Modular NixOS Configuration

Note

If you are here for the eye-candy Arch configuration, then checkout the arch branch.

A NixOS configuration where everything is modular, independent, reproducible, and hassle-free; so you can use this entire environment, across any machine, with a single command; everything, everywhere, all at once.

Pattern

This setup relies on the options pattern. Every single app, tool, and system feature listed in this repo must be explicitly enabled.

Dependencies

Dependency and package leakage is everyone's worst nightmare; yes, everyone's. While it's not perfect, everything made here aims to prevent that.

Usage

I recommend forking, cloning, or doing whatever you want with this repo on your own machine and using it as a base template. Everyone is different, and my specific tools or workflow might not be the right fit for you.

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Calsjunior/dotfiles.git
   

2. Create your host configuration:

   Since everything is opt-in, you build your own configuration by creating your host files. The easiest way to start is by copying one of the existing hosts.

   cp -r hosts/ares hosts/your-hostname
   

   Be sure to replace the hardware-configuration.nix with your own file.

   Next, open hosts/your-hostname/configuration.nix (for system-level modules) and hosts/your-hostname/home.nix (for user-level modules), and toggle what your heart desires.

   # hosts/your-hostname/configuration.nix
   {
   # System
   sys.core.enable = true;
   sys.fonts.enable = true;
   sys.hardware.nvidia.enable = true;
   
   # Window Manager Hooks
   wm.hyprland.enable = true;
   }

   # hosts/your-hostname/home.nix
   {
     # CLI Tools
     cli.core.enable = true;
     cli.yazi.enable = true;
     cli.neovim.enable = true;
   
     # GUI & Desktop
     gui.kitty.enable = true;
     gui.browser.zen.enable = true;
     desktop.hyprland.enable = true;
   }

3. Register your new host:

   Open flake.nix and add your new host configuration under the nixosConfigurations output block, pointing it to your newly created directory.

   "your-hostname" =
   let
     hostname = "your-hostname";
   in
   nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
     specialArgs = {
       inherit
         inputs
         user
         hostname
         ;
     };
     modules = [
       ./hosts/${hostname}/configuration.nix
       ./modules/nixos
   
       home-manager.nixosModules.home-manager
       {
         home-manager = {
           useGlobalPkgs = true;
           useUserPackages = true;
           users.${user} = import ./hosts/${hostname}/home.nix;
           sharedModules = [ ./modules/home-manager ];
           extraSpecialArgs = { inherit inputs user hostname; };
           backupFileExtension = "backup";
         };
       }
     ];
   };

4. Apply the configuration:

   git add .
   sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#your-hostname
   

Structure

.
├── config
│   ├── formatters
│   │   ├── .clang-format
│   │   └── biome.json
│   ├── hypr
│   │   ├── modules
│   │   ├── scripts
│   │   ├── .luarc.json
│   │   ├── hyprland.lua
│   │   └── noctalia.lua
│   ├── noctalia
│   │   └── config.toml
│   └── nvim
│       ├── after
│       ├── lua
│       ├── .neoconf.json
│       ├── init.lua
│       ├── lazy-lock.json
│       └── lazyvim.json
├── hosts
│   ├── ares
│   │   ├── configuration.nix
│   │   ├── hardware-configuration.nix
│   │   └── home.nix
│   └── athena
│       ├── configuration.nix
│       ├── hardware-configuration.nix
│       └── home.nix
├── modules
│   ├── home-manager
│   │   ├── cli
│   │   ├── desktop
│   │   ├── gui
│   │   ├── shell
│   │   └── default.nix
│   └── nixos
│       ├── hardware
│       ├── system
│       ├── wm
│       └── default.nix
├── templates
│   ├── c-cpp
│   │   ├── .envrc
│   │   └── flake.nix
│   └── web
│       ├── .envrc
│       └── flake.nix

Adding your own tools

Sooner or later, you'd want to add your own customization, add your own tools, programs, or games(?).

If the tools you want to add require sudo access, for instance, then put their files in ./modules/nixos/. Otherwise, user-level tools should go in ./modules/home-manager/

Let's take a look at the ./modules/home-manager/cli/wayland-tools.nix as an example of how to wrap your new programs using the options pattern.

{
  pkgs,
  config,
  lib,
  ...
}:
{
  options = {
    cli.wayland-tools.enable = lib.mkEnableOption "Enable Wayland clipboard and CLI tools";
  };

  config = lib.mkIf config.cli.wayland-tools.enable {
    home.packages = with pkgs; [
      wl-clipboard
      hyprpicker
    ];

    home.shellAliases = {
      c = "wl-copy";
    };
  };
}

Now in your ./hosts/your-hostname/home.nix, you enable this bundle of tools by simply doing:

cli.wayland-tools.enable = true;

Then run:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#your-hostname

Tip

If you enabled the nh (nix-helper) tool during your initial setup (./modules/nixos/system/core.nix), you can use this much cleaner command for all subsequent rebuilds: nh os switch ~/dotfiles -H .#your-hostname