Configuring Home Manager Profiles

Overview

Home Manager configurations define user-specific settings, applications, and dotfiles. These configurations are stored in the homes/ directory and follow a specific naming pattern.

Naming Patterns

Home Manager profiles use three naming patterns:

1. Global User Configuration

Pattern: homes/username/default.nix Applies to a user across all systems where they exist:

homes/soriphoono/default.nix

{pkgs, ...}: {
  core = {
    secrets = {
      enable = true;
      defaultSopsFile = ./secrets.yaml;
    };

    git = {
      userName = "soriphoono";
      userEmail = "[email protected]";
    };
  };

  userapps.development.editors.neovim.settings = import ./nvim {inherit pkgs;};
}

2. Host-Specific User Configuration

Pattern: homes/username@hostname/default.nix Overrides or extends settings for a specific system:

homes/soriphoono@zephyrus/default.nix

{config, ...}: {
  core = {
    shells.fish.generateCompletions = true;

    git = {
      projectsDir = "${config.home.homeDirectory}/Documents/Projects/";
      extraIdentities = {
        school = {
          directory = "School";
          name = "soriphoono";
          email = "[email protected]";
          signingKey = "ssh-ed25519 AAAA...";
        };
        work = {
          directory = "Work";
          name = "xrezdev11";
          email = "[email protected]";
          signingKey = "ssh-ed25519 AAAA...";
        };
      };
    };
  };

  userapps = {
    enable = true;
    browsers = {
      chrome.enable = true;
      librewolf.enable = true;
    };
    communication = {
      discord.enable = true;
    };
    data-fortress = {
      nextcloud.enable = true;
      bitwarden.enable = true;
    };
    office = {
      onlyoffice.enable = true;
    };
    development = {
      enable = true;
      terminal = {
        ghostty.enable = true;
      };
      knowledge-management.obsidian.enable = true;
      editors = {
        neovim.enable = true;
        antigravity.enable = true;
      };
      agents = {
        gemini = {
          enable = true;
          enableJules = true;
        };
      };
    };
  };
}

3. Standalone Home Manager

Pattern: homes/username@global/default.nix For systems not managed by NixOS (using standalone Home Manager):

homes/user@global/default.nix

{pkgs, ...}: {
  home.stateVersion = "24.05";
  
  core = {
    git = {
      userName = "user";
      userEmail = "[email protected]";
    };
  };
  
  userapps.browsers.firefox.enable = true;
}

Configuration Priority

When a user exists on a system, configurations are merged in this order:

homes/username/default.nix (global user config)
homes/username@hostname/default.nix (host-specific overrides)

Host-specific settings override global settings.

Complete Examples

Minimal User
Developer Setup
Host-Specific

A basic configuration with just Git and secrets:

homes/spookyskelly/default.nix

{
  core = {
    secrets = {
      enable = true;
      defaultSopsFile = ./secrets.yaml;
    };

    git = {
      userName = "spookyskelly";
      userEmail = "[email protected]";
    };
  };
}

A complete development environment:

homes/developer@workstation/default.nix

{config, pkgs, ...}: {
  core = {
    shells.fish.generateCompletions = true;
    
    git = {
      userName = "developer";
      userEmail = "[email protected]";
      projectsDir = "${config.home.homeDirectory}/Code";
      extraIdentities = {
        personal = {
          directory = "Personal";
          name = "developer";
          email = "[email protected]";
          signingKey = "ssh-ed25519 AAAA...";
        };
      };
    };
  };

  userapps = {
    enable = true;
    
    browsers = {
      firefox.enable = true;
      chrome.enable = true;
    };
    
    development = {
      enable = true;
      
      terminal = {
        kitty.enable = true;
        ghostty.enable = true;
      };
      
      editors = {
        neovim.enable = true;
        vscode.enable = true;
        antigravity.enable = true;
      };
      
      domain_specific.k8s.enable = true;
      
