NixOS Configuration

Personal NixOS/nix-darwin configuration using flakes for cross-platform system management.

🏗️ Architecture

This configuration supports multiple hosts with both Linux (NixOS) and macOS (Darwin) systems using a unified flake-based approach.

Directory Structure

nixos-config/
├── flake.nix                 # Main entry point
├── hosts/                    # Host-specific configurations
│   ├── imre/                # Linux workstation
│   ├── newarre/             # Linux laptop
│   └── macbook-air/         # macOS laptop
├── modules/
│   ├── core/                # System-level configurations
│   │   ├── linux/          # NixOS-specific modules
│   │   └── macos/          # Darwin-specific modules
│   └── home/               # Home Manager configurations
│       ├── all/            # Cross-platform user configs
│       ├── desktop/        # Desktop applications
│       ├── develop/        # Development tools
│       └── wm/             # Window manager (niri)
│           └── niri/
│               ├── composed-ui/    # Traditional UI (waybar, wofi, swaync)
│               └── quickshell-ui/  # Modern Qt-based shell UI
└── pkgs/                   # Custom packages
    └── quickshell-config/  # Quickshell configuration package
        ├── ds/             # Design system components
        ├── modules/        # UI modules (bar, launcher, etc.)
        └── services/       # System services integration

🚀 Quick Start

Linux (NixOS)

# Clone the repository
git clone <repo-url> ~/nixos-config
cd ~/nixos-config

# Build and switch
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/nixos-config

# Update and rebuild
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --upgrade

macOS (Darwin)

# Using the helper script
./assets/scripts-mac/nix-mac -s  # Build and switch
./assets/scripts-mac/nix-mac -l  # List generations
./assets/scripts-mac/nix-mac -r  # Rollback

# Or manually
sudo darwin-rebuild switch --flake ~/nixos-config#MacBookAir10-1-jose-cribeiro

🎨 Window Manager: niri

This configuration uses niri, a scrollable-tiling Wayland compositor, with a custom modular setup.

Key Features

• Quickshell modern Qt-based shell (optional, can be toggled via quickshell_config_enable)
  • Custom design system with Stylix integration
  • Modular components (bar, launcher, notifications, dashboard)
  • Interactive command system
• Waybar status bar with custom styling (when Quickshell disabled)
• wofi application launcher (when Quickshell disabled)
• swaync notification center (when Quickshell disabled)
• GTK applications ecosystem
• Adwaita Dark unified theming

Keybinds

Shortcut	Action
Meta + Space	Open application launcher (wofi)
Meta + E	Emoji picker
Meta + Alt + L	Lock screen
Meta + Q	Close window
Meta + Ctrl + Q	Quit niri
Meta + F	Maximize column
Meta + Shift + F	Fullscreen window

Navigation

Shortcut	Action
Meta + ←/→/↑/↓	Focus column/window
Meta + Shift + ←/→/↑/↓	Move column/window
Meta + Ctrl + ↑/↓	Switch workspace

Window Management

Shortcut	Action
Meta + ,	Merge window into left column
Meta + .	Split window from column
Meta + R	Cycle column widths
Meta + -/+	Resize column width
Meta + Alt + ←/→	Resize window height

System

Shortcut	Action
Meta + Ctrl + K	Switch keyboard layout
Meta + Shift + C	Screenshot
Meta + Alt + C	Screenshot screen
Meta + Ctrl + C	Screenshot window

Configuration Structure

The niri configuration is modularized for easy customization:

modules/home/wm/niri/
├── default.nix          # Main configuration + imports
├── essential-gui/       # GUI applications & utilities
├── keybinds.kdl         # All keyboard shortcuts (composed-ui)
├── composed-ui/         # Traditional UI components (when quickshell disabled)
│   ├── waybar/          # Status bar config + CSS
│   ├── wofi/            # App launcher config + CSS
│   └── swaync/          # Notification center config + CSS
├── quickshell-ui/       # Quickshell integration (when enabled)
│   ├── default.nix      # Quickshell configuration
│   ├── commands.json    # Interactive commands
│   └── keybinds.kdl     # Quickshell keybindings
└── services.nix         # System services configuration

