my hard work / by these words guarded / please steal. (c) JoseCanHelp

JoseCanHelp

Declarative dotfiles for macOS and WSL2, built with Nix, nix-darwin, and home-manager. The flake manages packages, applications, macOS settings, shell, editor, and background jobs.

Borrowing is encouraged. If you take something from here, a link back is appreciated.

macOS Setup

1. Install Determinate Nix.

2. Clone this repository to ~/dotfiles. That path is part of the linked-file configuration.

   git clone git@github.com:josecanhelp/dotfiles.git ~/dotfiles

3. Add a host block to flake.nix if the machine is not already listed.

4. Apply the configuration:

   sudo darwin-rebuild switch --flake ~/dotfiles#REM-JoseS-MBP1

5. Create ~/.secrets if needed. It is sourced by zsh and is not tracked.

There is no install script, manual brew bundle step, or plugin manager to bootstrap.

Adding A Mac

Add one block to darwinConfigurations in flake.nix:

"Joses-Mac-mini"=mkHost{hostname="Joses-Mac-mini";user="jose";};

The attribute name, hostname, and the name passed to darwin-rebuild must match. For an Intel Mac, also set system = "x86_64-darwin".

Machine-specific changes belong in a separate module passed through extraModules; shared settings stay in the existing modules.

WSL2

The Linux target is standalone home-manager. It manages $HOME, not the machine, and does not evaluate the macOS nix-darwin or Homebrew configuration.

First activation:

nix run home-manager/master -- switch -b bak --flake ~/dotfiles#jose@RockemSockem

Later activations:

home-manager switch --flake ~/dotfiles#jose@RockemSockem

The Linux output imports the portable modules under nix/home/shared/ and its own package and shell settings from nix/home/linux/default.nix.

Configuration Layers

Use the layer that owns the thing being configured:

Layer	Scope	Main files
Flake	Inputs and package versions	flake.nix, flake.lock
nix-darwin	The macOS machine	nix/configuration.nix, nix/packages.nix
nix-homebrew	Homebrew installation and trust	flake.nix, nix/configuration.nix
home-manager	User files and user launchd agents	nix/home/
Linked source files	Runtime-editable configurations	hammerspoon/, karabiner/, amethyst/, bin/

As a rule, use nix-darwin for machine-wide settings and home-manager for files in the home directory. Homebrew declarations are macOS-only: brews, casks, and masApps live in the homebrew block in nix/configuration.nix.

Where Things Live

Both machines

Change	File
Shell aliases, prompt, or environment	nix/home/shared/shell.nix
Git configuration	nix/home/shared/git.nix
tmux configuration	nix/home/shared/tmux.nix
Neovim packages or configuration	nix/home/shared/nvim.nix, nvim/init.lua

macOS only

Change	File
CLI packages	nix/packages.nix
GUI apps, brew formulas, or App Store apps	nix/configuration.nix
macOS defaults, fonts, or activation scripts	nix/configuration.nix
Linked application configurations	nix/home/darwin/default.nix and its modules
Login or background jobs	nix/home/darwin/

WSL2 only

Change	File
CLI packages and Linux-only settings	nix/home/linux/default.nix

Adding a CLI tool to both machines requires two edits because the Mac uses environment.systemPackages and Linux uses home.packages. The lists are intentionally different.

Generated And Linked Files

Most configuration is generated into the Nix store and linked into place. Edit the Nix module and rebuild it.

These files are linked directly from the checkout so their owning tools can edit or reload them without a rebuild:

Tool	Source
Hammerspoon	hammerspoon/
Karabiner and Goku input	karabiner/karabiner.edn
Amethyst	amethyst/amethyst.yml
Claude notification hook	claude/notify.sh
Claude status line	claude/statusline.sh
Personal scripts	bin/
Login suppression	hushlogin

Two files are sourced from the checkout rather than linked: the zsh functions file and tmux/tmuxline. The supported checkout path is ~/dotfiles.

Verification

Build the macOS system without activating it:

nix build .#darwinConfigurations.REM-JoseS-MBP1.system --no-link --print-out-paths

Check declared binaries, links, and launchd agents:

nix/verify.sh all
nix/verify.sh links
nix/verify.sh agents

The Linux output can be evaluated from the Mac, but not cross-built without a Linux builder:

nix eval'.#homeConfigurations."jose@RockemSockem".config.home.packages' --apply 'builtins.length'

Nix reads repository files as flake inputs, so add new files to git before building them.

Detailed Guides

• Adding and removing things is the practical cookbook for packages, modules, Homebrew, apps, extensions, settings, and background jobs.
• Nix conventions explains module choices, portable versus platform-specific configuration, ordering, and verification.
• Keyboard workflow explains the Karabiner and Hammerspoon layers.
• Reproducibility review tracks remaining non-declarative state and known gaps.
• Historical audit records the original machine audit and its resolved findings.

Daily Notes

Neovim is a terminal editor managed through nix/home/shared/nvim.nix and nvim/init.lua. tmux uses plugins from nixpkgs rather than tpm. The terminal font is FiraCode Nerd Font Mono, declared in nix/configuration.nix.

Karabiner reads the generated karabiner.json, which is compiled from karabiner/karabiner.edn by the declared Goku launchd agent. Hammerspoon owns the higher-level, application-specific keyboard actions.