dotfiles

Arch Linux + Nix hybrid configuration for a work machine. Uses Home Manager with Nix flakes to declaratively manage dotfiles, packages, and application settings on top of a base Arch Linux install.

Why hybrid?

Arch Linux handles the base system, kernel, and GPU drivers. Nix + Home Manager handles the user environment — packages, dotfiles, and app configuration — for reproducibility and rollbacks without giving up the Arch rolling release and AUR.

Stack

• Window manager: Niri (Wayland, scrollable tiling)
• Terminal: Kitty
• Shell: Fish + Starship prompt
• Editor: Neovim / Zed
• Git: GitButler (GUI via Nix, CLI via install script)
• File manager: Yazi (terminal file manager)
• Browser: Zen Browser / Qutebrowser (keyboard-driven)
• Theme: Catppuccin Mocha everywhere (Kitty, Zed, system dark mode via GTK/Qt/dconf)
• GPU: Intel Arc, GUI apps wrapped with nixGL for hardware acceleration

Modules

Module	What it configures
fish.nix	Fish shell, aliases, custom functions
starship.nix	Starship prompt
kitty.nix	Kitty terminal (nixGL-wrapped)
neovim.nix	Neovim (plugins, LSP servers, formatters via Nix)
zed.nix	Zed editor (nixGL-wrapped)
zen.nix	Zen Browser
niri.nix	Niri window manager dotfiles
git.nix	Shared Git config
git-local.nix	Personal Git identity (gitignored, see template)
lazygit.nix	Lazygit TUI
fzf.nix	Fuzzy finder
mise.nix	Runtime version manager
fonts.nix	Fonts (Dank Mono, Hack Nerd Font, Noto Color Emoji) + fontconfig
claude.nix	Claude Code settings and skills
yazi.nix	Yazi file manager and keybindings
qutebrowser.nix	Qutebrowser (nixGL-wrapped)
1password.nix	1Password desktop entry override (XWayland fix for niri)
codium.nix	VS Codium editor

Dotfiles

The dotfiles/ directory contains raw config files that modules source via home.file:

• fish/functions/ — Custom Fish functions (git helpers like gwip, gcy, gfom)
• fish/conf.d/ — Fish conf.d scripts (GitButler dynamic completions)
• niri/config.kdl — Niri window manager configuration
• niri/monitor-layout.sh — Dynamic monitor positioning script
• starship.toml — Starship prompt configuration
• nvim/ — Neovim configuration (init.lua, per-module plugin configs, LSP server configs)
• claude/ — Claude Code skills and settings

Prerequisites

• Arch Linux with:
  • Niri installed (window manager)
  • Intel Arc GPU drivers
  • xdg-desktop-portal-gtk (for portal backend service)
• Nix with flakes enabled

Setup

# Clone to the default Home Manager path
git clone <repo-url> ~/.config/home-manager

# Copy git identity template and fill in your details
cp git-local.nix.template git-local.nix

# Apply configuration
home-manager switch

# Install tools not managed by Nix
./setup.sh

Common commands

home-manager switch            # Build and activate
home-manager switch -n         # Dry run
home-manager switch --rollback # Roll back to previous generation
home-manager generations       # List generations
nix flake update               # Update all inputs
nixfmt *.nix                   # Format Nix files

Future

Migration to system-manager is planned to also manage system-level configuration with Nix.