home-manager: replace mkalias with copyApps for nix GUI app exposure - #6
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mkalias.nix produced Finder alias stubs at ~/Applications/Home Manager
Apps/<App>.app — fine for click-to-launch via Spotlight/Launchpad but
not real bundle directories, so any tool that enumerates installed
apps by walking ~/Applications (Claude Code computer-use MCP scanner,
third-party automation harnesses, generic bundle walkers) reported
nix-installed apps as not installed. A previous attempt — adding
directory symlinks at ~/Applications/<App>.app pointing into the nix
store — is parked on attempt/mkalias-realbundle-symlinks; verified
that LaunchServices recognised those, but the MCP scanner did not.
Switch to home-manager's targets.darwin.copyApps, which rsyncs the
buildEnv /Applications tree with --copy-unsafe-links so each .app
becomes a real materialised directory at ~/Applications/Home Manager
Apps/. This is the upstream-supported approach (default-on for
home.stateVersion >= "25.11"; we pin "24.11" so opt in explicitly)
and is the same mechanism nix-darwin uses for environment.systemPackages
under /Applications/Nix Apps/.
Also adds modules/home-manager/neovide/default.nix — Neovide as a
proper home-manager module pointing NEOVIDE_NEOVIM_BIN at the wrapped
nvim so it inherits programs.neovim.extraPackages on PATH.
Trade-offs:
- Disk: real copies, not store-shared. ~hundreds of MB across the
current GUI app set (kitty, Neovide, LocalSend, KeyCastr,
Podman Desktop). Acceptable.
- First activation may prompt for App Management TCC permission to
overwrite existing bundles in ~/Applications/Home Manager Apps/.
- copyApps and linkApps are mutually exclusive; copyapps.nix sets
targets.darwin.linkApps.enable = false to satisfy the assertion.
- macOS 26.3 has a known signature-verification regression with
mtime=1 that home-manager works around (--no-times in copyapps.nix
upstream); we are on 25.x so this is a forward-looking note.
Transitional cleanup activation removes the symlinks and manifest
left by the parked attempt on first activation per host. Once the
manifest is gone, the cleanup is a no-op and the block can be deleted.
Validated via `nix build .#darwinConfigurations.k.system`. The
activation script materialises the rsync loop and the cleanup; the
old aliasApplications activation is gone.
Plan + verification log:
/Users/k/.claude/plans/sprightly-finding-starfish.md
home-manager defaults at stateVersion 26.05 already make
targets.darwin.copyApps.enable = true and
targets.darwin.linkApps.enable = false, so the explicit toggles in
the previous commit's copyapps.nix are redundant. Bump stateVersion
and drop the module.
Researched the 24.11 → 26.05 delta for Darwin-affecting default
changes: every other gated option this repo touches is already
explicitly set to the post-bump value:
- programs.git.signing.format = null (git.nix:31)
- programs.yazi.shellWrapperName = "y" (yazi/default.nix:12)
- programs.neovim.withRuby = false; withPython3 = false (neovim/default.nix:16-17)
And the Darwin-relevant changes that AREN'T pre-set are wins:
- copyApps default-on (the whole point of this PR)
- programs.man.package = null on Darwin (fixes broken GNU-apropos)
No options used in this repo were renamed or removed between 24.11
and 26.05.
The transitional cleanup activation that removed bare
~/Applications/<App>.app symlinks and the
$XDG_STATE_HOME/home-manager-app-bundles.list manifest moves from
copyapps.nix into modules/home-manager/default.nix as an inline
home.activation block. Manifest-gated, so a no-op once cleanup has
run on a host. Marked for deletion in a future cleanup pass.
One non-stateVersion-gated heads-up: at home-manager master, when
used as a nix-darwin module the legacy "per-user shadow profile" is
gone unless home-manager.enableLegacyProfileManagement = true. We
do not opt into the legacy mode, so first switch may regenerate
profile state — non-blocking.
