Nix Darwin

CLI tooling

• zsh
  • fzf search and completion ctrl-t, ctrl-r, alt-c
• multiplex and editor
  • hx, nvim, zellij, tmux
• file explore and git
  • yazi, broot, lazygit
• aerospace, window manager
  • open /Applications/Nix\ Apps/AeroSpace.app
  • see .aerospace.toml for bindings
• sane MacOS System defaults.
• terminals
  • alacritty, ghostty

GUI Apps (Brew)

Some applications are installed as brew casks, appear in /Applications or /Applications/Nix\ Apps

• Signal
• Firefox
• KeePassXC
• ...

Aerospace Window Manager Basics

# See: https://nikitabobko.github.io/AeroSpace/commands#workspace
# Works with 0-9 A-Z
alt-1 = 'workspace 1'

# See: https://nikitabobko.github.io/AeroSpace/commands#move-node-to-workspace
# Works with 0-9 A-Z
alt-shift-1 = 'move-node-to-workspace 1'

# See: https://nikitabobko.github.io/AeroSpace/commands#workspace-back-and-forth
alt-tab = 'workspace-back-and-forth'
# See: https://nikitabobko.github.io/AeroSpace/commands#move-workspace-to-monitor
alt-shift-tab = 'move-workspace-to-monitor --wrap-around next'

# See: https://nikitabobko.github.io/AeroSpace/commands#layout
alt-slash = 'layout tiles horizontal vertical'
alt-comma = 'layout accordion horizontal vertical'

# See: https://nikitabobko.github.io/AeroSpace/commands#focus
alt-h = 'focus left'
alt-j = 'focus down'
alt-k = 'focus up'
alt-l = 'focus right'

# See: https://nikitabobko.github.io/AeroSpace/commands#move
alt-shift-h = 'move left'
alt-shift-j = 'move down'
alt-shift-k = 'move up'
alt-shift-l = 'move right'

Setup

# Install Nix
# https://nixos.org/download/
sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install)

# Clone config
git clone https://github.com/sanderlegit/nix-darwin.git ~/nix

# Install the config
nix run nix-darwin --extra-experimental-features "nix-command flakes" -- switch --flake ~/nix#m4

# Reload config ( works after 1st installation )
darwin-rebuild switch --flake ~/nix#m4

# Optional, Clone dotfiles
git clone -b linux https://github.com/sanderlegit/dotfiles.git ~/dotfiles

# Symlink config files and dirs as desired
ln -s ~/.config/helix ~/dotfiles/home/.config/helix
ln -s ~/.config/zellij ~/dotfiles/home/.config/zellij
ln -s ~/.aerospace.toml ~/dotfiles/home/.aerospace.toml

Todo

• Look for better dotfile management method
  • still using a dotfiles repo with symlinks
    • stow or chezmoi similar
  • home-manager seems complex
• Figure out a better way to compose zshrc
• Understand if/how to alter nix system pkg defaults, and find config docs
• Declarative / stored firefox?
  • https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data
  • https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1176169
  • https://discourse.nixos.org/t/declare-firefox-extensions-and-settings/36265/7

Docs

• https://github.com/LnL7/nix-darwin#getting-started
• https://daiderd.com/nix-darwin/manual/index.html

Example Configs

• https://github.com/elliottminns/nix
• https://github.com/ryan4yin/nix-darwin-kickstarter
• https://github.com/knl/dotskel
• https://github.com/shaunsingh/nix-darwin-dotfiles
• https://github.com/AlexNabokikh/nix-config