dotfiles

System configuration for macOS (nix-darwin) and NixOS, with home-manager for the user environment.

Bootstrap

macOS

Install Nix and Homebrew if not already present:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Clone and run the first-time switch (darwin-rebuild doesn't exist yet on a fresh machine):

git clone <repo-url> ~/dotfiles
cd ~/dotfiles
sudo nix run nix-darwin -- switch --flake .#jmbp

After the first run, use just rebuild for all subsequent applies.

NixOS

Clone the repo, add your generated hardware config, then switch:

git clone <repo-url> ~/dotfiles
nixos-generate-config --show-hardware-config > ~/dotfiles/hosts/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix
cd ~/dotfiles
nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#nixos

Add hardware-configuration.nix to the imports list in hosts/nixos/default.nix, then commit it. After the first switch, just rebuild-nixos works.

OrbStack

The orbstack host (hosts/orbstack) uses the NixOS LXC container module instead of a generated hardware config — no nixos-generate-config needed.

Note: hosts/orbstack/default.nix hardcodes networking.hostName = "orbstack". If your OrbStack machine has a different name, update that value before applying.

git clone <repo-url> ~/dotfiles
cd ~/dotfiles
nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#orbstack

Personal config (not tracked)

Create ~/.config/git/local with your identity:

[user]
    name  = Your Name
    email = you@example.com
    signingkey = ssh-ed25519 AAAA...

Daily use

Command	Description
just rebuild	Apply config changes (macOS)
just rebuild-nixos	Apply config changes (NixOS)
just diff	Preview what would change (macOS)
just diff-nixos	Preview what would change (NixOS)
just update	Update all flake inputs
just update-input <input>	Update a single flake input
just check	Validate the flake
just gc	Collect old generations and optimise the store

Adding a host

macOS:

1. Create hosts/<hostname>/default.nix and home.nix (copy from hosts/jmbp as a starting point)
2. Add a darwinConfigurations."<hostname>" entry to flake.nix using mkHmConfig
3. Bootstrap on the new machine: sudo nix run nix-darwin -- switch --flake .#<hostname>

NixOS:

1. Create hosts/<hostname>/default.nix and home.nix (copy from hosts/nixos as a starting point)
2. Add a nixosConfigurations."<hostname>" entry to flake.nix using mkHmConfig
3. Generate and commit hardware-configuration.nix for the machine
4. Bootstrap: nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#<hostname>