Validated via `nix build .#darwinConfigurations.k.system`:
- copyApps activation present (rsync --copy-unsafe-links into
~/Applications/Home Manager Apps/)
- linkApps activation absent
- cleanupLegacyAppBundleSymlinks present, gated on manifest
Files:
lib/default.nix — stateVersion 24.11 → 26.05
modules/home-manager/default.nix — inline cleanup activation,
drop kriswill.copyApps.enable
modules/home-manager/copyapps.nix — deleted
kriswill
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Jun 29, 2026
nix-darwin has no programs.* for most of these tools, so port them the way
the rest of the repo already does (cf. tmux/zsh/yazi): static config lives in
the stow tree (home/) and the /nix/store-derived bits are generated and linked
during activation. The shell integrations (fzf/zoxide/direnv/hstr) already live
in the stow zshrc, so only the FZF_* env vars needed re-adding there.
Moved out of modules/home-manager/core.nix (now deleted) into system-level
modules/darwin/<feature>.nix + home/<pkg> stow packages:
git/gh modules/darwin/git.nix + home/git, home/gh (bare-name
helpers, no stale store paths)
ssh modules/darwin/ssh.nix + home/ssh
zk modules/darwin/zk.nix
diffnav modules/darwin/diffnav.nix installs a delta wrapped with the
kanagawa theme (matches HM's
finalPackage; diffnav bundles its
own delta and is unaffected)
kitty modules/darwin/kitty.nix + home/kitty
neovide modules/darwin/neovide.nix toggle only; pkg is per-host
direnv modules/darwin/direnv.nix + home/direnv; nix-direnv stdlib
linked into ~/.config/direnv/lib
direnv-nom modules/darwin/direnv-nom.nix nom wrapper generated + linked
htop modules/darwin/htop.nix immutable htoprc generated + linked
qmd-sqlite modules/darwin/qmd-sqlite.nix extension-enabled sqlite (hiPrio so
it wins the sqlite3 collision with
neovim's plain sqlite) + qmd link
bat jq nix-index lazygit rmpc fzf go nodejs_24 yamlfmt -> user-packages.nix
FZF_* env vars -> home/zsh/.config/zsh/.zshrc
The home-manager master `kriswill.enable` toggle and core.nix were removed;
home-manager stays wired only for the GUI/per-host modules (brave, firefox,
vscode, podman-desktop, claude-account-selector). All three host configs build
(nix flake check) and the HM->stow config handoff is clean (the old HM configs
were store symlinks HM removes on switch, then stow/activation redeploys).
flake.lock: `nix flake update` bumps nixpkgs, home-manager and yazi-plugins.
This is a closure no-op for host k -- the new lock evaluates to the identical
darwin-system derivation (verified: same .drv d15di5x4..., same output
axiznxg2...). It is included so future builds and the other hosts track the
newer inputs.
nvd diff -- previous generation (system-184, pre-migration) -> this commit's
closure (== the running gen-185 system). The Selection-state / Added / Removed
sections are this port (note the hm_* generated configs removed and the
delta-wrapped/delta-config -> delta-kanagawa swap); the Version changes are the
already-committed af761b8 nixpkgs bump that the pre-port generation had not yet
realized.
