Retr0astic's NixOS Flake

A dendritic NixOS configuration built around small composable modules. The default host is chapel, currently composed as hyprland + noctalia.

flake.nix
  -> flake-parts
    -> flake/hosts.nix
      -> hosts/chapel
      -> modules/nixos/*
      -> modules/home/*
      -> modules/home/desktops
      -> modules/home/themes/noctalia.nix

Commands

Task	Command
Switch to default Chapel	sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/nixos#chapel
Test without making boot default	sudo nixos-rebuild test --flake ~/nixos#chapel
Build only	nix build ~/nixos#nixosConfigurations.chapel.config.system.build.toplevel
Check flake	nix flake check
Run NVF package	nix run ~/nixos#nvf
Update inputs and switch	cd ~/nixos && nix flake update && sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#chapel

Outputs

Output	Purpose
chapel	Default system, currently hyprland + noctalia
chapel-hyprland-noctalia	Explicit alias for the current default variant
packages.x86_64-linux.nvf	Neovim package built from modules/nvf.nix

Repository Map

.
├── flake.nix                  # inputs and flake-parts entrypoint
├── flake.lock                 # pinned input revisions
├── flake/                     # flake-parts modules
│   ├── hosts.nix              # host/desktop/theme composition
│   └── packages.nix           # package outputs
├── hosts/
│   └── chapel/                # Chapel-specific system config
├── lib/
│   └── treeimport.nix         # recursive importer for flake/*
├── modules/
│   ├── nixos/                 # reusable NixOS modules
│   ├── home/                  # reusable Home Manager modules
│   ├── home/desktops/         # Desktop-specific Home Manager config
│   ├── noctalia/              # Noctalia config and plugins
│   ├── starship/              # Starship config
│   ├── lucidglyph.nix         # font rendering config
│   ├── nvf.nix                # NVF config
│   └── zen.nix                # Zen Browser wrapper
└── configuration.nix          # compatibility shim importing hosts/chapel

How It Works

flake.nix does not manually assemble every output. It calls flake-parts.lib.mkFlake and imports every module under flake/ through lib/treeimport.nix.

flake/hosts.nix defines the composition layer:

Name	Role
desktops	Maps desktop names to system and Home Manager modules
themes	Maps theme names to Home Manager theme modules
mkHost	Combines host, desktop, theme, and optional extra modules

The default host is declared like this:

chapel = mkHost {
  hostname = "chapel";
  desktop = "hyprland";
  theme = "noctalia";
};

Where To Put Things

Change	File or directory
Hostname, boot, LUKS, host-only kernel settings	hosts/chapel/default.nix
Filesystems and generated hardware scan	hosts/chapel/hardware-configuration.nix
Common system packages and Nix settings	modules/nixos/core/default.nix
System services such as PipeWire, SDDM, OpenRGB daemon support	modules/nixos/services/default.nix
NVIDIA settings	modules/nixos/hardware/nvidia.nix
Steam, gamescope, gamemode, Heroic	modules/nixos/programs/gaming.nix
General user packages	modules/home/packages/default.nix
Shell aliases and CLI integrations	modules/home/shell/default.nix
Terminal packages and terminal config	modules/home/terminals/default.nix
GTK/Qt/cursor user styling	modules/home/appearance/default.nix
Home Manager app modules	modules/home/programs/
XDG MIME apps and user dirs	modules/home/xdg/default.nix
Hyprland-only user packages/settings	modules/home/desktops/hyprland.nix
Noctalia theme integration	modules/home/themes/noctalia.nix
Font rendering and Lucidglyph	modules/lucidglyph.nix

Adding A Home Manager Module

Example: add Git user config.

Create modules/home/programs/git.nix:

{...}: {
  programs.git = {
    enable = true;
    userName = "Retr0astic";
    userEmail = "you@example.com";
  };
}

Import it from modules/home/programs/default.nix:

{...}: {
  imports = [
    ./documents.nix
    ./git.nix
    ./spicetify.nix
  ];
}

Adding A Desktop Variant

To add niri + noctalia:

1. Create the system module:

modules/nixos/desktops/niri.nix

2. Create the Home Manager module:

modules/home/desktops/niri.nix

3. Register the desktop in flake/hosts.nix:

desktops = {
  hyprland = {
    system = ../modules/nixos/desktops/hyprland.nix;
    home = ../modules/home/desktops/hyprland.nix;
  };

  niri = {
    system = ../modules/nixos/desktops/niri.nix;
    home = ../modules/home/desktops/niri.nix;
  };
};

4. Add the output:

chapel-niri-noctalia = mkHost {
  hostname = "chapel";
  desktop = "niri";
  theme = "noctalia";
};

5. Build it:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/nixos#chapel-niri-noctalia

Adding A Theme Variant

To add hyprland + caelestia:

1. Create modules/home/themes/caelestia.nix.

2. Register the theme in flake/hosts.nix:

themes = {
  noctalia = {
    home = ../modules/home/themes/noctalia.nix;
  };

  caelestia = {
    home = ../modules/home/themes/caelestia.nix;
  };
};

3. Add the output:

chapel-hyprland-caelestia = mkHost {
  hostname = "chapel";
  desktop = "hyprland";
  theme = "caelestia";
};

4. Build it:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/nixos#chapel-hyprland-caelestia

Notes

• nix run .#nvf works because nvf is a package output.
• NixOS systems are not run with nix run; use nixos-rebuild --flake .#chapel.
• Hyprland settings are Home Manager modules, not runnable apps.
• Lucidglyph is imported by Chapel and contributes fontconfig snippets plus Freetype environment variables.

Branch Workflow

This refactor lives on testing until it is proven on the machine.

git status --short --branch
nix flake check
sudo nixos-rebuild test --flake .#chapel
git commit -m "Describe the change"
git push github testing