# Audit

> Dotfiles health baseline and triage. Use when the user wants a whole-system audit of ~/.dotfiles: credential leaks, shell startup, Stow symlinks, Neovim startup, missing tools, or orphan config. Do not use for targeted Neovim or shell edits; route those to neovim or shell-env.

- Skill: `kriscard/audit` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 5 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add kriscard/audit`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/kriscard/audit/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Security
- Author: kriscard (https://skillmd.com/u/kriscard)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/kriscard/audit

---


# Dotfiles Audit

Full health check of the dotfiles setup. Run all steps in order — each takes seconds and together they give a complete picture.

Security check runs first: it's always highest priority.

## Step 0: Security Scan

Scan for credentials before anything else.

```bash
# API keys, tokens, passwords in config files
grep -rE "(API_KEY|TOKEN|SECRET|PASSWORD)\s*=\s*['\"][^'\"]+['\"]" ~/.dotfiles/ 2>/dev/null
# Common token prefixes
grep -rE "(ghp_|sk-|AKIA|-----BEGIN.*PRIVATE KEY-----)" ~/.dotfiles/ 2>/dev/null
```

Flag any findings as **CRITICAL** — credentials in dotfiles can leak via git.

**File permission check** — these should be 600:

```bash
stat -f "%A %N" ~/.dotfiles/.gitconfig-work ~/.dotfiles/.gitconfig-personal 2>/dev/null
```

**Git safety** — verify `.gitignore` in the dotfiles repo includes:

- `.env`, `*_token`, `*_secret`, `99-local.zsh`, `**/*.local.*`

Done when credential findings, sensitive-file permissions, and gitignore coverage are recorded as clean or listed as Critical findings with file paths.

## Step 1: Shell Startup Time

```sh
time zsh -i -c exit
```

**Target:** <200ms. >500ms means something is blocking during interactive init.

If slow, isolate which zsh.d file is the culprit:

```sh
# Add timing to each zsh.d file temporarily
for f in ~/.zsh.d/*.zsh; do
  time zsh -c "source $f" 2>&1 | grep real
  echo "  ^ $f"
done
```

Done when one cold interactive startup measurement is recorded, the result is classified OK/SLOW against target, and any SLOW result names a likely zsh.d culprit or next profiling command.

## Step 2: Zsh Plugins Audit

Check `~/.dotfiles/zsh/.zshrc` and `~/.dotfiles/zsh/zsh.d/` for plugin loading (zinit, antigen, oh-my-zsh, etc.).

Flag heavy plugins:

- Large completion frameworks loaded synchronously
- `nvm` / `rbenv` / `pyenv` with eager shell integration (use lazy variants)
- Any plugin that makes network calls or spawns subprocesses at init

Done when each plugin/init integration is classified keep, lazy-load, remove, or needs profiling.

## Step 3: Stow Symlink Health

```sh
# Find broken symlinks in home directory (depth 3 to avoid scanning everything)
find ~ -maxdepth 3 -type l ! -e 2>/dev/null
```

A broken symlink means the stow source file was deleted or moved without re-stowing. Fix: either restore the source file or `stow -D <package>` to remove the dead link.

Done when every broken symlink is listed with its expected source or the report states none found.

## Step 4: Neovim Startup Time

```sh
nvim --headless --startuptime /tmp/nvim-startup.log +q && sort -k2 -n /tmp/nvim-startup.log | tail -20
```

**Target:** <150ms. >300ms needs investigation.

Check which plugins are loading eagerly: the top entries after sorting are the slowest. Cross-reference against the plugin list to find candidates for lazy-loading.

Done when startup time is recorded, classified OK/SLOW, and SLOW results name top slow entries. For targeted repair, stop and route to the neovim skill.

## Step 5: Tool Inventory Check

Verify tools referenced in dotfiles are actually installed:

```sh
which sesh tmux yabai starship lazygit gh bat fd rg zoxide fzf
```

Any `not found` means either:

- The tool was uninstalled but its config is still in dotfiles (orphan config)
- The tool isn't installed yet on this machine (new machine setup)

Done when every referenced tool checked is listed as installed, missing-but-needed, or missing-and-orphaned.

## Step 6: Orphan Config Detection

Cross-reference `ls ~/.dotfiles/` (stow packages) against the tools found in Step 5. A package with no corresponding installed binary is an orphan.

```sh
ls ~/.dotfiles/
```

Review each package: if the tool it configures isn't installed and you're not planning to use it, consider archiving the package or adding a note.

Done when every package is classified active, setup-required, or orphan candidate.

## Completion Gate

Do not produce the final report until each step has either a captured result or an explicit reason it could not run. Security issues rank first regardless of other findings.

## Report Format

After running all steps, produce a report:

```text
DOTFILES AUDIT REPORT
=====================

Security
  🔴 Critical: [N issues] / ✅ Clean
  [List any credential finds with file:line]
  [File permission issues]
  [Git safety gaps]

Startup Times
  Shell: Xms (target <200ms) — [OK | SLOW: investigate zsh.d/X.zsh]
  Neovim: Xms (target <150ms) — [OK | SLOW: top culprits: plugin1, plugin2]

Symlink Health
  Broken links: X found
  [list each broken link and its expected source]

Tool Inventory
  Installed: sesh, tmux, starship, ...
  Missing: [tool] — config exists at ~/.dotfiles/<package> (orphan or needs install)

Recommended Cleanups (priority order)
  1. [most impactful fix — security first, then startup time, then cosmetic]
  2. ...
```

## References

| Priority | Load when | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| High | Security scan finds issues or credential patterns need review | `references/security-patterns.md` |
| High | Shell startup is slow and needs profiling strategies | `references/shell-performance.md` |
| Medium | Auditing a specific package/component after the baseline identifies it | `references/component-analysis.md` |
| Low | Git config issues found: permissions, signing, aliases, or multi-identity | `references/git-config.md` |