dotfiles

This repository is my macOS machine configuration. It uses nix-darwin, Home Manager, and nix-homebrew to make a new Mac reproducible from source-controlled configuration.

Layout

Path	Purpose
flake.nix	Wires together nixpkgs, nix-darwin, Home Manager, and nix-homebrew.
configuration.nix	System-level macOS defaults, nix-homebrew setup, Homebrew formulae, and Homebrew casks.
home.nix	User-level Home Manager packages, shell configuration, Git settings, and symlinks.
home/.config/ghostty	Ghostty config and themes.
home/.config/nvim	Neovim config.
home/.config/tmux/tmux.conf	tmux config source.
home/AGENTS.md	Shared global agent instructions for Claude and Codex.
iterm2/Main.json	iTerm2 profile export.
rebuild.sh	Convenience wrapper around darwin-rebuild switch.

Managed Files

Home Manager links config files from this repo into the home directory.

Source in repo	Target on machine
home/.config/ghostty	~/.config/ghostty
home/.config/nvim	~/.config/nvim
home/.config/tmux/tmux.conf	~/.tmux.conf
home/AGENTS.md	~/.claude/CLAUDE.md
home/AGENTS.md	~/.codex/AGENTS.md

The symlinks use mkOutOfStoreSymlink so edits in this repository are reflected directly in the live config paths.

Package Ownership

configuration.nix owns system-level Homebrew state through nix-darwin and nix-homebrew. Homebrew formulae go in homebrew.brews. Homebrew casks go in homebrew.casks. The Homebrew activation cleanup mode is set to zap, so unlisted formulae and casks are removed when the system is activated.

home.nix owns user-level packages and programs through Home Manager. This includes packages such as jq, kubectl, and neovim. It also configures shell behavior, Atuin, Bun, Git, and the dotfile symlinks.

Setup

Install Nix first. This configuration assumes Determinate manages the Nix daemon, so configuration.nix sets nix.enable = false.

Clone the repository to the path expected by home.nix.

mkdir -p ~/go/src/github.com/alexbarksdale
git clone https://github.com/alexbarksdale/dotfiles.git ~/go/src/github.com/alexbarksdale/dotfiles
cd ~/go/src/github.com/alexbarksdale/dotfiles

Review configuration.nix and home.nix before activating on a new machine. When ready to apply the configuration, run:

./rebuild.sh

rebuild.sh symlinks this repository to ~/.dotfiles and runs:

sudo darwin-rebuild switch --flake ~/.dotfiles#mac

Notes

Do not run a rebuild unless you are ready for nix-darwin and Home Manager to change the machine. Because Homebrew cleanup uses zap, anything installed through Homebrew but missing from configuration.nix can be removed during activation. tmux plugins are managed by TPM from inside tmux after the tmux config is linked.