Nix Darwin + Home Manager Setup

macOS dotfiles for multiple machines using Nix flakes, nix-darwin, Home Manager, and nix-homebrew.

Machines

Config	Hostname	User	Brew owner
macbook	tutods-macbook	tutods	tutods
work	daniel.a.sousa	daniel.a.sousa	admin.daniel.a.sousa

---

First-time setup

1. Install prerequisites

# Nix (multi-user)
sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install)

# Xcode Command Line Tools
xcode-select --install

2. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/tutods/macos-setup.git ~/.dotfiles
cd ~/.dotfiles

3. Apply the configuration

./nix.sh macbook   # personal MacBook
./nix.sh work      # work laptop

This builds and applies the full system configuration via darwin-rebuild switch. Fish is set as the default shell, App Store apps and VSCode marketplace extensions are all installed automatically — no post-deploy script needed.

On the work laptop, run ./nix.sh work from admin.daniel.a.sousa — the admin user owns Homebrew. Home Manager still configures daniel.a.sousa independently.

4. Set up private git identity

Git name and email are not stored in this repo. Set them on each machine:

mkdir -p ~/.config/git
git config --file ~/.config/git/private user.name "Your Name"
git config --file ~/.config/git/private user.email "your@email.com"

See docs/private-git-config.md for full details.

---

Daily usage

# Prevent sleep (built-in macOS caffeinate, expanded by fish as abbreviation)
caf              # prevent display, idle and disk sleep (Ctrl-C to stop)
caffeinate -t 3600  # prevent sleep for 1 hour

# Rebuild and apply changes
./nix.sh macbook

# Build only (no apply, useful to check for errors)
./nix.sh macbook --build-only

# Force rebuild
./nix.sh macbook --force

# Clean up old Nix generations
nix-collect-garbage -d

---

Structure

.
├── flake.nix                  # Entry point — defines mkDarwin and mkHost
├── lib/
│   └── mkHost.nix             # Shared host factory (fish, home-manager, nix-homebrew)
├── modules/
│   ├── common.nix             # Nix settings, timezone, store optimisation
│   ├── darwin/                # macOS defaults, security, networking, keyboard
│   └── packages/
│       ├── default.nix        # Imports all package modules
│       ├── cli.nix            # CLI tools (fd, gh, jq, httpie, …)
│       ├── development.nix    # Dev tools and IDEs (terraform, WebStorm, …)
│       ├── media.nix          # Media processing (ffmpeg, imagemagick, …)
│       └── fonts.nix          # System fonts (JetBrains Mono, Nerd Fonts, …)
├── hosts/darwin/
│   ├── macbook/               # Personal MacBook
│   │   ├── default.nix        # Calls mkHost with macbook values
│   │   ├── dock.nix           # Dock layout
│   │   └── homebrew/          # Macbook-specific casks and MAS apps
│   └── work/                  # Work laptop
│       ├── default.nix        # Calls mkHost with work values
│       ├── dock.nix
│       └── homebrew/          # Work-specific casks (shared base from modules/)
├── home/
│   ├── programs/              # Shared Home Manager programs (fish, VSCode, etc.)
│   ├── tutods/                # tutods user config
│   └── daniel.a.sousa/        # Work user config
└── docs/                      # Additional documentation

---

Adding a new machine

1. Create the host directory:

   cp -r hosts/darwin/macbook hosts/darwin/new-machine

2. Edit hosts/darwin/new-machine/default.nix — update the mkHost call:

   { mkHost, ... }:
   {
     imports = [
       ./dock.nix
       ./homebrew
       (mkHost {
         username   = "newuser";
         hostname   = "new-machine";
         brewUser   = "newuser";
         homeConfig = import ../../../home/newuser/default.nix;
       })
     ];
   }

3. Create the home config:

   cp -r home/tutods home/newuser
   # edit home/newuser/default.nix to set the correct username/homeDirectory

4. Register in flake.nix:

   "new-machine" = mkDarwin "./hosts/darwin/new-machine";

5. Deploy:

   ./nix.sh new-machine

---

Adding packages

What	Where
System-wide CLI tools	modules/packages/cli.nix
Development tools and IDEs	modules/packages/development.nix
Media processing tools	modules/packages/media.nix
Fonts	modules/packages/fonts.nix
Shared Homebrew casks (all machines)	modules/darwin/homebrew/casks/
Machine-specific Homebrew casks	hosts/darwin/<name>/homebrew/casks/
Mac App Store apps (shared)	modules/darwin/homebrew/mas.nix
Mac App Store apps (per machine)	hosts/darwin/<name>/homebrew/mas.nix
User programs (shell, editor, etc.)	home/programs/

---

Maintenance

# Remove old generations and free disk space
nix-collect-garbage -d

# If Homebrew has issues after a rebuild
brew doctor

Dependency updates are automated via Renovate — minor and patch updates for nixpkgs, home-manager, nix-darwin, and nix-homebrew are auto-merged. Major updates require manual review.