Syntax for home-manager dotfile import

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1

I am new to Nixos and am trying to get started with dotfile management. I was able to install Nixos and enable home-manager as a module. But, as I add configs for apps, can see things getting long in the base configuration.nix. So I separated out my first program’s config (alacritty). This worked pretty well. My config looks like this:

  ###Home-Manager
  home-manager.users.${user} = { pkgs, ... }: {
    home.stateVersion = "24.11";
    home.packages = with pkgs; [ htop ];
    programs.home-manager.enable = true;
    #Alacritty
    home.file = import ./alacritty.nix;
  };

alacritty.nix:

{
".config/alacritty/alacritty.toml".text = ''
[window]

opacity = 0.8

padding.x = 10
padding.y = 10

decorations = "Full"
decorations_theme_variant = "Dark"


[font]
size = 10.0

[font.normal]
family = "DejaVu Sans Mono"
style = "Book"

[font.bold]
family = "DejaVu Sans Mono"
style = "Bold"

[font.italic]
family = "DejaVu Sans Mono"
style = "Oblique"

[font.bold_italic]
family = "DejaVu Sans Mono"
style = "Bold Oblique"

# Colors (Gruvbox dark)

# Default colors
[colors.primary]
# hard contrast background = = '#1d2021'
background = '#282828'
# soft contrast background = = '#32302f'
foreground = '#ebdbb2'

# Normal colors
[colors.normal]
black   = '#282828'
red     = '#cc241d'
green   = '#98971a'
yellow  = '#d79921'
blue    = '#458588'
magenta = '#b16286'
cyan    = '#689d6a'
white   = '#a89984'

# Bright colors
[colors.bright]
black   = '#928374'
red     = '#fb4934'
green   = '#b8bb26'
yellow  = '#fabd2f'
blue    = '#83a598'
magenta = '#d3869b'
cyan    = '#8ec07c'
white   = '#ebdbb2'
'';
}

This worked without an issue. However my next step was to do something similar with hyprland. I first added a second “home.file = import ./hyprland.nix;” but this fails because home.file was already defined. I tried to do various other methods for importing multiple files such as:

home.file = import [ ./alacritty.nix ./hyprland.nix]

I tried various other syntax but only got errors. I think one was something about coerce a string to a list or something like that.

So I decided just to merge the two config files (it may get long but at least it won’t be in configuration.nix. So I merged the two configs. I removed the curly brackets in between and had the following between the two config texts:

...
white   = '#ebdbb2'
'';

".config/hypr/hyprland.conf".text = ''

Upon doing this it seemed to process ok but I received an error that the home-manager service could not start. I can paste the full configs but basically, I am pretty sure it’s the Hyprland config which was copied from a working system (because it works with just the alacritty section).

I suspect what I’m doing is not ideal but at least I sort of understand what I’m doing with this methodology (though I plan on shoring things up in the future).

How do I either do a “home.file = import” with multiple files defined or get the double-single quote method to work? I know home-manager has some direct config options for Hyprland but I was hoping just to get things going this way. I have spent all weekend digging into this and various other Nixos challenges but with this, I think I’m having trouble making application of the documentation to my specific scenario. I’ll post the full configs but wanted to keep the initial post (relatively) succinct.

2

Complete configuration.nix (relevant section at end):

# Edit this configuration file to define what should be installed on
# your system.  Help is available in the configuration.nix(5) man page
# and in the NixOS manual (accessible by running ‘nixos-help’).

{ config, pkgs, ... }:

let
  user="szemlicka";
in

let
  home-manager = builtins.fetchTarball "https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager/archive/release-24.11.tar.gz";
in

{
  imports =
    [ # Include the results of the hardware scan.
      ./hardware-configuration.nix
      (import "${home-manager}/nixos")
    ];
  
  #Enable Flakes
  nix.settings.experimental-features = [ "nix-command" "flakes" ];

  # Bootloader.
  boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable = true;
  boot.loader.efi.canTouchEfiVariables = true;

  boot ={
    kernelPackages = pkgs.linuxPackages_latest;
    initrd.kernelModules = ["amdgpu"];
  };

  networking.hostName = "dell-g5"; # Define your hostname.
  # networking.wireless.enable = true;  # Enables wireless support via wpa_supplicant.