<<< /nix/store/7kx6ii60i6fwp4gsn4l987r9klgwd909-darwin-system-26.11.a1fa429
>>> /nix/store/axiznxg2fgby564shlpxjkjp208wa6p8-darwin-system-26.11.a1fa429
Version changes:
[U*] #1 buf 1.70.0 -> 1.71.0
[U.] #2 expat 2.8.0 -> 2.8.1
[U*] #3 fastfetch 2.64.2, 2.64.2-man -> 2.65.1, 2.65.1-man
[U.] #4 ffmpeg-headless 8.1-bin, 8.1-data, 8.1-lib -> 8.1.1-bin, 8.1.1-data, 8.1.1-lib
[U.] #5 fftw-double 3.3.10 -> 3.3.11
[U*] #6 fish 4.7.1, 4.7.1-doc -> 4.8.0, 4.8.0-doc
[U.] #7 freetype 2.14.2 -> 2.14.3
[U+] #8 gh 2.94.0 -> 2.95.0
[U*] #9 ghostscript 10.07.0, 10.07.0-fonts, 10.07.0-man -> 10.07.1, 10.07.1-fonts, 10.07.1-man
[U*] #10 go 1.26.3 -> 1.26.4
[U.] #11 icu4c 76.1, 76.1-dev -> 78.3, 78.3-dev
[U.] #12 ijs 10.07.0 -> 10.07.1
[U*] #13 imagemagick 7.1.2-23 -> 7.1.2-24
[U.] #14 just 1.51.0, 1.51.0-man -> 1.54.0, 1.54.0-man
[U.] #15 krb5 1.22.1-lib -> 1.22.2-lib
[U.] #16 libde265 1.0.18 -> 1.1.1
[U.] #17 libgcrypt 1.11.2-lib -> 1.12.2-lib
[U.] #18 libheif 1.21.2-lib -> 1.23.0-lib
[U.] #19 libpng-apng 1.6.56 -> 1.6.58
[U*] #20 libxml2 2.15.2, 2.15.2-bin -> 2.15.3, 2.15.3-bin
[U*] #21 lua-language-server 3.18.1 -> 3.18.2
[D.] #22 nix 2.34.7+1 x2 -> 2.34.7 x2
[D.] #23 nix-cmd 2.34.7+1 -> 2.34.7
[D.] #24 nix-expr 2.34.7+1 -> 2.34.7
[D.] #25 nix-fetchers 2.34.7+1 -> 2.34.7
[D.] #26 nix-flake 2.34.7+1 -> 2.34.7
[D.] #27 nix-main 2.34.7+1 -> 2.34.7
[D.] #28 nix-store 2.34.7+1 -> 2.34.7
[D.] #29 nix-util 2.34.7+1 -> 2.34.7
[U*] #30 nodejs 24.15.0 -> 24.16.0
[C.] #31 nodejs-slim 22.22.3, 24.15.0, 24.15.0-corepack, 24.15.0-npm -> 22.23.1, 24.16.0, 24.16.0-corepack, 24.16.0-npm
[U.] #32 openapv 0.2.1.2 -> 0.2.1.3
[U.] #33 openexr 3.4.10 -> 3.4.11
[U.] #34 podman 5.8.2, 5.8.2-man -> 5.8.3, 5.8.3-man
[U.] #35 publicsuffix-list 0-unstable-2026-03-26 -> 0-unstable-2026-05-13
[U.] #36 rsync 3.4.1 -> 3.4.4
[U*] #37 rumdl 0.2.16 -> 0.2.21
[U.] #38 simdjson 4.6.0 -> 4.6.4
[C*] #39 sqlite 3.51.2 x2, 3.51.2-bin x2, 3.51.2-dev, 3.51.2-man x2 -> 3.51.2 x2, 3.51.2-bin x2, 3.51.2-dev, 3.51.2-man
[U.] #40 unbound 1.25.0-lib -> 1.25.1-lib
[U.] #41 uv 0.11.19 -> 0.11.22
[D*] #42 vscode-langservers-extracted 4.10.0 -> 1.121.03429
Selection state changes:
[C+] #1 direnv 2.37.1
[C+] #2 git-lfs 3.7.1
[C+] #3 htop 3.5.1, 3.5.1-man
[C+] #4 kitty 0.47.4, 0.47.4-terminfo
Added packages:
[A+] #1 delta-kanagawa <none>
[A.] #2 delta-kanagawa.gitconfig <none>
[A.] #3 fastfetch-unwrapped 2.65.1, 2.65.1-man
[A.] #4 home-manager-agent-domains <none>
[A.] #5 org.nix-community.home.claude-config-dir.domain <none>
[A.] #6 zz-nom-wrapper.sh <none>
Removed packages:
[R.] #1 delta-config <none>
[R.] #2 delta-wrapped <none>
[R.] #3 direnv-config <none>
[R.] #4 empty-directory <none>
[R.] #5 gh-config.yml <none>
[R.] #6 hm_.sshconfig <none>
[R.] #7 hm_direnvlibzznomwrapper.sh <none>
[R.] #8 hm_gitallowed_signers <none>
[R.] #9 hm_gitconfig <none>
[R.] #10 hm_gitignore <none>
[R.] #11 hm_kanagawa.conf <none>
[R.] #12 hm_kittydiff.conf <none>
[R.] #13 hm_kittykitty.conf <none>
[R.] #14 yyjson 0.12.0
Closure size: 624 -> 616 (611 paths added, 619 paths removed, delta -8, disk usage -53.1MiB).
