nixos

Personal NixOS flake configuration for two hosts: a Framework laptop and a Hetzner VPS.

Screenshots

greeter	boot	splash

Hosts

Host	Machine	User	Purpose
framework	Framework laptop	zack	Daily driver — Wayland (niri) + noctalia shell
quote-assistant	Hetzner VPS	admin / app	Nginx reverse proxy in front of a Clojure web app

Rebuild

# From /home/zack/nixos
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#framework
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#quote-assistant

Important: any new .nix file must be staged (git add) before rebuilding. import-tree uses git to enumerate files — unstaged files are invisible to Nix.

Architecture

All .nix files under modules/ are auto-imported via import-tree. There is no manual module registration.

modules/
  parts.nix                      # systems + pkgs (allowUnfree = true)
  hosts/
    framework/                   # nixosConfigurations.framework
    hetzner/quote-assistant/     # nixosConfigurations.quote-assistant
  home/
    common/config/               # shared defaults exported as flake.lib.*
    zack/                        # user modules + per-tool overrides
    vps/                         # VPS admin + app user modules
  module/<category>/
    <category>.nix               # root: options + imports all tools
    packages/<tool>.nix          # tool sub-module gated on its enable option
  peripherals/                   # keyboard, monitors, NAS, printer

Key inputs

Input	Purpose
nixpkgs	nixos-unstable
flake-parts	Structures flake outputs
import-tree	Auto-discovers modules/**/*.nix
home-manager	Integrated (follows nixpkgs)
noctalia	Desktop shell (pinned v4.7.2)
wrapper-modules	Wraps niri with custom settings
claude-desktop	Claude Desktop Linux build
vscode	Follows nixpkgs by default; pin by changing URL

Binary caches

Cache	Where configured
noctalia.cachix.org	flake.nix nixConfig
cache.nixos.org	configuration.nix nix.settings
devenv.cachix.org	configuration.nix nix.settings

Module system

Options live under config.<category>.programs.<tool>.enable. Enable them in modules/home/zack/home.nix.

Category	Tools
ai	claude-code, claude-desktop, codex, whisper-cpp
backup	restic
browser	chrome, chromium, firefox
containers	docker, podman, podman-desktop
data	jq, yq
development	git, gh, lazygit, direnv, devenv, delta
development.languages	python, clojure, nodejs, jdk
development.language-tools	uv, clj-kondo
editor	vscode, vim, neovim, emacs
files	fd, ripgrep, yazi, mc
media	asciinema, auto-editor, ffmpeg, discord, kdenlive, obs-studio, pear-desktop
monitoring	btop, bandwhich, gping
passwords	keepassxc
productivity	libreoffice, onlyoffice, wpsoffice
shell-cli	zsh, fish, nushell
shell-tools	atuin, atuin-desktop, fzf, zoxide, navi, tldr, starship, comma
terminal	tmux, ghostty
theming	bat, cursor, gtk
compositor	nixosModule — compositor.type = "niri"
shell-desktop	nixosModule — shell-desktop.type = "noctalia"

Common defaults

Shared settings are exported as flake.lib.* from modules/home/common/config/:

• self.lib.monitors — connector names for HP external (DP-1) and built-in (eDP-2)
• self.lib.theme — Nord color palette, opacity, and derived values
• self.lib.noctalia.commonSettings — 400+ line noctalia defaults

User configs overlay them with lib.recursiveUpdate.

Adding a new program

1. Create modules/module/<category>/packages/<tool>.nix — gate config with lib.mkIf config.<category>.programs.<tool>.enable
2. Add self.homeModules.<tool> to imports in the category root module
3. Add <tool>.enable = lib.mkEnableOption "..." to the root module's options
4. Enable in modules/home/zack/home.nix
5. If user config needed: create modules/home/zack/config/<tool>.nix and import it in home.nix
6. git add every new file
7. Rebuild

Running unavailable tools

Prefix any command with , to run a nixpkg on the fly without installing it:

, alejandra .
, nix-tree