  # Configure network proxy if necessary
  # networking.proxy.default = "http://user:password@proxy:port/";
  # networking.proxy.noProxy = "127.0.0.1,localhost,internal.domain";

  # Enable networking
  networking.networkmanager.enable = true;

  # Set your time zone.
  time.timeZone = "America/Chicago";

  # Select internationalisation properties.
  i18n.defaultLocale = "en_US.UTF-8";

  i18n.extraLocaleSettings = {
    LC_ADDRESS = "en_US.UTF-8";
    LC_IDENTIFICATION = "en_US.UTF-8";
    LC_MEASUREMENT = "en_US.UTF-8";
    LC_MONETARY = "en_US.UTF-8";
    LC_NAME = "en_US.UTF-8";
    LC_NUMERIC = "en_US.UTF-8";
    LC_PAPER = "en_US.UTF-8";
    LC_TELEPHONE = "en_US.UTF-8";
    LC_TIME = "en_US.UTF-8";
  };

  # Define a user account. Don't forget to set a password with ‘passwd’.
  users.users.${user} = {
    isNormalUser = true;
    description = "Stephen Zemlicka";
    extraGroups = [ "networkmanager" "wheel" "audio" "video" "lp" "scanner" ];
    packages = with pkgs; [];
  };

  # Allow unfree packages
  nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = true;

  #Display Manager and Desktop Environment
  #LightDM
  services = {
    xserver = {
      enable = true;
      xkb = {
        layout = "us";
        variant = "";
      };
      #Use nvidia drivers if applicable to system
      #videoDrivers = ["nvidia"];
      displayManager = {
        lightdm.enable = true;
      };
    };
    pipewire = {
      enable = true;
      audio.enable = true;
      pulse.enable = true;
      alsa = {
        enable = true;
        support32Bit = true;
      };
    };
    displayManager.defaultSession = "hyprland";
    libinput.enable = true;
  };
  #Hyprland    
  programs = {
    hyprland = {
      enable = true;
      xwayland.enable = true;
    };
  };

  # List packages installed in system profile. To search, run:
  # $ nix search wget
  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
  #  vim # Do not forget to add an editor to edit configuration.nix! The Nano editor is also installed by default.
    wget
    nano
    neovim
    kitty
    alacritty
    gtk3
    git
    firefox
    google-chrome
    dejavu_fonts
    xfce.thunar
    xfce.thunar-volman
    xfce.thunar-archive-plugin
    rofi-wayland

];
  
  #Automatic garbage collection
  nix = {
    settings.auto-optimise-store = true;
    gc = {
      automatic = true;
      dates = "weekly";
      options = "--delete-older-than 14d";
    };
  };

  # Some programs need SUID wrappers, can be configured further or are
  # started in user sessions.
  # programs.mtr.enable = true;
  # programs.gnupg.agent = {
  #   enable = true;
  #   enableSSHSupport = true;
  # };

  # List services that you want to enable:

  # Enable the OpenSSH daemon.
  # services.openssh.enable = true;

  # Open ports in the firewall.
  # networking.firewall.allowedTCPPorts = [ ... ];
  # networking.firewall.allowedUDPPorts = [ ... ];
  # Or disable the firewall altogether.
  # networking.firewall.enable = false;

  # This value determines the NixOS release from which the default
  # settings for stateful data, like file locations and database versions
  # on your system were taken. It‘s perfectly fine and recommended to leave
  # this value at the release version of the first install of this system.
  # Before changing this value read the documentation for this option
  # (e.g. man configuration.nix or on https://nixos.org/nixos/options.html).
  system.stateVersion = "24.11"; # Did you read the comment?

