nixfiles/docs/architecture.md

Architecture

This flake does not use the stock pattern of calling nixosSystem once per host in flake.nix. Instead it runs a single lib.evalModules evaluation over its own module tree, producing one big top-level config (self.nixfiles) from which the real flake outputs (nixosConfigurations, homeConfigurations, nixosModules, deploy, …) are derived. Per-host files declare options (nixos.systems.<name>); the machinery in nixos/default.nix and home-manager/default.nix turns those into evaluated NixOS / home-manager configurations.

The top-level evaluation

flake.nix's outputs builds a nixfiles attrset via evalModules over:

• An inline module that seeds _module.args (lib, pkgsFlakes, hmFlakes, self, inputs, pkgs'), sets nixos.secretsPath = ./secrets, and sets the global deploy-rs SSH option deploy-rs.deploy.sshOpts = [ "-i" ".keys/deploy.key" ].
• nixos/modules/misc/assertions.nix from the unstable nixpkgs (so the top-level evaluation has the standard assertions / warnings options).
• nixos/ — defines nixos.* options (systems, modules, allAssignments, vpns, secretsPath) and mkSystem.
• home-manager/ — defines home-manager.* options (homes, modules) and mkHome.
• deploy-rs.nix — defines deploy-rs.* and renders the deploy config.
• Every file in the configs list — the boxes themselves (nixos/boxes/ plus nixos/installer.nix; the home-manager entries are currently commented out, see Home-manager).

The resulting nixfiles.config is mapped onto flake outputs:

Top-level option (nixfiles.config)	Flake output
nixos.systems.<name>.rendered	nixosConfigurations.<name>
home-manager.homes.<name>.configuration	homeConfigurations.<name>
nixos.modules	nixosModules
home-manager.modules	homeModules
deploy-rs.rendered	deploy

nixfiles itself is also a flake output, so anything in the top-level config can be addressed directly — e.g. build-iso builds .#nixfiles.config.nixos.systems."<host>".configuration.config.my.buildAs.iso. The flake also exposes lib (the extended unstable nixpkgs lib, including lib.my), inputs, nixpkgs (the pkgs' channel sets), and overlays.default (the custom packages from pkgs/).

Per platform (eachDefaultSystem), the flake produces:

• packages — everything from pkgs/, flattened.
• checks — every homeConfigurations.*.activationPackage plus deploy-rs's own deployChecks.
• devShells.default — the numtide/devshell from devshell/ (see deployment.md).
• ci.<system> — one attr per buildable thing (system-<name>, home-<name> with @ mangled to -at-, package-<name>, plus shell), consumed by CI; ciDrv is a linkFarm of all of them.

Systems: systemOpts and mkSystem

Each entry of nixos.systems is a submodule defined by systemOpts in nixos/default.nix:

Option	Type / default	Meaning
system	enum of defaultSystems	Nix platform string, e.g. "x86_64-linux".
nixpkgs	one of unstable/stable/mine/mine-stable, default "unstable"	nixpkgs channel for the system.
home-manager	same enum, defaults to nixpkgs	home-manager channel.
hmNixpkgs	same enum, defaults to nixpkgs	nixpkgs channel used for home-manager's own pkgs when it doesn't share the system's.
docCustom	bool, default false	Include nixfiles' custom modules in the generated NixOS manual (slow).
assignments	attrsOf assignmentOpts	The box's network assignments (see networking.md).
extraAssignments	attrsOf attrsOf assignmentOpts	Extra assignments for things not on the box itself (e.g. the routers' floating VIP entries).
configuration	custom merged type	The actual NixOS configuration module(s); merging runs mkSystem.
rendered	unspecified, default configuration	What ends up in nixosConfigurations.<name> — overridden for boxes built as something other than a plain system (e.g. installer renders config.my.asISO, containers render config.my.asContainer).

mkSystem does the real work:

1. It selects the channel's nixpkgs flake (pkgsFlakes.${config'.nixpkgs}).
   • It imports nixos/lib/eval-config.nix by hand because the flake force-sets lib; otherwise eval-config.nix would import its own unextended copy.
   • The supplied library is the channel's pkgs.lib extended with lib.my and a versionOverlay that stamps system.nixos with the flake revision and channel.
2. specialArgs gives every module access to self, inputs, pkgsFlakes, the box's own pkgsFlake, allAssignments (every box's assignments), and systems (all of nixos.systems). Passing these via specialArgs (rather than module imports) avoids infinite recursion.
3. The module list is: the home-manager channel's nixosModules.default, every module in nixos.modules (the shared modules, see below), an inline module, and the box's own configuration definitions (wrapped with inlineModule' so error messages keep file provenance).
4. The inline module wires the plumbing:
   • _module.args: secretsPath, vpns (the flake-level nixos.vpns), the box's own assignments, and pkgs' — an attrset of all four nixpkgs channels for this box's platform, so a module can grab a package from another channel (e.g. pkgs'.stable.foo).
   • system.name is the attribute name of the box.
   • networking.hostName / networking.domain default from the internal assignment (see networking.md).
   • nixpkgs.system is set and the overlays computed at flake level (lib overlay + custom packages) are passed through, so pkgs is imported modularly with config and overlays applied.
   • home-manager.useGlobalPkgs defaults to true when the system and home-manager channels match; a warning is emitted when they deliberately differ.
   • home-manager.sharedModules includes every module in home-manager.modules plus an inline module. The inline module passes pkgsPath / pkgs', disables the release check, and pins home.stateVersion through homeStateVersion (22.11 for stable-flavoured channels, 23.05 otherwise).
5. Finally applyAssertions throws with all failed assertion messages (and shows warnings) when the merged configuration is forced.

The four nixpkgs channels

flake.nix builds pkgsFlakes (nixpkgs) and hmFlakes (home-manager):

Channel	nixpkgs input	home-manager input
unstable	nixpkgs/nixos-unstable	home-manager (master)
stable	nixpkgs/nixos-26.05	home-manager/release-26.05
mine	github:devplayer0/nixpkgs/devplayer0 (personal fork)	alias of unstable (no fork exists)
mine-stable	github:devplayer0/nixpkgs/devplayer0-stable	alias of stable

Each channel's lib is extended with the libOverlay (lib.my + flake-utils). Two package sets are built per channel:

• pkgs' — with the devshell/ragenix/deploy-rs/home-manager overlays; used for the dev shell and packages, and exposed as the flake's nixpkgs output.
• configPkgs' — with just the lib + custom-packages overlays and an allowUnfreePredicate (Widevine / Chromium); this is the pkgs' threaded into the top-level evaluation, from which each box's pkgs and per-channel pkgs' module args (and home-manager's base pkgs) are taken.

A box picks its channel with nixpkgs = "mine" (most boxes), "mine-stable" (e.g. colony), etc. Inside a module, pkgs is the selected channel and pkgs' is the attrset of all four (pkgs'.<channel>.<attr>).

lib.my and the my.* namespace

lib/default.nix extends nixpkgs lib with a my attrset. The flake-level lib (pkgsFlakes.unstable.lib so extended) is for platform-independent flake use only; each box gets its own channel's lib extended the same way. Contents:

• Option helpers — mkOpt', mkBoolOpt', nullOrOpt', mkDefault' (slightly stronger than mkDefault), mkVMOverride', inlineModule' / inlineModule (attach _file provenance), commonOpts (the shared system/nixpkgs/home-manager options and the moduleType used for exported modules), applyAssertions, duplicates.
• lib.my.net — CIDR/IP math (net.cidr.host, net.cidr.subnet, net.types.ipv4, …) from the libnetRepo input (oddlama/nixos-extra-modules' netu.nix). Used for nearly all address arithmetic; addresses are almost never written literally.
• lib.my.c — shared constants from lib/constants.nix: static UID/GID assignments, kernel package selection (kernel.lts/kernel.latest), nginx config snippets, networkd snippets (networkd.noL3), the binary-cache settings (nix.cache), and the per-site domains/prefixes/VIPs described in networking.md.
• lib.my.dns — zone-generation helpers from lib/dns.nix: fwdRecords / ptrRecords / ptr6Records rendered from allAssignments, plus the LUA-record helpers (ifaceA, lookupIP) used by the home routers.
• networkd helpers — networkdAssignment (assignment → systemd.network network, see networking.md), mkVLAN, dockerNetAssignment.

