🧵 RESTITCH

Reliable config backup, restore, and revert — from the terminal, in Rust.

Overview

Restitch is a simple command-line utility for organizing configs and dotfiles — backup, restore, and revert system configurations.

No more manually backing up and moving files between installs. Restitch helps you track, package, and restore your setup across machines.

Usage

restitch                   # Launch the TUI to select configs and create a backup
restitch --restore --dry-run   # Preview the restore without applying changes
restitch --restore         # Restore from the most recent archive + manifest
restitch --revert          # Revert to the last backup (interactive prompt)
restitch --help            # CLI reference

CLI Flags

Flag	Description
`--archive <path>`	Use a specific archive `.tar.gz` file
`--manifest <path>`	Use a specific manifest `.toml` file
`--config-path <path>`	Load custom config targets `.toml` file

Configuration Format

Create a config_targets.toml in the working directory (or specify one via --config-path):

[[config]]
name = "Zsh Config"
path = "~/.zshrc"

[[config]]
name = "Kitty Terminal"
path = "~/.config/kitty"

Tilde (~) is supported. Only existing files or directories will be included.

Dry Run Preview

restitch --restore --dry-run

Outputs a detailed restore plan without modifying your system:

🧭 Restore Plan (dry-run):
───────────────────────────────────────────────
🔁 REPLACE: Zsh Config → ~/.zshrc
🔁 REPLACE: Kitty Terminal → ~/.config/kitty

🔎 Restore dry-run complete.
👉 To apply these changes, run with `--restore`

🔁 Revert System Configs

To roll back to the most recent state before a restore:

restitch --revert

Prompts you before overwriting current files with a backup from ./backups/.

Output Structure

Path	Description
`outputs/restitch-archive.tar.gz`	Generated config archive
`outputs/restitch-archive.manifest.toml`	Manifest listing included files
`backups/YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS/`	Auto-backups before restore

Install

Option 1: Use Prebuilt Linux Binaries

Visit the Releases Page and download the archive for your platform:

tar -xzf restitch-v0.1.2-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz
sudo cp restitch-v0.1.2-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/restitch /usr/local/bin/

Also available for: aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu.

Option 2: Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/JakeTurner616/restitch.git
cd restitch
cargo build --release
sudo cp target/release/restitch /usr/local/bin/

Requires Rust to build from source.

License

MIT License — free to use, modify, and distribute.

Built for terminal users who care about backing up their configs.

JakeTurner616/restitch

README