  ###Home-Manager
  home-manager.users.${user} = { pkgs, ... }: {
    home.stateVersion = "24.11";
    home.packages = with pkgs; [ htop ];
    programs.home-manager.enable = true;
    #Alacritty
    home.file = import ./env-conf.nix;
  };

}

env-conf.nix:

{
".config/alacritty/alacritty.toml".text = ''
[window]

opacity = 0.8

padding.x = 10
padding.y = 10

decorations = "Full"
decorations_theme_variant = "Dark"


[font]
size = 10.0

[font.normal]
family = "DejaVu Sans Mono"
style = "Book"

[font.bold]
family = "DejaVu Sans Mono"
style = "Bold"

[font.italic]
family = "DejaVu Sans Mono"
style = "Oblique"

[font.bold_italic]
family = "DejaVu Sans Mono"
style = "Bold Oblique"

# Colors (Gruvbox dark)

# Default colors
[colors.primary]
# hard contrast background = = '#1d2021'
background = '#282828'
# soft contrast background = = '#32302f'
foreground = '#ebdbb2'

# Normal colors
[colors.normal]
black   = '#282828'
red     = '#cc241d'
green   = '#98971a'
yellow  = '#d79921'
blue    = '#458588'
magenta = '#b16286'
cyan    = '#689d6a'
white   = '#a89984'

# Bright colors
[colors.bright]
black   = '#928374'
red     = '#fb4934'
green   = '#b8bb26'
yellow  = '#fabd2f'
blue    = '#83a598'
magenta = '#d3869b'
cyan    = '#8ec07c'
white   = '#ebdbb2'
'';

".config/hypr/hyprland.conf".text = ''
# #######################################################################################
# AUTOGENERATED HYPRLAND CONFIG.
# PLEASE USE THE CONFIG PROVIDED IN THE GIT REPO /examples/hyprland.conf AND EDIT IT,
# OR EDIT THIS ONE ACCORDING TO THE WIKI INSTRUCTIONS.
# #######################################################################################

# autogenerated = 1 # remove this line to remove the warning

# This is an example Hyprland config file.
# Refer to the wiki for more information.
# https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/

# Please note not all available settings / options are set here.
# For a full list, see the wiki

# You can split this configuration into multiple files
# Create your files separately and then link them to this file like this:
# source = ~/.config/hypr/myColors.conf


################
### MONITORS ###
################

# See https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Monitors/
monitor=,preferred,auto,1


###################
### MY PROGRAMS ###
###################

# See https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Keywords/

# Set programs that you use
$terminal = alacritty
$fileManager = thunar
$menu = rofi -show drun


#################
### AUTOSTART ###
#################

# Autostart necessary processes (like notifications daemons, status bars, etc.)
# Or execute your favorite apps at launch like this:

#exec-once = hyprpaper &
exec-once = $terminal
# exec-once = nm-applet &
# exec-once = waybar & hyprpaper & firefox


#############################
### ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES ###
#############################

# See https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Environment-variables/

env = XCURSOR_SIZE,24
env = HYPRCURSOR_SIZE,24


#####################
### LOOK AND FEEL ###
#####################

# Refer to https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Variables/

# https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Variables/#general
general {
    gaps_in = 5
    gaps_out = 20

    border_size = 2

    # https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Variables/#variable-types for info about colors
    col.active_border = rgba(458588ee) rgba(fe8019ee) 45deg
    col.inactive_border = rgba(504945aa)

    # Set to true enable resizing windows by clicking and dragging on borders and gaps
    resize_on_border = false

    # Please see https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Tearing/ before you turn this on
    allow_tearing = false

    layout = dwindle
}

# https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Variables/#decoration
decoration {
    rounding = 10
    rounding_power = 2

    # Change transparency of focused and unfocused windows
    active_opacity = 1.0
    inactive_opacity = 1.0

    shadow {
        enabled = true
        range = 4
        render_power = 3
        color = rgba(1a1a1aee)
    }

    # https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Variables/#blur
    blur {
        enabled = true
        size = 3
        passes = 1

        vibrancy = 0.1696
    }
}

# https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Variables/#animations
animations {
    enabled = yes, please :)

    # Default animations, see https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Animations/ for more

    bezier = easeOutQuint,0.23,1,0.32,1
    bezier = easeInOutCubic,0.65,0.05,0.36,1
    bezier = linear,0,0,1,1
    bezier = almostLinear,0.5,0.5,0.75,1.0
    bezier = quick,0.15,0,0.1,1

    animation = global, 1, 10, default
    animation = border, 1, 5.39, easeOutQuint
    animation = windows, 1, 4.79, easeOutQuint
    animation = windowsIn, 1, 4.1, easeOutQuint, popin 87%
    animation = windowsOut, 1, 1.49, linear, popin 87%
    animation = fadeIn, 1, 1.73, almostLinear
    animation = fadeOut, 1, 1.46, almostLinear
    animation = fade, 1, 3.03, quick
    animation = layers, 1, 3.81, easeOutQuint
    animation = layersIn, 1, 4, easeOutQuint, fade
    animation = layersOut, 1, 1.5, linear, fade
    animation = fadeLayersIn, 1, 1.79, almostLinear
    animation = fadeLayersOut, 1, 1.39, almostLinear
    animation = workspaces, 1, 1.94, almostLinear, fade
    animation = workspacesIn, 1, 1.21, almostLinear, fade
    animation = workspacesOut, 1, 1.94, almostLinear, fade
}

