zellij: nix to kdl parser broken when trying to use programs.zellij.settings

[jamesla]

Nixpkgs version

• Unstable (25.11)

Describe the bug

I am trying to write a zellij config using the programs.zellij.settings object which takes a nix config and then converts it to the zellij config syntax automatically.

I am trying to essentially create the following config but in nix

keybinds {
    normal {
        bind "Ctrl H" { MoveFocus "Left"; }
        bind "Ctrl L" { MoveFocus "Right"; }
    }
}

I have attempted the following, which works:

keybinds = {
  normal = {
    bind = { _args = ["Ctrl h"]; MoveFocus = ["Left"]; };
  };
};

However as soon as I add my second binding it breaks as nix object appear to want unique keys (duplicate bind key):

keybinds = {
  normal = {
    bind = { _args = ["Ctrl h"]; MoveFocus = ["Left"]; };
    bind = { _args = ["Ctrl l"]; MoveFocus = ["Right"]; };
  };
};

and throws the error error: attribute 'bind._args' already defined

The docs (here)[https://mynixos.com/home-manager/option/programs.zellij.settings]has a getting started example that also appears to be broken there example config doesn't parse into a valid zellij config either.

As you can see it's not following the _children property convention and actually rendering it and it's also adding - My best guess is that the nix to kdl parser is broken.

keybinds {
        pane {
                _children {
                        - {
                                bind "e" {
                                        _children {
                                                - {
                                                        TogglePaneEmbedOrFloating {

                                                        }
                                                }
                                                - {
                                                        SwitchToMode "locked" {

                                                        }
                                                }
                                        }
                                }
                        }
                        - {
                                bind "left" {
                                        MoveFocus "left"
                                }
                        }
                }
        }
}

Does anybody know how I can achieve my desired config output via a valid nix object?

Steps to reproduce

programs.zellij = {
  enable = true;
  settings = {
    keybinds = {
    normal = {
      bind = { _args = ["Ctrl h"]; MoveFocus = ["Left"]; };
      bind = { _args = ["Ctrl l"]; MoveFocus = ["Right"]; };
    };
  }; 
};

Expected behaviour

it should render a valid zellij config

Screenshots

No response

Relevant log output

Additional context

No response

System metadata

• system: "aarch64-linux"
• host os: Linux 6.6.87, NixOS, 24.11 (Vicuna), 24.11.20250421.9684b53
• multi-user?: yes
• sandbox: yes
• version: nix-env (Nix) 2.24.14
• nixpkgs: /nix/store/52hnnvpyni1n79ra4rqxdcswmd2w3823-source

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[eclairevoyant]

This issue should be closed here and opened in https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager.
NixOS does not have a zellij module. We don't even have a kdl converter. (The latter is WIP - #426828)