GNU stow command

GNU Stow is a symlink manager, commonly used to manage dotfiles cleanly across systems (very popular with Arch/CachyOS + Hyprland users like you).

What stow does (in one sentence)

stow creates symlinks from a central dotfiles directory into your $HOME, instead of copying files around.

Typical dotfiles layout

Example (very close to what you’re already using):

~/dotfiles/
├── hypr/
│   └── .config/
│       └── hypr/
│           └── hyprland.conf
├── waybar/
│   └── .config/
│       └── waybar/
│           └── config.jsonc
├── wofi/
│   └── .config/
│       └── wofi/
│           └── style.css

Each top-level folder (hypr, waybar, wofi) is called a package.

Basic stow command

Run this inside the dotfiles directory:

cd ~/dotfiles
stow hypr

This creates:

~/.config/hypr -> ~/dotfiles/hypr/.config/hypr

No files are copied — only symlinks.

Stow multiple packages

stow hypr waybar wofi

Dry run (VERY useful)

See what will happen without touching anything:

stow -n -v hypr

• -n → no-op (dry run)
• -v → verbose output

Unstow (remove symlinks)

To remove symlinks created by stow:

stow -D hypr

This does not delete your real files, only the symlinks.

Common options you’ll use

Why stow complained in your earlier setup

You saw errors like:

existing target is stowed to a different package

This happens when:

• Two packages try to manage the same target path, e.g.

  • hypr/.config/config
  • waybar/.config/config

Rule of thumb

One path = one stow package

Shared files should live in:

• a common package, or
• be symlinked manually

Best practice for Hyprland setups (recommended)

dotfiles/
├── hypr/
│   └── .config/hypr/
├── waybar/
│   └── .config/waybar/
├── wofi/
│   └── .config/wofi/
├── swaync/
│   └── .config/swaync/

Never do:

hypr/.config/config
waybar/.config/config   ❌

TL;DR

• stow = symlink manager
• Run it from inside your dotfiles folder
• One package per config directory
• Use -n -v before committing changes
• Use -D to cleanly undo