kriswill
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Jun 29, 2026
Completes the migration. The home-manager bridge, flake input, and the last runtime hook are gone; the repo is now pure nix-darwin + the GNU Stow tree under home/. - flake.nix: drop the home-manager input (flake.lock: removed the home-manager and home-manager/nixpkgs nodes). - modules/home.nix deleted -- the darwin <- home-manager bridge. - modules/darwin/core.nix: drop pkgs.home-manager from environment.systemPackages. - home/zsh/.config/zsh/.zshrc: drop the hm-session-vars.sh source line. - AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md updated to describe a darwin-only repo (no home.nix, no modules/home-manager/, no mkOutOfStoreSymlink mechanism). Terminfo is unaffected -- the one real risk. nix-darwin's own set-environment already exports the full TERMINFO_DIRS (the Ghostty.app bundle, the per-user and system nix profiles, and /usr/share/terminfo), so xterm-kitty (in the system profile's share/terminfo) and xterm-ghostty (Ghostty's bundle) still resolve without the home-manager session-vars line. Verified with infocmp. nix flake check passes for k, mini, SOC. nvd diff -- previous generation (system-186, home-manager present) -> this commit (system-187, now active). Removes the entire home-manager apparatus plus the deps nothing else in the closure used (man-db, groff, diffutils, inetutils, libpipeline). <<< /nix/store/gf8hnm6w88ng2kajiy4x5n29k55nq0wz-darwin-system-26.11.a1fa429 >>> /run/current-system Removed packages: [R.] #1 activation-k <none> [R.] #2 check-link-targets.sh <none> [R.] #3 cleanup <none> [R.] #4 diffutils 3.12 [R.] #5 groff 1.24.1 [R.] #6 hm-modules-messages <none> [R.] #7 hm-session-vars.sh <none> [R.] #8 hm_LibraryFonts.homemanagerfontsversion <none> [R.] #9 hm_Usersk.cache.keep <none> [R.] #10 hm_Usersk.localstate.keep <none> [R-] #11 home-manager 0-unstable-2026-04-24 [R.] #12 home-manager-agent-domains <none> [R.] #13 home-manager-agents <none> [R.] #14 home-manager-applications <none> [R.] #15 home-manager-files <none> [R.] #16 home-manager-fonts <none> [R.] #17 home-manager-generation <none> [R.] #18 home-manager-path <none> [R.] #19 home-manager-source <none> [R.] #20 home-manager.sh <none> [R.] #21 inetutils 2.7 [R.] #22 libpipeline 1.5.8 [R.] #23 link <none> [R.] #24 man-db 2.13.1 [R.] #25 nixos-option <none> [R.] #26 nixos-option.nix <none> Closure size: 613 -> 587 (6 paths added, 32 paths removed, delta -26, disk usage -20.7MiB).
kriswill
added a commit
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Jul 1, 2026
nixpkgs' podman derivation set meta.platforms = lib.platforms.linux, so it
refuses to evaluate on aarch64-darwin and breaks every rebuild that pulls it
into a profile. Rather than override the meta, package the official upstream
release binary.
pkgs/podman.nix fetches podman-remote-release-darwin_arm64.zip as a fixed-
output derivation (fetchzip) and installs the adhoc-signed Mach-O binaries
verbatim (dontFixup keeps the signature valid; deps are all system libs).
overlays/podman.nix replaces pkgs.podman with it, so the host package lists
need no changes.