🛠️ Development Environment

Included Tools

• Languages: Rust, Erlang/Elixir, Android development
• Editors: VS Code with Wayland support, Claude CLI
• Terminal: Alacritty with nerd fonts
• Shell: Zsh with custom configuration
• Version Control: Git with enhanced tooling

Android Development

• Android Studio (Linux only)
• Android SDK with accepted licenses
• Platform-specific toolchains

📦 Package Management

System Packages

• Core tools: git, vim, wget, tree, curl
• Fonts: All Nerd Fonts installed globally
• Development: Language-specific toolchains

Home Manager

• User applications: Modular package organization
• Dotfiles: Centralized configuration management
• Cross-platform: Shared configs between Linux/macOS

🔒 Secrets Management

Uses agenix for encrypted secrets with a private git repository.

# Setup decryption key
./scripts/setup-agenix-key.sh

🎯 Features

Security

• Secure Boot: Linux systems use lanzaboote
• Encrypted secrets: agenix integration
• Polkit: Proper privilege escalation

Cross-Platform

• Unified configuration: Shared modules between NixOS/Darwin
• Machine-specific options: Host-based customization
• Consistent tooling: Same development environment everywhere

📝 Code Formatting

# Format all Nix files
treefmt

# Manual formatting
find . -name "*.nix" -exec nixfmt {} \;

🔧 Customization

Adding a New Host

1. Create hosts/<hostname>/ directory
2. Add default.nix, hardware-configuration.nix, options.nix
3. Update flake.nix with new host configuration
4. Set quickshell_config_enable in options.nix to choose UI system

Adding Applications

• System-wide: Add to appropriate modules/core/ file
• User-specific: Add to relevant modules/home/ module
• Window manager specific: Add to modules/home/wm/niri/essential-gui/

Customizing niri with Quickshell

• Enable Quickshell: Set quickshell_config_enable = true in host's options.nix
• Commands: Edit modules/home/wm/niri/quickshell-ui/commands.json
• Excluded apps: Edit modules/home/wm/niri/quickshell-ui/excluded-apps.json
• Quickshell modules: Edit files in pkgs/quickshell-config/modules/
• Design system: Customize pkgs/quickshell-config/ds/ components

Customizing niri with traditional UI (Waybar/Wofi/Swaync)

• Enable traditional UI: Set quickshell_config_enable = false in host's options.nix
• Keybinds: Edit modules/home/wm/niri/composed-ui/keybinds.kdl
• Styling: Modify CSS files in composed-ui/waybar/, composed-ui/wofi/, composed-ui/swaync/
• Applications: Update files in essential-gui/

Useful Commands

# Check niri status
niri msg --help

# Restart niri session
systemctl --user restart niri

# View logs
journalctl --user -u niri

# Quickshell commands (when enabled)
quickshell-config                    # Run quickshell with custom config
~/.config/niri/start-quickshell      # Start/restart quickshell
pgrep -af quickshell                 # Check running quickshell processes

Future Work:

• Niri
  • New keybinds to handle windows{}
• Finish the initial setup script
• Remove built in bookmarks on nautilus (Starred, Recent)
• Base64 decode on the commands
• New hosts:
  • pihole
  • server
  • remote servers
• Create move-window-or-to-monitor-up/down and move-column-or-monitor-right. See: focus

📚 References

NixOS Resources

• Nix Cookbook
• NixOS with Flakes Guide
• NixOS Secure Boot TPM FDE

Darwin Resources

• NixOS Darwin Config Reference

Package & Options Search

• NixOS Packages
• MyNixOS Packages
• Nix Darwin Manual
• Home Manager Options

WM Configuration

• Niri Configuration Guide

NerdFonts Search

• NerdFonts Cheatsheet

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.