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This flake uses a custom garden.packages attribute instead of the traditional environment.systemPackages or home.packages. This approach prevents duplicate package listings and simplifies package management across both NixOS and home-manager configurations.

​
The garden.packages pattern

Instead of separate lists for system and user packages, you define packages once in an attribute set: 
garden.packages = {
  inherit (pkgs) git neovim ripgrep;
  
  wrapped-nvim = pkgs.symlinkJoin {
    name = "wrapped-nvim";
    paths = [ pkgs.nvim pkgs.astro-language-server ];
  };
};
Using an attribute set for packages provides several benefits:
  • No duplicates - Each package name can only appear once
  • Better composition - Easy to merge package sets from different modules
  • Named packages - Clear what each package is for
  • Custom packages - Define wrapped or modified packages inline

​
Adding packages to your user

1

Create or edit your user's packages.nix

Create or edit /home/<user>/packages.nix:
home/yourname/packages.nix
{ pkgs, ... }:
{
  garden.packages = {
    # Simple packages
    inherit (pkgs)
      git
      neovim
      ripgrep
      fd
      bat
      eza
      ;
  };
}
2

Import in your user configuration

Ensure packages.nix is imported in /home/<user>/default.nix:
home/yourname/default.nix
{
  imports = [
    ./packages.nix
    ./cli
    ./gui
  ];
}

​
Conditional packages

You can conditionally include packages based on profiles or platform: 
{
  lib,
  pkgs,
  config,
  ...
}:
let
  inherit (lib) optionalAttrs mergeAttrsList;
  inherit (pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform) isLinux isDarwin;

  cfg = config.garden.profiles;
in
{
  garden.packages = mergeAttrsList [
    # Always installed
    {
      inherit (pkgs) git jq;
    }

    # Only on workstation profile
    (optionalAttrs cfg.workstation.enable {
      inherit (pkgs)
        just
        nix-output-monitor
        ripgrep
        ;
    })

    # Only on Linux
    (optionalAttrs isLinux {
      inherit (pkgs)
        brightnessctl
        wl-clipboard-rs
        ;
    })

    # Only on macOS
    (optionalAttrs isDarwin {
      inherit (pkgs)
        darwin.trash
        ;
    })
  ];
}

​
Custom and wrapped packages

You can define custom packages or wrap existing ones: 
{
  pkgs,
  ...
}:
{
  garden.packages = {
    # Neovim with language servers
    nvim-wrapped = pkgs.symlinkJoin {
      name = "nvim-wrapped";
      paths = [
        pkgs.neovim
        pkgs.lua-language-server
        pkgs.nil # Nix LSP
      ];
    };
  };
}

​
Real-world examples

​
Workstation packages

From home/isabel/packages.nix:
home/isabel/packages.nix
{
  lib,
  pkgs,
  config,
  inputs',
  ...
}:
let
  inherit (lib) optionalAttrs mergeAttrsList;
  inherit (pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform) isLinux;

  cfg = config.garden.profiles;
in
{
  garden.packages = mergeAttrsList [
    (optionalAttrs cfg.workstation.enable {
      inherit (pkgs)
        glow              # Fancy markdown renderer
        jq                # JSON parser
        just              # Command runner
        nix-output-monitor # Better nix build output
        rsync
        unzip
        wakatime-cli
        yq                # YAML parser
        ;

      inherit (inputs'.tgirlpkgs.packages) zzz; # Code snippets
    })

    (optionalAttrs (cfg.graphical.enable && isLinux) {
      inherit (pkgs)
        brightnessctl     # Brightness control
        grim              # Screenshot tool
        libnotify         # Notifications
        pwvucontrol       # PipeWire control
        signal-desktop    # Messaging
        slurp             # Screen area selection
        swappy            # Screenshot editor
        wl-clipboard-rs   # Wayland clipboard
        wl-gammactl       # Display color temperature
        ;

      inherit (inputs'.tgirlpkgs.packages) cake-wallet;
    })
  ];
}

​
Development environment

home/yourname/packages.nix
{
  pkgs,
  config,
  lib,
  ...
}:
{
  garden.packages = lib.mkIf config.garden.profiles.development.enable {
    # Core development tools
    inherit (pkgs)
      git
      gh              # GitHub CLI
      lazygit         # TUI for git
      direnv          # Per-directory environments
      ;

    # Language toolchains
    inherit (pkgs)
      rustup          # Rust
      go              # Go
      nodejs          # Node.js
      python3         # Python
      ;

    # Build tools
    inherit (pkgs)
      gnumake
      cmake
      pkg-config
      ;
  };
}

​
System-level packages

For system-wide packages (available to all users), use the same pattern in your system configuration:
systems/yoursystem/default.nix
{
  pkgs,
  ...
}:
{
  garden.packages = {
    inherit (pkgs)
      vim
      wget
      curl
      htop
      ;
  };
}

​
Package organization tips

1

Group related packages

Use comments to organize packages by category:
garden.packages = {
  # Shell utilities
  inherit (pkgs) bat eza fd ripgrep zoxide;

  # Network tools  
  inherit (pkgs) curl wget rsync;

  # Development
  inherit (pkgs) git gh lazygit;
};
2

Use keep-sorted for consistency

The source repository uses keep-sorted comments:
inherit (pkgs)
  # keep-sorted start
  bat
  eza
  fd
  ripgrep
  # keep-sorted end
  ;
3

Split by profile

Create separate package modules for different use cases:
home/yourname/
├── packages/
│   ├── default.nix       # Core packages
│   ├── development.nix   # Dev tools
│   ├── graphics.nix      # Creative apps
│   └── gaming.nix        # Games
└── default.nix

​
Finding packages

Search for packages in nixpkgs:

​
Next steps

Adding users

Create users to install packages for

Adding systems

Configure systems with packages

Troubleshooting

Fix package installation issues

Templates

Use Nix flake templates

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