Note: the upstream zip is the remote client only -- it does not bundle the
gvproxy/krunkit/libkrun helpers nixpkgs' podman propagated on darwin (see the
Removed packages below). `podman machine` user-mode networking may need
gvproxy provided separately.
nvd diff, previous generation -> current (195 -> 196). This generation switch
also carried the concurrent flake-lock bump and the codebase-memory-mcp rename,
committed separately:
<<< /nix/var/nix/profiles/system-195-link
>>> /nix/var/nix/profiles/system-196-link
Version changes:
[U*] #1 cbm-tools 0.8.1 -> 0.8.1-nix
[U*] #2 codebase-memory-mcp 0.8.1 -> 0.8.1-nix
[U.] #3 podman 5.8.3, 5.8.3-man -> 6.0.0
[U*] #4 tmux 3.6a, 3.6a-man -> 3.7, 3.7-man
[U.] #5 uv 0.11.22 -> 0.11.25
Removed packages:
[R.] #1 gvproxy 0.8.9
[R.] #2 krunkit 1.2.1
[R.] #3 libepoxy 1.5.10
[R.] #4 libkrun-efi 1.19.0
[R.] #5 podman-helper-binary-wrapper <none>
[R.] #6 virglrenderer 0.10.4d-krunkit
Closure size: 590 -> 583 (14 paths added, 21 paths removed, delta -7, disk usage -14.1MiB).
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Summary
modules/home-manager/mkalias.nixwithmodules/home-manager/copyapps.nix, switching from Finder alias stubs to home-manager'stargets.darwin.copyApps. Each nix-installed GUI app is now materialised as a real.appdirectory at~/Applications/Home Manager Apps/via rsync--copy-unsafe-links.modules/home-manager/neovide/default.nix— Neovide as a proper home-manager module pointingNEOVIDE_NEOVIM_BINat the wrapped nvim so it inheritsprograms.neovim.extraPackages.~/Applications/<App>.appsymlinks and$XDG_STATE_HOME/home-manager-app-bundles.listmanifest left by an earlier symlink-based attempt. Self-deletes after one activation.Why
mkaliasproduces Finder alias stubs at~/Applications/Home Manager Apps/<App>.app— these work for Spotlight/Launchpad click-to-launch but are not real bundle directories. Tools that enumerate installed apps by walking~/Applications/(Claude Code's computer-use MCP scanner, third-party automation harnesses, generic bundle walkers) report nix-installed apps as not installed.A first attempt added directory symlinks at
~/Applications/<App>.apppointing into/nix/store— parked onattempt/mkalias-realbundle-symlinksfor reference. Verified that LaunchServices, PlistBuddy, andmdlsall recognised those symlinks, but the MCP scanner still returnednot_installedfor every nix-symlinked app (Neovide, kitty, LocalSend, KeyCastr). The scanner's enumeration source excludes either symlinks under~/Applications/or paths under/nix/store.copyAppsis the upstream-supported approach, default-on forhome.stateVersion >= "25.11". We pin"24.11"so we opt in explicitly. Same mechanism nix-darwin uses forenvironment.systemPackagesunder/Applications/Nix Apps/.Trade-offs
~/Applications/Home Manager Apps/.copyAppsandlinkAppsare mutually exclusive —copyapps.nixsetstargets.darwin.linkApps.enable = falseto satisfy the assertion.Test plan
nix build .#darwinConfigurations.k.systemsucceedscopyAppsrsync loopaliasApplicationsactivation is gonedarwin-rebuild switch: 5 real.appdirectories at~/Applications/Home Manager Apps/(KeyCastr, LocalSend, Neovide, Podman Desktop, kitty) —drwxr-xr-x, not symlinks~/Applications/<App>.appsymlinks cleaned up; manifest at~/.local/state/home-manager-app-bundles.listself-deletedCFBundleIdentifier = com.neovide.neovidethrough the new pathrequest_access(["Neovide"])returns granted;open_application com.neovide.neovide+ screenshot confirms MCP-driven control works end-to-endFollow-ups (not in this PR)
cleanupLegacyAppBundleSymlinksactivation block incopyapps.nixcan be deleted.snacks.nvim/dashboard.lua:1202: Invalid 'group': 43during aUIEnterautocmd. Tracking separately.