# Ref https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Workspace-Rules/
# "Smart gaps" / "No gaps when only"
# uncomment all if you wish to use that.
# workspace = w[tv1], gapsout:0, gapsin:0
# workspace = f[1], gapsout:0, gapsin:0
# windowrulev2 = bordersize 0, floating:0, onworkspace:w[tv1]
# windowrulev2 = rounding 0, floating:0, onworkspace:w[tv1]
# windowrulev2 = bordersize 0, floating:0, onworkspace:f[1]
# windowrulev2 = rounding 0, floating:0, onworkspace:f[1]

# See https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Dwindle-Layout/ for more
dwindle {
    pseudotile = true # Master switch for pseudotiling. Enabling is bound to mainMod + P in the keybinds section below
    preserve_split = true # You probably want this
}

# See https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Master-Layout/ for more
master {
    new_status = master
}

# https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Variables/#misc
misc {
    force_default_wallpaper = 0 # Set to 0 or 1 to disable the anime mascot wallpapers
    disable_hyprland_logo = false # If true disables the random hyprland logo / anime girl background. :(
}


#############
### INPUT ###
#############

# https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Variables/#input
input {
    kb_layout = us
    kb_variant =
    kb_model =
    kb_options =
    kb_rules =

    follow_mouse = 1

    sensitivity = 0 # -1.0 - 1.0, 0 means no modification.

    touchpad {
        natural_scroll = true
    }
}

# https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Variables/#gestures
gestures {
    workspace_swipe = true
}

# Example per-device config
# See https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Keywords/#per-device-input-configs for more
device {
    name = epic-mouse-v1
    sensitivity = -0.5
}


###################
### KEYBINDINGS ###
###################

# See https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Keywords/
$mainMod = SUPER # Sets "Windows" key as main modifier

# Example binds, see https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Binds/ for more
bind = $mainMod, RETURN, exec, $terminal
bind = $mainMod, Q, killactive,
bind = $mainMod, M, exit,
bind = $mainMod, E, exec, $fileManager
bind = $mainMod, V, togglefloating,
bind = $mainMod, R, exec, $menu
bind = $mainMod, P, pseudo, # dwindle
bind = $mainMod, J, togglesplit, # dwindle

# Move focus with mainMod + arrow keys
bind = $mainMod, left, movefocus, l
bind = $mainMod, right, movefocus, r
bind = $mainMod, up, movefocus, u
bind = $mainMod, down, movefocus, d

# Switch workspaces with mainMod + [0-9]
bind = $mainMod, 1, workspace, 1
bind = $mainMod, 2, workspace, 2
bind = $mainMod, 3, workspace, 3
bind = $mainMod, 4, workspace, 4
bind = $mainMod, 5, workspace, 5
bind = $mainMod, 6, workspace, 6
bind = $mainMod, 7, workspace, 7
bind = $mainMod, 8, workspace, 8
bind = $mainMod, 9, workspace, 9
bind = $mainMod, 0, workspace, 10

# Move active window to a workspace with mainMod + SHIFT + [0-9]
bind = $mainMod SHIFT, 1, movetoworkspace, 1
bind = $mainMod SHIFT, 2, movetoworkspace, 2
bind = $mainMod SHIFT, 3, movetoworkspace, 3
bind = $mainMod SHIFT, 4, movetoworkspace, 4
bind = $mainMod SHIFT, 5, movetoworkspace, 5
bind = $mainMod SHIFT, 6, movetoworkspace, 6
bind = $mainMod SHIFT, 7, movetoworkspace, 7
bind = $mainMod SHIFT, 8, movetoworkspace, 8
bind = $mainMod SHIFT, 9, movetoworkspace, 9
bind = $mainMod SHIFT, 0, movetoworkspace, 10

