shallow-backup

shallow‑backup provides a command‑line interface for creating lightweight backups of a system’s installed packages, applications, fonts, and dotfiles, then pushing the resulting archive to a remote Git repository. Users can invoke an interactive session or supply explicit options such as --backup-dots, --backup-packages, or --backup-fonts, and can also restore those items idempotently with corresponding reinstall flags. The tool stores its configuration in ~/.shallow‑backup, allowing customization of which paths are included, and supports conditional backup and reinstall based on the target machine.

The software is aimed at developers and power users who manage dotfiles and configuration across multiple computers, and who want a Git‑integrated workflow without manual copying or symlinking. It handles backup of files from any location on the filesystem, compresses package installations, and safeguards against destructive actions by prompting for elevated privileges only when necessary.

Distinctive aspects include built‑in Git integration for automatic remote pushes, a unified CLI that mirrors all interactive features, and optional dependencies such as pre‑commit and trufflehog that are installed on demand. The project is packaged for installation via pipx or from source and is marked as stable.