One module that combines home manager and system packages?

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1

I’d like to write a module that combines setting some dconf.settings for my user, and also installs a system-wide package.

Here was my first attempt, a module imported from within config.home-manager.users.${user}; However, osConfig is not available within the set passed to mkIf:

{ osConfig, lib, pkgs, config, user, ... }:
let cfg = config.d.programs.blackbox;
in
{
  options.d.programs.blackbox = {
    enable = lib.mkOption {
      type = lib.types.bool;
      default = true;
    };
  };

  config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
    osConfig.environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
      blackbox-terminal
    ];

    dconf.settings = {
      "com/raggesilver/BlackBox" = with lib.hm.gvariant; {
        fill-tabs = false;
        # ... more settings
      };
    };
  };
}

I’m open to any ideas, as I’m mostly poking around trying to find a good way forward. Also, it isn’t obvious to me why I can’t access osConfig here.

Overall, what I’m trying to do is create several individual files, each handling “everything to do with X”, where X might be blackbox-terminal, or firefox, or syncthing. So for example, syncthing might have a system package, and a system service with syncthing devices and folders, as well as a user/home-manager gnome extension, with user/home-manager dconf.settings.

The motivation for this architecture is driven by individual quirks within each package:

  • blackbox: is not available as a home-manager program, and must be installed as a systemPackage. But individual properties and configuration are handled by dconf.settings in the home-manager.
  • firefox: has policies and better extension UX at the system level, but updated preferences via home-manager.
  • syncthing: has declarative devices and folders at the system level, but the gnome extension showing its status must be installed via user gnome extension.

Any suggestions or prior art here?

Thanks.

2

Seems like osConfig gives you a read-only access to the config, not a write one. And since you’re trying to write to it, it’s being blocked.

I would suggest importing this module in your system config instead of your home one and not the other way around.

See this comment which shows the snippet of a module that edits both system config and HM config.

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