A Windows machine

Set up Windows with zc-workstation: winget packages, chezmoi dotfiles, mise runtimes, registry settings and scheduled tasks.

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On Windows, zc-workstation installs packages with winget, applies dotfiles with chezmoi, installs runtimes with mise, keeps registry settings and registers scheduled tasks.

Before the first plan

winget ships with Windows 11 and current Windows 10. Install chezmoi and mise with it, then download the windows_amd64 or windows_arm64 zip from the releases page and put zc-workstation.exe on your PATH.

PS> winget install --id twpayne.chezmoi --exact
PS> winget install --id jdx.mise --exact

A config for Windows

The packages target reads a winget export file. Give it os: [windows], so the same config also drives your Mac and Linux machines.

version: 1
targets:
  - name: winget
    provider: packages
    os: [windows]
    file: winget.json
  - name: home
    provider: dotfiles
    source: home
  - name: runtimes
    provider: tools
    file: mise.toml

Write winget.json from what the machine has with winget export -o winget.json, or start from example/winget.json: Git, chezmoi, mise, WezTerm, PowerShell 7, starship, atuin and the JetBrainsMono Nerd Font. chezmoi names files the same way on every system; use its templates for what differs, such as {{ if eq .chezmoi.os "windows" }}.

Settings and scheduled tasks

A settings target keeps registry values under HKCU, and a services target keeps Task Scheduler tasks registered. Each needs os: [windows].

  - name: windows
    provider: settings
    os: [windows]
    registry:
      'HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize':
        AppsUseLightTheme: false
        SystemUsesLightTheme: false
  - name: tasks
    provider: services
    os: [windows]
    agents: [tasks/weekly-update.xml]

Write a task file with Task Scheduler’s Export, or with Export-ScheduledTask -TaskName weekly-update > tasks/weekly-update.xml. settings and services have the details.

PowerShell and WezTerm

The ZoolCoder theme, a dotfiles target with source: ../zc-workstation/assets/theme, writes the same look as on the Mac:

~/.config/wezterm/wezterm.lua: the colours, font and glass, with PowerShell 7 as the shell.
~/.config/starship.toml, the prompt, which starship reads on Windows too.
~/.config/zoolcoder/theme.ps1, the colours of PowerShell’s line editor.

example/home has a PowerShell 7 profile, Documents/PowerShell/Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1, that starts mise, starship and atuin and loads the colours. chezmoi writes it only on Windows. If OneDrive moves your Documents folder, $PROFILE points into OneDrive: move the file in the chezmoi source to OneDrive/Documents/PowerShell.

Plan, apply, check

PS> zc-workstation plan -out plan.json
PS> zc-workstation apply plan.json
PS> zc-workstation doctor

Not on Windows yet

The desktop and keyboard providers are macOS and Linux only. ZCBar and ZC Care are macOS apps.

Edit this page Last updated October 16, 2026