nix-patterns

---

name: nix-patterns description: Nix and Home Manager idioms for dotfiles configuration

Formatting

• Use alejandra formatter (just fmt or nix fmt .)
• camelCase for variables and function arguments
• snake_case for config keys following external conventions

Structure

Copy{
  config,
  lib,
  pkgs,
  ...
}: let
  myVar = "value";
  scripts = map (name: pkgs.writeShellScriptBin name ...) scriptFiles;
in {
  home.packages = [ pkgs.foo ] ++ scripts;
}

• Group related configurations together
• Use let ... in for complex expressions
• Prefer functional patterns
• Use with pkgs; sparingly, only when improves readability

Commands

Common Patterns

Script from file

Copypkgs.writeShellScriptBin "my-script" (builtins.readFile ./scripts/my-script.sh)

Optional config

Copylib.mkIf config.programs.foo.enable {
  home.packages = [ pkgs.bar ];
}

Overlay

Copynixpkgs.overlays = [
  (final: prev: {
    myPkg = prev.myPkg.override { ... };
  })
];