Template Variables

chezmoi provides the following automatically-populated variables accessible in templates via the .chezmoi namespace.

System Information

Variable	Type	Description	Example
`.chezmoi.arch`	string	Architecture as returned by runtime.GOARCH	`amd64`, `arm64`, `arm`
`.chezmoi.os`	string	Operating system as returned by runtime.GOOS	`darwin`, `linux`, `windows`
`.chezmoi.osRelease`	object	Contents of `/etc/os-release` (Linux only)	See below
`.chezmoi.kernel`	object	Information from `/proc/sys/kernel` (Linux only)	See below
`.chezmoi.windowsVersion`	object	Windows version information (Windows only)	See below

Examples

{{ if eq .chezmoi.os "darwin" }}
# macOS-specific configuration
{{ else if eq .chezmoi.os "linux" }}
# Linux-specific configuration
{{ end }}

{{ if eq .chezmoi.arch "amd64" }}
# 64-bit configuration
{{ end }}

Host Information

Variable	Type	Description	Example
`.chezmoi.hostname`	string	Hostname up to the first `.`	`workstation`
`.chezmoi.fqdnHostname`	string	Fully-qualified domain name hostname	`workstation.example.com`

Examples

{{ if eq .chezmoi.hostname "workstation" }}
# Work machine configuration
{{ else if eq .chezmoi.hostname "laptop" }}
# Personal laptop configuration
{{ end }}

User Information

Variable	Type	Description	Example
`.chezmoi.username`	string	Username of the user running chezmoi	`john`
`.chezmoi.uid`	string	User ID	`1000`
`.chezmoi.gid`	string	Primary group ID	`1000`
`.chezmoi.group`	string	Group name of the user	`users`

Examples

[user]
    name = {{ .chezmoi.username }}
    uid = {{ .chezmoi.uid }}

Directory Paths

Variable	Type	Description	Example
`.chezmoi.homeDir`	string	Home directory	`/home/john`
`.chezmoi.sourceDir`	string	Source directory	`/home/john/.local/share/chezmoi`
`.chezmoi.destDir`	string	Destination directory	`/home/john`
`.chezmoi.cacheDir`	string	Cache directory	`/home/john/.cache/chezmoi`
`.chezmoi.workingTree`	string	Git working tree	`/home/john/.local/share/chezmoi`

Examples

# Include a file from source directory
{{ include (joinPath .chezmoi.sourceDir "scripts" "common.sh") }}

# Check if file exists in home directory
{{ if stat (joinPath .chezmoi.homeDir ".ssh" "id_rsa") }}
SSH key exists
{{ end }}

Template File Information

Variable	Type	Description	Example
`.chezmoi.sourceFile`	string	Path of template relative to source directory	`dot_bashrc.tmpl`
`.chezmoi.targetFile`	string	Absolute path of the target file	`/home/john/.bashrc`

Examples

# Managed by chezmoi
# Source: {{ .chezmoi.sourceFile }}
# Target: {{ .chezmoi.targetFile }}

chezmoi Information

Variable	Type	Description	Example
`.chezmoi.executable`	string	Path to chezmoi executable	`/usr/local/bin/chezmoi`
`.chezmoi.args`	[]string	Arguments passed to chezmoi	`["chezmoi", "apply"]`
`.chezmoi.version.version`	string	chezmoi version	`2.40.0`
`.chezmoi.version.commit`	string	Git commit of build	`abc123...`
`.chezmoi.version.date`	string	Build timestamp	`2024-01-15T10:30:00Z`
`.chezmoi.version.builtBy`	string	Builder name	`goreleaser`

Examples

# Generated by chezmoi {{ .chezmoi.version.version }}

{{ if .chezmoi.executable }}
# To update: {{ .chezmoi.executable }} update
{{ end }}

Configuration

Variable	Type	Description
`.chezmoi.config`	object	Configuration file contents
`.chezmoi.configFile`	string	Path to configuration file

Examples

{{ if .chezmoi.config.data.email }}
email = {{ .chezmoi.config.data.email }}
{{ end }}

Path Separators

Variable	Type	Description	Example
`.chezmoi.pathSeparator`	string	OS path separator	`/` (Unix), `\` (Windows)
`.chezmoi.pathListSeparator`	string	OS path list separator	`:` (Unix), `;` (Windows)

Examples

export PATH="$HOME{{ .chezmoi.pathSeparator }}bin{{ .chezmoi.pathListSeparator }}$PATH"

OS-Specific Variables

`.chezmoi.osRelease` (Linux)

Contains information from /etc/os-release:

{{ .chezmoi.osRelease.id }}          # "ubuntu", "arch", etc.
{{ .chezmoi.osRelease.versionID }}   # "22.04", etc.
{{ .chezmoi.osRelease.name }}        # "Ubuntu"
{{ .chezmoi.osRelease.prettyName }}  # "Ubuntu 22.04 LTS"

Example

{{ if eq .chezmoi.osRelease.id "ubuntu" }}
# Ubuntu-specific configuration
{{ else if eq .chezmoi.osRelease.id "arch" }}
# Arch-specific configuration
{{ end }}

