nix-config/CLAUDE.md

CLAUDE.md

This file provides guidance to Claude Code (claude.ai/code) when working with code in this repository.

Build and Deployment Commands

Building Configurations

# Build a NixOS configuration (creates ./result symlink)
just build <hostname>
# or
nixos-rebuild build --flake .#<hostname>

# Build home-manager configuration
home-manager build --flake .#sajenim@<hostname>

Deploying Changes

# Apply NixOS configuration locally (requires sudo)
just switch <hostname>
# or
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#<hostname>

# Deploy to remote host
just deploy <hostname>
# or
nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#<hostname> --target-host <hostname> --use-remote-sudo

# Apply home-manager configuration
home-manager switch --flake .#sajenim@<hostname>

Code Quality

# Format all Nix files using alejandra
nix fmt

# Check flake and evaluate all configurations
nix flake check

Secret Management

# Rekey secrets using YubiKey (after adding/modifying secrets)
agenix-rekey edit <secret-name>
agenix-rekey rekey

Architecture Overview

Flake Structure

This is a NixOS flake-based configuration managing two hosts:

• fuchsia: Desktop workstation (gaming, development, XMonad)
• viridian: Server (multimedia, services, containers)

The flake follows the standard structure from Misterio77's starter configs.

Configuration Layers

NixOS System Configuration (nixos/):

nixos/
├── common/
│   ├── global/           # Base system config for all hosts
│   │   ├── age.nix      # Agenix secret management with YubiKey
│   │   ├── env.nix      # Environment variables
│   │   ├── nix.nix      # Nix daemon, flakes, garbage collection
│   │   └── ssh.nix      # SSH server config
│   ├── optional/         # Opt-in features
│   │   ├── ephemeral-btrfs.nix  # Impermanence with btrfs root wipe
│   │   ├── persist.nix           # Persistence paths for ephemeral root
│   │   └── yubikey.nix           # YubiKey support
│   └── users/            # User-specific system settings
├── fuchsia/
│   ├── configuration.nix
│   └── services/         # Desktop services (X11, pipewire, flatpak, etc.)
└── viridian/
    ├── configuration.nix
    ├── services/         # Server services (traefik, minecraft, IRC, etc.)
    └── multimedia/       # *arr stack (sonarr, radarr, jellyfin, etc.)

Home-Manager User Configuration (home-manager/):

home-manager/sajenim/
├── global/               # Base home config
├── features/             # Modular user features
│   ├── cli/             # Shell, terminal utilities
│   ├── desktop/         # GUI applications, window manager
│   ├── editors/         # Text editors configuration
│   ├── games/           # Gaming-related configs
│   ├── printing/        # Printer utilities
│   └── university/      # Academic tools
├── fuchsia.nix          # Desktop profile
└── viridian.nix         # Server profile (minimal)

Key Architectural Patterns

Module Organization: Configuration is split between:

• nixos/common/global/: Imported by ALL hosts (mandatory base config)
• nixos/common/optional/: Opt-in features imported per-host
• nixos/<hostname>/: Host-specific hardware and services
• home-manager/sajenim/features/: Composable user environment features

Imports Pattern: Each host's configuration.nix composes its full system by:

1. Importing ../common/global (base system)
2. Importing selected ../common/optional/* modules
3. Importing ../common/users/<username> (user accounts)
4. Importing host-specific services from ./services/
5. Setting host-specific options (hostname, firewall, etc.)

Impermanence: Uses opt-in persistence with ephemeral btrfs root:

• Root filesystem (/) wiped on every boot
• Only /nix, /persist, and /boot survive reboots
• Services must explicitly declare what to persist in /persist
• Secrets use persistent SSH keys at /persist/etc/ssh/ for decryption

Secret Management:

• Encrypted with agenix using host SSH keys
• Master key stored on YubiKey for rekeying
• Rekeyed secrets stored in nixos/common/global/secrets/rekeyed/<hostname>/
• Decryption happens during system activation using persistent SSH keys

Overlays: Applied globally via nixos/common/global/default.nix:

• additions: Custom packages from pkgs/
• modifications: Patches to existing packages (e.g., dmenu theming)
• unstable-packages: Makes pkgs.unstable.* available for newer versions

Unfree Packages: Allowlist is centralized in nixos/common/global/default.nix

• Default policy: only free software
• Exceptions listed explicitly (steam, minecraft-server)
• Do NOT use allowUnfreePredicate in other modules (won't merge)

Flake Inputs

External dependencies include:

• nixpkgs (25.05 stable), nixpkgs-unstable
• home-manager (follows nixpkgs)
• agenix, agenix-rekey (secret management)
• impermanence (ephemeral root filesystem)
• crowdsec (security)
• nixvim (personal Neovim config, external flake)
• xmonad-config (personal XMonad config, external flake)
• nix-minecraft (declarative Minecraft server)

Personal flakes (nixvim, xmonad-config) are maintained in separate repositories and imported as flake inputs. They are updated independently via nix flake update.

Working with This Configuration

Adding a New Host

1. Create nixos/<hostname>/ directory
2. Add configuration.nix and hardware-configuration.nix
3. Add SSH host keys (ed25519 and RSA) to the host directory
4. Update flake.nix to add the new nixosConfiguration
5. Configure secrets: update age.rekey to include new host key

Adding a Service

Services are organized by host in nixos/<hostname>/services/:

• Create a subdirectory for complex services (e.g., traefik/)
• Each service gets its own default.nix
• Import in nixos/<hostname>/services/default.nix or configuration.nix
• Declare persistence paths if using ephemeral root
• Use agenix for any credentials

Modifying Packages

• Custom packages: Add to pkgs/ and reference in pkgs/default.nix
• Patching packages: Add patches to overlays/patches/, modify overlay in overlays/default.nix
• Unfree packages: Add to allowlist in nixos/common/global/default.nix

Testing Changes

1. Build configuration: just build <hostname>
2. Check for evaluation errors: nix flake check
3. Review changes before switching
4. Switch: just switch <hostname> (local) or just deploy <hostname> (remote)

Managing Secrets

• Secrets are encrypted per-host and stored in nixos/common/global/secrets/rekeyed/<hostname>/
• Edit secrets: agenix-rekey edit <secret-name>
• After editing, rekey all hosts: agenix-rekey rekey
• YubiKey required for rekeying operations
• Host SSH keys at /persist/etc/ssh/ are used for automatic decryption

Important Conventions

Line Length

Keep all Nix code to a maximum of 100 characters per line for consistency.

Module Naming

• System-level services: nixos/<hostname>/services/<service-name>/default.nix
• User-level features: home-manager/sajenim/features/<category>/<feature>.nix

Persistence Declarations

When adding services to hosts with ephemeral root, declare persistence:

environment.persistence."/persist" = {
  directories = [
    "/var/lib/service-name"
  ];
  files = [
    "/var/lib/service-name/config.conf"
  ];
};

Comments

This codebase uses structured comments to explain configuration choices:

• Block comments at file top explain module purpose
• Inline comments explain non-obvious configuration decisions
• Group related options with visual separators when helpful