Prerequisites

Install TPM Plugin manager first:

git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm ~/.tmux/plugins/tpm

Crontab Setup (Linux)

Add the the following line (using crontab -e) to cron to apply the changes hourly

0 * * * * cd ~/dotfiles && git pull origin main && stow -v */ >> ~/dotfiles/stow.log 2>&1

Cronjob Using Launchers (macOS)

Great! You can use launchd, which is the macOS equivalent of cron, to run your command every hour. Here’s how:

Step 1: Create a Launch Agent

1. Open Terminal and create a new .plist file:

   mkdir -p ~/Library/LaunchAgents
   nano ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.user.dotfiles.sync.plist

2. Add the following content:

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
   <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
   <plist version="1.0">
       <dict>
           <key>Label</key>
           <string>com.user.dotfiles.sync</string>
   
           <key>ProgramArguments</key>
           <array>
               <string>/bin/bash</string>
               <string>-c</string>
               <string>cd ~/dotfiles && git pull origin main && stow -v * >> ~/dotfiles/stow.log 2>&1</string>
           </array>
   
           <key>StartInterval</key>
           <integer>3600</integer>  <!-- Runs every hour -->
   
           <key>RunAtLoad</key>
           <true/>
       </dict>
   </plist>

   • StartInterval is set to 3600 seconds (1 hour).
   • RunAtLoad ensures it runs when the agent is first loaded.

Step 2: Load the Launch Agent

Run:

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.user.dotfiles.sync.plist

This will schedule your task to run every hour.

Step 3: Verify It’s Running

You can check if your job is loaded with:

launchctl list | grep com.user.dotfiles.sync

Step 4: Unload If Needed

If you ever want to stop the scheduled task:

launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.user.dotfiles.sync.plist