`.chezmoi.kernel` (Linux)

Contains information from /proc/sys/kernel:

{{ .chezmoi.kernel.osrelease }}  # Kernel version
{{ .chezmoi.kernel.ostype }}     # "Linux"

Useful for detecting WSL:

{{ if .chezmoi.kernel.osrelease | lower | contains "microsoft" }}
# Running in WSL
{{ end }}

`.chezmoi.windowsVersion` (Windows)

Contains Windows version information from the registry:

Key	Type	Description
`currentBuild`	string	Build number
`currentMajorVersionNumber`	integer	Major version
`currentMinorVersionNumber`	integer	Minor version
`currentVersion`	string	Version string
`displayVersion`	string	Display version
`editionID`	string	Edition (e.g., “Professional”)
`productName`	string	Product name

Example

{{ if ge .chezmoi.windowsVersion.currentBuild "22000" }}
# Windows 11 or later
{{ end }}

Custom Data Variables

Additional variables can be defined in the config file’s data section or in .chezmoidata.$FORMAT files:

~/.config/chezmoi/chezmoi.toml

[data]
    email = "user@example.com"
    name = "John Doe"
    work = true

~/.local/share/chezmoi/.chezmoidata.yaml

packages:
  - vim
  - git
editor: nvim

Access in templates:

{{ .email }}
{{ .name }}
{{ if .work }}
# Work configuration
{{ end }}

{{ range .packages }}
install {{ . }}
{{ end }}

Testing Variables

To see all available template data:

# View all chezmoi variables
chezmoi data

# View specific value
chezmoi execute-template '{{ .chezmoi.os }}'

# View custom data
chezmoi execute-template '{{ .email }}'

Practical Examples

Multi-OS Configuration

dot_bashrc.tmpl

# Common configuration
export EDITOR=vim

{{ if eq .chezmoi.os "darwin" }}
# macOS
export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"
alias ls="ls -G"
{{ else if eq .chezmoi.os "linux" }}
# Linux
export PATH="/usr/bin:$PATH"
alias ls="ls --color=auto"
{{ end }}

Machine-Specific Configuration

dot_gitconfig.tmpl

[user]
    name = {{ .name }}
    email = {{ if eq .chezmoi.hostname "work-laptop" }}{{ .work_email }}{{ else }}{{ .personal_email }}{{ end }}

{{ if .work }}
[url "git@github.com:company/"]
    insteadOf = https://github.com/company/
{{ end }}

Distribution-Specific Configuration

run_once_install-packages.sh.tmpl

#!/bin/bash

{{ if eq .chezmoi.osRelease.id "ubuntu" }}
apt-get update
apt-get install -y {{ range .packages }}{{ . }} {{ end }}
{{ else if eq .chezmoi.osRelease.id "arch" }}
pacman -Syu --noconfirm {{ range .packages }}{{ . }} {{ end }}
{{ else if eq .chezmoi.osRelease.id "fedora" }}
dnf install -y {{ range .packages }}{{ . }} {{ end }}
{{ end }}

Template Overview - Template system overview
Template Functions - Available functions
Configuration File - Configuration options
chezmoi data - View template data

Commands

Configuration

Templates

Template Variables

Template Variables

System Information

Examples

Host Information

Examples

User Information

Examples

Directory Paths

Examples

Template File Information

Examples

chezmoi Information

Examples

Configuration

Examples

Path Separators

Examples

OS-Specific Variables

`.chezmoi.osRelease` (Linux)

Example

`.chezmoi.kernel` (Linux)

`.chezmoi.windowsVersion` (Windows)

Example

Custom Data Variables

Testing Variables

Practical Examples

Multi-OS Configuration

Machine-Specific Configuration

Distribution-Specific Configuration

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Commands

Configuration

Templates

Documentation Index

​Template Variables

​System Information

​Examples

​Host Information

​Examples

​User Information

​Examples

​Directory Paths

​Examples

​Template File Information

​Examples

​chezmoi Information

​Examples

​Configuration

​Examples

​Path Separators

​Examples

​OS-Specific Variables

​.chezmoi.osRelease (Linux)

​Example

​.chezmoi.kernel (Linux)

​.chezmoi.windowsVersion (Windows)

​Example

​Custom Data Variables

​Testing Variables

​Practical Examples

​Multi-OS Configuration

​Machine-Specific Configuration

​Distribution-Specific Configuration

​Related Pages

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Template Variables

System Information

Examples

Host Information

Examples

User Information

Examples

Directory Paths

Examples

Template File Information

Examples

chezmoi Information

Examples

Configuration

Examples

Path Separators

Examples

OS-Specific Variables

`.chezmoi.osRelease` (Linux)

Example

`.chezmoi.kernel` (Linux)

`.chezmoi.windowsVersion` (Windows)

Example

Custom Data Variables

Testing Variables

Practical Examples

Multi-OS Configuration

Machine-Specific Configuration

Distribution-Specific Configuration

Related Pages