Applying Changes

Day-to-Day Workflow

The core loop is: edit → switch → done.

Switch to Your New Configuration

decknix switch

This runs darwin-rebuild switch under the hood, applying both system and home-manager changes atomically.

Dry Run (Build Without Activating)

decknix switch --dry-run

Builds the configuration to check for errors without actually switching to it.

Update Framework and Dependencies

# Update all flake inputs (decknix, nixpkgs, etc.)
decknix update

# Update a specific input
decknix update decknix

After updating, run decknix switch to apply.

Test Local Framework or Org-Config Changes

Point decknix switch at a local checkout of any flake input using --override INPUT=PATH (repeatable):

# Test a local decknix checkout
decknix switch --override decknix=~/tools/decknix

# Test decknix and your org-config together
decknix switch \
  --override decknix=~/tools/decknix \
  --override nc-config=~/Code/my-org/decknix-config

Each --override becomes --override-input <INPUT> path:<PATH> on the underlying darwin-rebuild call.

If you use the same overrides every day, pin them in ~/.config/decknix/settings.toml so plain decknix switch picks them up automatically — see decknix switch → Persistent overrides.

Common Patterns

Edit Personal Config

$EDITOR ~/.config/decknix/local/home.nix
decknix switch

Add a New Package

# ~/.config/decknix/local/home.nix
{ pkgs, ... }: {
  home.packages = with pkgs; [
    kubectl
    helm
  ];
}

decknix switch

Disable a Module

# ~/.config/decknix/local/home.nix
{ ... }: {
  programs.emacs.decknix.welcome.enable = false;
  decknix.wm.aerospace.enable = false;
}

decknix switch

Troubleshooting

"command not found: decknix"

The CLI isn't in your path yet. Use the full command:

sudo darwin-rebuild switch --flake ~/.config/decknix#default --impure

Build Errors

Check the trace output to see which files were loaded:

[Loader] home + /Users/you/.config/decknix/local/home.nix
[Loader] system + /Users/you/.config/decknix/local/system.nix

Reset to Clean State

rm -rf ~/.config/decknix
# Re-run bootstrap or nix flake init