# Example special workspace (scratchpad)
bind = $mainMod, S, togglespecialworkspace, magic
bind = $mainMod SHIFT, S, movetoworkspace, special:magic

# Scroll through existing workspaces with mainMod + scroll
bind = $mainMod, mouse_down, workspace, e+1
bind = $mainMod, mouse_up, workspace, e-1

# Move/resize windows with mainMod + LMB/RMB and dragging
bindm = $mainMod, mouse:272, movewindow
bindm = $mainMod, mouse:273, resizewindow

# Laptop multimedia keys for volume and LCD brightness
bindel = ,XF86AudioRaiseVolume, exec, wpctl set-volume @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ 5%+
bindel = ,XF86AudioLowerVolume, exec, wpctl set-volume @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ 5%-
bindel = ,XF86AudioMute, exec, wpctl set-mute @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ toggle
bindel = ,XF86AudioMicMute, exec, wpctl set-mute @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SOURCE@ toggle
bindel = ,XF86MonBrightnessUp, exec, brightnessctl s 10%+
bindel = ,XF86MonBrightnessDown, exec, brightnessctl s 10%-

# Requires playerctl
bindl = , XF86AudioNext, exec, playerctl next
bindl = , XF86AudioPause, exec, playerctl play-pause
bindl = , XF86AudioPlay, exec, playerctl play-pause
bindl = , XF86AudioPrev, exec, playerctl previous

##############################
### WINDOWS AND WORKSPACES ###
##############################

# See https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Window-Rules/ for more
# See https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Workspace-Rules/ for workspace rules

# Example windowrule v1
# windowrule = float, ^(kitty)$

# Example windowrule v2
# windowrulev2 = float,class:^(kitty)$,title:^(kitty)$

# Ignore maximize requests from apps. You'll probably like this.
windowrulev2 = suppressevent maximize, class:.*

# Fix some dragging issues with XWayland
windowrulev2 = nofocus,class:^$,title:^$,xwayland:1,floating:1,fullscreen:0,pinned:0
'';
}
3

FWIW, copying the contents between the double-single quotes into the hyprland.conf works (except for one attribute “rounding_power”…but this error does not prevent hyprland from loading the config, it just pops up a message).

4

Rather than specifying home.file in one place and being careful with importing one file at a time (which you can absolutely do, but the code becomes gnarly), you should be using nix import system to do it for you.

Given files:

default.nix
foo.nix
bar.nix

If you have:

# default.nix
{
  imports = [ ./foo.nix ./bar.nix ]; # Note, it's not _import_, it's _imports_
} 

# foo.nix
{
  home.file.foo.text = "hello";
}

# bar.nix
{
  home.file.bar.text = "world";
}

The final result will neatly merge all options.

Also note that Home Manager has pre-built options for the software you are trying to configure. So, rather than using home.file options, you can use the HM’s built-in options. Compared to just throwing files around, HM options will also configure other things (check declared by link in the option to see the option’s effect).

Side note: import accepts a single file as an argument. You can use it dynamically, but I’d advise against doing so at this point as making the code too dynamic will spike WTFs/minute when it breaks.

5

Well, I just tried to rebuild and it worked without error with that one attribute commented out. I guess I figured it would build and run as it did when I manually copied the hyprland config (it would run but present the error in hyprland). I guess that’s not the case.

I’d still like to know how to do a home.file = import that references multiple files so I can separate out these configs but at least hyprland is usable now.

6

I missed your response. Ok, this makes sense. so when calling the import, you use the imported filename without the .nix extension. I think I was missing that. I did see where people referenced using the imports for the files but I was missing on how to call that imported data.

Thank you so much for that help. I think that will help clean things up significantly.

7

Actually, I don’t think what I said was right. I get how to include the file in the imports. But how do I then apply that imported data to a specific part of the config?

8

Yeah, the import vs imports has tripped folks up in the past.

import is a Nix language concept that allows importing a Nix expression from a file and getting it in the calling place scope.

imports is a concept from Nix module system

9

Do I do the imports in place then rather than at the beginning with the other imports?

10

Maybe I should just read up more on it. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction and for that clarification. It really helps to know that distinction.