docs/content/codespaces/troubleshooting/troubleshooting-dotfiles-for-codespaces.md

title, intro, product, versions, type, topics, shortTitle

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Troubleshooting dotfiles for Codespaces	Troubleshooting steps for common dotfiles issues.	{% data reusables.gated-features.codespaces %}	fpt *	reference	Codespaces	Dotfiles

If your codespace fails to pick up configuration settings from dotfiles, you should work through the following debugging steps.

1. Make sure your dotfiles repository is public. If you have secrets or sensitive data you want to use in your codespace, use Codespace secrets instead of private dotfiles.
2. Check /workspaces/.codespaces/.persistedshare/dotfiles to see if your dotfiles were cloned.
   • If your dotfiles were cloned, try manually re-running your install script to verify that it is executable.
   • If your dotfiles were not cloned, check /workspaces/.codespaces/.persistedshare/EnvironmentLog.txt to see if there was a problem cloning them.
3. Check /workspaces/.codespaces/.persistedshare/creation.log for possible issues. For more information, see Creation logs.

If the configuration from your dotfiles is correctly picked up, but part of the configuration is incompatible with codespaces, use the $CODESPACES environment variable to add conditional logic for codespace-specific configuration settings.