      agents = {
        gemini.enable = true;
      };
    };
    
    communication = {
      discord.enable = true;
    };
    
    data-fortress = {
      bitwarden.enable = true;
    };
  };
}

Light configuration on one machine, full setup on another:

homes/user@lg-laptop/default.nix

# Minimal setup for laptop
{
  core.shells.fish.generateCompletions = true;

  userapps = {
    enable = true;
    browsers = {
      librewolf.enable = true;
      firefox.enable = true;
    };
  };
}

homes/user@workstation/default.nix

# Full development environment
{
  core.shells.fish.generateCompletions = true;

  userapps = {
    enable = true;
    browsers.chrome.enable = true;
    development = {
      enable = true;
      editors.neovim.enable = true;
      terminal.ghostty.enable = true;
    };
    office.onlyoffice.enable = true;
  };
}

Core Configuration

Git Configuration

The core.git module provides comprehensive Git setup:

core.git.userName

string

required

Your Git username

core.git.userEmail

string

required

Your Git email address

core.git.projectsDir

path

default:"~/Documents/Projects"

Directory where Git projects are stored

core.git.extraIdentities

attrset

default:"{}"

Additional Git identities for different contexts (work, school, etc.)Each identity has:

directory - Subdirectory under projectsDir
name - Git user name for this identity
email - Git email for this identity
signingKey - SSH key for commit signing

Multiple Git Identities Example

core.git = {
  userName = "soriphoono";
  userEmail = "[email protected]";
  projectsDir = "${config.home.homeDirectory}/Documents/Projects/";
  
  extraIdentities = {
    school = {
      directory = "School";
      name = "soriphoono";
      email = "[email protected]";
      signingKey = "ssh-ed25519 AAAA...";
    };
    work = {
      directory = "Work";
      name = "professional";
      email = "[email protected]";
      signingKey = "ssh-ed25519 AAAA...";
    };
  };
};

Projects under ~/Documents/Projects/School/ will use the school identity, while projects under ~/Documents/Projects/Work/ will use the work identity.

Shell Configuration

core.shells.fish.generateCompletions

boolean

default:"false"

Generate Fish shell completions for installed packages

core.shells.starship.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Enable Starship prompt

core.shells.fastfetch.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Enable Fastfetch system info display

Secrets Management

core.secrets.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Enable SOPS secrets management

core.secrets.defaultSopsFile

path

Path to the default SOPS secrets file

User Applications

The userapps namespace provides categorized application modules:

Browsers

userapps.browsers = {
  firefox.enable = true;
  librewolf.enable = true;
  floorp.enable = true;
  chrome.enable = true;
};

userapps.browsers.firefox.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install Firefox browser

userapps.browsers.librewolf.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install LibreWolf (privacy-focused Firefox fork)

userapps.browsers.chrome.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install Google Chrome

Development Tools

userapps.development = {
  enable = true;
  
  editors = {
    neovim.enable = true;
    vscode.enable = true;
    antigravity.enable = true;
  };
  
  terminal = {
    kitty.enable = true;
    ghostty.enable = true;
    warp.enable = true;
  };
  
  knowledge-management.obsidian.enable = true;
  
  domain_specific.k8s.enable = true;
  
  agents = {
    gemini.enable = true;
    mcp-servers.enable = true;
  };
};

userapps.development.editors.neovim.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install Neovim editor

userapps.development.editors.neovim.settings

attrset

Custom Neovim configuration (plugins, settings, etc.)

userapps.development.editors.vscode.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install Visual Studio Code

userapps.development.editors.antigravity.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install Antigravity editor

userapps.development.terminal.kitty.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install Kitty terminal emulator

userapps.development.terminal.ghostty.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install Ghostty terminal emulator

userapps.development.domain_specific.k8s.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install Kubernetes tools (kubectl, k9s, helm, etc.)

userapps.development.agents.gemini.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install Google Gemini AI assistant