Misc

The remaining helpers are mkDefaultSystemsPkgs, flakePackageOverlay (wrap another flake's package as an overlay), isIPv6 / parseIPPort / netBroadcast, nft chain-name helpers, systemdAwaitPostgres, vm.* LVM disk descriptors for the vms module, the typed deploy-rs option definitions (lib.my.deploy-rs), netbootKeaClientClasses (iPXE/EFI DHCP client classes), and homeStateVersion.

Custom NixOS / home-manager modules declare their options under the my.* namespace (the root options.my is declared in nixos/modules/common.nix / home-manager/modules/common.nix) — e.g. my.secrets, my.build, my.tmproot, my.firewall, my.server, my.deploy, my.vms, my.containers.

Shared modules

Registered in nixos/modules/_list.nix and applied to every system (box files opt in per-feature via my.* options). The table below is the overview — what each module is for; for the exhaustive, CI-generated per-option reference (types, defaults, descriptions) see reference/nixos-options.md.

Module	Provides
common	Baseline for all boxes: imports the impermanence, ragenix (age), sharry, copyparty and harmonia NixOS modules; pins system.stateVersion; doas instead of sudo; immutable users; nix settings (flakes, ca-derivations, the nix-cache.nul.ie substituter); declares the my option root.
user	my.user — the primary user: users.users + matching home-manager.users entry, wheel/doas, SSH authorized key from .keys/me.pub, shell taken from the home config, home persistence under tmproot.
build	my.build — alternate build targets via extendModules: my.buildAs.devVM (QEMU dev VM), iso, container, kexecTree, netbootTree/netbootArchive; my.build.isDevVM marker; allHardware profile toggle.
dynamic-motd	my.dynamic-motd — runs a script via pam_exec to generate the MOTD on login/ssh.
tmproot	my.tmproot — tmpfs / plus impermanence persistence (persistence.dir), with a tmproot-unsaved helper that walks the root tmpfs and lists files not covered by persistence.
firewall	my.firewall — nftables firewall: tcp.allowed/udp.allowed port lists, trustedInterfaces, NAT with forwardPorts, extraRules escape hatch; sane ICMP/ICMPv6/PMTUD rules baked in.
server	my.server.enable — server commonalities: getty autologin, LLMNR off, tightened fstrim timers, GUI and NixOS documentation off.
deploy-rs	my.deploy — per-box deploy-rs node/profile generation and the deploy user; see deployment.md.
secrets	my.secrets — ragenix/agenix wiring: files to decrypt from secrets/, host key to encrypt for, identity paths derived from the OpenSSH host keys (persistence-aware), dev-key identity inside dev VMs.
containers	my.containers.instances — systemd-nspawn NixOS containers whose systems come from nixos.systems rendered asContainer, with bridge/macvlan networking, bind mounts, hotReload (reload instead of reboot) and a placeholder "dummy" init before first deploy.
vms	my.vms.instances — QEMU/KVM VMs as systemd units: TAP/bridge networking, LVM-backed disks, VFIO host-device passthrough (with udev tagging), UEFI, SPICE/TTY/QMP unix sockets under /run/vms/, clean shutdown via QMP system_powerdown.
network	Baseline networking: networkd only (useDHCP = false), IPv6 on, resolved domain/negative-cache settings; dev VMs get DHCP on eth0 and an SSH port forward.
pdns	my.pdns — PowerDNS: authoritative server driven by BIND-style zone files (with templating and serial management) and recursor extra-settings wiring.
nginx-sso	my.nginx-sso — runs nginx-sso (instead of the stock NixOS module) and generates per-instance nginx auth_request include files.
gui	my.gui.enable (default on) — desktop baseline: graphics, polkit, swaylock PAM entry, Android udev rules, screenshot tmpdir.
l2mesh	Consumes nixos.vpns.l2 — builds the VXLAN + IPsec layer-2 meshes between edge routers; see networking.md.
borgthin	my.borgthin.jobs — borg backups of thin-LVM snapshots to local or SSH repos on a systemd timer, with pruning.
nvme	my.nvme — sets the NVMe host NQN/hostid and, optionally, NVMe-oF-over-RDMA boot in the initrd.
spdk	my.spdk — SPDK target configuration (JSON RPC-driven) plus spdk-rpc/spdk-setup/spdk-debug helper tools.
librespeed	my.librespeed — a LibreSpeed speedtest: generated frontend (from the librespeed-go package in pkgs/) plus backend settings.
netboot	my.netboot — iPXE netboot server (TFTP/HTTP, menu) and the client-side loader that installs boot entries.

