🔄 Updating Configurations
#

⚠️ Nuances and Solutions
#

Links
#