Shell & Terminal

Decknix configures Zsh as the default shell with modern enhancements.

Zsh

Enabled by default with:

Completion — case-insensitive, menu-driven completion
Autosuggestion — fish-like suggestions from history
Syntax highlighting — command validation as you type
History — 50,000 entries, shared across sessions, prefix-based search

Starship Prompt

Starship provides a fast, customisable prompt showing git status, language versions, and more.

Customise the prompt character:

{ ... }: {
  programs.starship.settings.character = {
    success_symbol = "[➜](bold green)";
    error_symbol = "[✗](bold red)";
  };
}

Inline Timestamp

The prompt line shows a wall-clock timestamp grouped with the command-duration so they read as a pair:

~/.config/decknix on ☁️  lachlan@example.com · 2026-04-30T14:32:15 · took 45s
➜

Configure via programs.starship.decknix.timestamp.*:

{ ... }: {
  programs.starship.decknix.timestamp = {
    enable    = true;                   # default
    format    = "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S";    # default (ISO 8601)
    separator = " · ";                  # default
    style     = "dimmed";               # default
  };
}

format accepts any Chrono strftime string. Common alternatives:

Format	Renders as
`%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S`	`2026-04-30T14:32:15`
`%T`	`14:32:15`
`%H:%M`	`14:32`
`%a %H:%M`	`Tue 14:32`
`%I:%M %p`	`02:32 PM`

Set enable = false to drop the timestamp and revert cmd_duration to upstream defaults.

Delta (Diff Viewer)

Delta is configured as the default git pager, providing syntax-highlighted diffs.

direnv is enabled by default, so cd-ing into a directory with an authorised .envrc automatically loads its environment (and unloads it on the way out). The zsh hook is wired automatically — no manual eval "$(direnv hook zsh)" needed.

nix-direnv is included for fast, cached use nix / use flake support, keeping the dev-shell alive as a GC root so it reloads instantly instead of re-evaluating on every cd. A minimal flake-based .envrc:

# .envrc — run `direnv allow` once to authorise it
use flake

Disable it (or drop nix-direnv) via your personal config:

{ ... }: {
  programs.direnv.enable = false;            # disable entirely
  # or keep direnv but skip nix-direnv:
  # programs.direnv.nix-direnv.enable = false;
}

Default Shell Aliases

Decknix doesn't impose shell aliases — add your own:

{ ... }: {
  programs.zsh.shellAliases = {
    ll = "ls -la";
    gs = "git status";
    gp = "git pull --rebase";
  };
}

Extra Init

Add custom shell initialization:

{ ... }: {
  programs.zsh.initExtra = ''
    # Source work credentials
    [[ -f ~/.config/secrets/env.sh ]] && source ~/.config/secrets/env.sh
  '';
}

Session Variables

{ ... }: {
  home.sessionVariables = {
    EDITOR = "emacsclient -c";
    VISUAL = "emacsclient -c";
  };
}

Decknix Documentation