Home-manager modules, registered in home-manager/modules/_list.nix and applied to every home (including the per-user homes attached to systems via my.user.homeConfig):

Module	Provides
common	Home baseline: my.shell, my.ssh.authKeys, my.isStandalone (home-manager running standalone vs inside NixOS), fish setup and completions generation, common programs.
gui	my.gui — the sway-based desktop: waybar, notifications, lock/saver plumbing (including the "doomsaver"), terminal and fonts.
deploy-rs	my.deploy for standalone homes — generates a home profile (home-manager activation) and deploy node; auto-disabled for NixOS-attached homes.
swaync	my.swaync — typed configuration module for Sway Notification Center.

Adding a box

1. Create a file (or directory with a default.nix) under nixos/boxes/ that sets nixos.systems.<name> = { system = "x86_64-linux"; nixpkgs = "mine"; assignments = { … }; configuration = { … }: { … }; };. Nested boxes (VMs, containers) live under their host's directory (e.g. nixos/boxes/colony/vms/estuary/).
2. Add the path to the configs list in flake.nix.
3. Give the box an internal assignment (name/domain) if it gets one — hostName/domain default from it — and declare my.secrets.key if it has secrets.
4. Evaluate it with check-system <name> (cheap) before build-system <name>.

Adding a shared module

1. Drop the file in nixos/modules/ (or home-manager/modules/) with options under my.*, declared via the lib.my helpers (mkOpt', mkBoolOpt').
2. Register it in the corresponding _list.nix (name → path). It is then applied to every box and exported as nixosModules.<name> / homeModules.<name>.

Home-manager

Home-manager follows the same option-definition and evaluation split as NixOS.

homeOpts

home-manager/default.nix defines each entry with these options:

Option	Meaning
system	Target platform.
nixpkgs	nixpkgs channel used for the home packages.
home-manager	home-manager channel.
homeDirectory / username	User identity and home path.
configuration	The home-manager module definitions evaluated by mkHome.

mkHome

1. Calls the selected channel's lib.homeManagerConfiguration.
2. Supplies that channel's pkgs' with config emptied, allowing home-manager to apply package configuration and overlays through its module system.
3. Passes inputs, pkgsFlakes and the selected pkgsFlake through extraSpecialArgs.
4. Loads every module in home-manager.modules plus an inline module that sets home.homeDirectory / home.username and exposes every channel through the pkgs' module argument.
5. Pins home.stateVersion through homeStateVersion.

Standalone homes

Standalone homes live in home-manager/configs/ and are named <user>@<host> (deploy-rs mangles the @ to -at-). macsimum is a home-manager-only config — an x86_64-darwin macOS box with no NixOS side.

No standalone homes are currently wired into the flake: home-manager/configs/macsimum.nix is commented out of configs, while home-manager/configs/castle.nix is not listed. Consequently, nixfiles.config.home-manager.homes evaluates to {}. Most user configuration instead accompanies NixOS boxes through my.user.homeConfig.