Windows Setup

A utility toolkit for tracking and managing Windows setup, configuration, and post-installation tasks. Log setup runs, check configurations, analyze system state, generate reports, and export data — all from the command line.

Commands

All commands accept optional <input> arguments. Without arguments, they display recent entries from their log.

Data Storage

All data is stored locally in ~/.local/share/windows-setup/. Each command maintains its own .log file with timestamped entries in YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM|value format. A unified history.log tracks all operations across commands.

Export formats supported:

• JSON — Array of objects with type, time, and value fields
• CSV — Standard comma-separated with type,time,value header
• TXT — Human-readable grouped by command type

Requirements

• Bash 4.0+ with set -euo pipefail (strict mode)
• Standard Unix utilities: date, wc, du, grep, tail, sed, cat
• No external dependencies — runs on any POSIX-compliant system
• Works on WSL, Git Bash, or any Bash environment on Windows

When to Use

1. Post-installation task tracking — Log all setup steps after a fresh Windows install for reproducibility
2. Configuration auditing — Record and compare system configurations before and after changes
3. Batch setup automation — Queue up multiple setup tasks and track their completion status
4. Generating setup reports — Export task history to JSON/CSV for documentation or compliance
5. Comparing system states — Use compare to record differences between baseline and current configurations

Examples

# Log a setup task
windows-setup run "Disable telemetry via Group Policy"

# Check a system prerequisite
windows-setup check ".NET Framework 4.8 installed"

# Analyze current system state
windows-setup analyze "Startup apps: 12 enabled, 3 high-impact"

# Compare before and after setup
windows-setup compare "Default vs hardened: 23 registry changes"

# Batch process multiple tasks
windows-setup batch "Privacy settings: 8 toggles disabled"

# Export all setup history to JSON
windows-setup export json

# Search for specific setup entries
windows-setup search "registry"

# View summary statistics
windows-setup stats

How It Works

Windows Setup stores all data locally in ~/.local/share/windows-setup/. Each command creates a dedicated log file (e.g., run.log, check.log, config.log). Every entry is timestamped and appended, providing a full audit trail of all setup operations. The history.log file aggregates activity across all commands for unified tracking.

When called without arguments, each command displays its most recent 20 entries, making it easy to review past setup work without manually inspecting log files.

Output

All output goes to stdout. Redirect to a file with:

windows-setup stats > report.txt
windows-setup export json  # writes to ~/.local/share/windows-setup/export.json

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