Nix managed macOS configuration using Nix, Home Manager, and nix-darwin

Bootstrap

1. Clone the repository into ~/.config.

   git clone git@github.com:theomantz/dotfiles.git ~/.config

2. Run the bootstrap script with the desired profile.

   cd ~/.config
   ./scripts/bootstrap-macos --profile personal

   For a work machine that should omit personal casks such as discord, use:

   cd ~/.config
   ./scripts/bootstrap-macos --profile work

   The script will:

   • install Xcode command line tools if needed
   • install Nix if needed
   • detect the current macOS username and home directory
   • generate a local bootstrap host descriptor
   • build the selected nix-darwin profile
   • switch the machine to that configuration

Profiles

• personal: full app set
• work: excludes personal-only casks such as discord, steam, signal, opera, and protonvpn

Manual rebuild

If the target machine does not match the values currently checked in, edit the configuration first.

```shell
# in nix/flake.nix
darwinConfigurations.<name> = darwin.lib.darwinSystem {
    system = "<system_architecture>"
    ... remaining configuration
}

# in nix/hosts/<name>.nix
username = "<user>"
homeDirectory = "<user_home_dir>"
hostPlatform = "<system_architecture>"

# in nix/configuration.nix
# keep system defaults and GUI apps here
```
CLI tools and user programs live in `nix/home.nix` while GUI apps and macOS defaults live in `nix/configuration.nix`.

Repo-owned config under `~/.config` is edited directly here and linked into place by Home Manager where needed. That includes `codex/`, `git/`, `gh/config.yml`, `htop/`, and `vscode/settings.json`. Machine-local state such as `gh/hosts.yml` stays ignored.

Build the system from the repo root or point Nix at the nix/ flake explicitly.

```shell
cd ~/.config
nix build --stack-trace --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' ./nix#darwinConfigurations.theo.system
```
If you are already in `~/.config/nix`, the equivalent command is:

```shell
nix build --stack-trace --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' .#darwinConfigurations.theo.system
```

Note: `--extra-experimental-features` only needs to be added until Nix has been configured with `nix-command` and `flakes`.

Apply the configuration from ~/.config/nix.

```shell
cd ~/.config/nix
./result/sw/bin/darwin-rebuild switch --flake .
```