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atuin role — shell history sync ​

A new opt-in role. atuin replaces shell history with a SQLite DB, a fuzzy Ctrl-R, and end-to-end-encrypted sync across machines. It's a starship-shaped role (install a Rust binary + shell init + versions.d), opt-in via roles because it rebinds Ctrl-R / up-arrow and not everyone wants that.

The role ​

  • Install from atuin's GitHub releases (the yq pattern) — or the official setup.atuin.sh installer; brew on macOS (ansible_facts.os_family == 'Darwin'). Register atuin --version in versions.d so it auto-updates.
  • Shell init via ~/.profile.d/atuin.sh (eval "$(atuin init bash)" / atuin init zsh) — bash and zsh from the start, keyed on unix_shell now that both are first-class. Source it late: atuin rebinds keys, so order it after starship and other rc setup.
  • Config (~/.config/atuin/config.toml) by keys (settings, not files): search_mode, filter_mode, style, sync_frequency, history_filter.

Sync (the multi-machine win) ​

Encrypted history sync means your shell history follows every machine the fleet provisions — something plain .bash_history can't do.

  • Secrets, not vars: login needs a username/password and the encryption key — route them through the bitwarden role / ansible-vault, never plain vars. The role fetches the key from Bitwarden at runtime, runs atuin login, and restores the key.
  • Server is infra, not dotfiles: self-host the open-source sync server in the cluster (helm-charts) or use the hosted service. The role only configures the client (sync_address) and logs in.
  • Import once: atuin import auto seeds from .bash_history — guard it so a re-apply doesn't re-import (run only when the DB is fresh).

Synergy ​

history_filter (regex exclusions) keeps secrets out of recorded history — partly closing the Bitwarden roadmap item "make sure printed passwords are not stored in the history". Ship a sensible default filter.

Open questions ​

  • Default sync on (needs the Bitwarden-backed key) or ship local-only with sync opt-in per host?
  • fish init parity, if fish ever becomes a supported shell.