Communication

userapps.communication = {
  discord.enable = true;
};

userapps.communication.discord.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install Discord

Data Fortress (Security)

userapps.data-fortress = {
  bitwarden.enable = true;
  nextcloud.enable = true;
};

userapps.data-fortress.bitwarden.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install Bitwarden password manager

userapps.data-fortress.nextcloud.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install Nextcloud client

Office Applications

userapps.office = {
  onlyoffice.enable = true;
};

userapps.office.onlyoffice.enable

boolean

default:"false"

Install OnlyOffice suite

Advanced Configurations

Custom Neovim Configuration

You can import complex configurations from subdirectories:

homes/user/default.nix

{pkgs, ...}: {
  userapps.development.editors.neovim.settings = import ./nvim {inherit pkgs;};
}

Then create homes/user/nvim/default.nix with your Neovim configuration.

Conditional Configuration

Use Nix expressions for conditional setup:

{config, lib, ...}: {
  userapps.development.editors = {
    neovim.enable = true;
    vscode.enable = lib.mkIf (config.home.username == "developer") true;
  };
}

Directory Structure

A complete homes directory might look like:

homes/
├── soriphoono/
│   ├── default.nix         # Global config
│   ├── secrets.yaml        # Global secrets
│   └── nvim/
│       └── default.nix     # Neovim config
├── soriphoono@zephyrus/
│   └── default.nix         # Host-specific
├── soriphoono@droid/
│   └── default.nix         # Droid-specific
├── spookyskelly/
│   └── default.nix         # Global config
└── spookyskelly@lg-laptop/
    ├── default.nix         # Host-specific
    └── secrets.yaml        # Host secrets

Using Home Manager Modules

All modules from modules/home/ are automatically available:

# These modules are loaded automatically
core.git = { ... };
core.shells.fish = { ... };
userapps.browsers.firefox = { ... };

See the Modules documentation for creating custom modules.

Next Steps

NixOS Systems

Configure system-level settings

Modules

Learn about available modules

Secrets

Manage secrets with SOPS

Nix-on-Droid

Configure Android devices

Get Started

Core Concepts

Deployment

Configuration

Operations

Guides

Overview

Naming Patterns

1. Global User Configuration

2. Host-Specific User Configuration

3. Standalone Home Manager

Configuration Priority

Complete Examples

Core Configuration

Git Configuration

Multiple Git Identities Example

Shell Configuration

Secrets Management

User Applications

Browsers

Development Tools

Communication

Data Fortress (Security)

Office Applications

Advanced Configurations

Custom Neovim Configuration

Conditional Configuration

Directory Structure

Using Home Manager Modules

Next Steps

NixOS Systems

Modules

Secrets

Nix-on-Droid

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Deployment

Configuration

Operations

Guides

​Overview

​Naming Patterns

​1. Global User Configuration

​2. Host-Specific User Configuration

​3. Standalone Home Manager

​Configuration Priority

​Complete Examples

​Core Configuration

​Git Configuration

​Multiple Git Identities Example

​Shell Configuration

​Secrets Management

​User Applications

​Browsers

​Development Tools

​Communication

​Data Fortress (Security)

​Office Applications

​Advanced Configurations

​Custom Neovim Configuration

​Conditional Configuration

​Directory Structure

​Using Home Manager Modules

​Next Steps

NixOS Systems

Modules

Secrets

Nix-on-Droid

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Naming Patterns

1. Global User Configuration

2. Host-Specific User Configuration

3. Standalone Home Manager

Configuration Priority

Complete Examples

Core Configuration

Git Configuration

Multiple Git Identities Example

Shell Configuration

Secrets Management

User Applications

Browsers

Development Tools

Communication

Data Fortress (Security)

Office Applications

Advanced Configurations

Custom Neovim Configuration

Conditional Configuration

Directory Structure

Using Home Manager Modules

Next Steps