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vic/den

Modular, context-aware and aspect-oriented dendritic Nix configurations.
Source code at GitHub http://den.oeiuwq.com/
vic/den.json
{
  "defaultBranch": "main",
  "description": "Modular, context-aware and aspect-oriented dendritic Nix configurations.",
  "fullName": "vic/den",
  "homepage": "http://den.oeiuwq.com/",
  "language": "Nix",
  "name": "den",
  "pushedAt": "2025-11-26T20:09:56Z",
  "stargazersCount": 31,
  "updatedAt": "2025-11-26T20:10:00Z",
  "url": "https://github.com/vic/den"
}

Sponsor Vic Dendritic Nix License CI Status

den - an aspect-oriented approach to Dendritic Nix configurations.

Section titled “den - an aspect-oriented approach to Dendritic Nix configurations.”

den and vic’s dendritic libs made for you with Love++ and AI—. If you like my work, consider sponsoring

den

  • Dendritic: each module configures same concern over different Nix classes.

  • Create [DRY]!(modules/aspects/provides/unfree.nix) & [class-generic]!(modules/aspects/provides/primary-user.nix) modules.

  • [Parametric]!(modules/aspects/provides/define-user.nix) over host/home/user.

  • [Share]!(templates/default/modules/namespace.nix) aspects across systems & repos.

  • Context-aware [dependencies]!(modules/aspects/dependencies.nix): user/host contributions.

  • [Routable]!(templates/default/modules/aspects/eg/routes.nix) configurations.

  • Custom factories for any Nix class.

  • Use stable/unstable channels per config.

  • Freeform host/user/home [schemas]!(modules/_types.nix) (no specialArgs).

  • Multi-platform, multi-tenant hosts.

  • [Batteries]!(modules/aspects/provides/): Opt-in, replaceable aspects.

  • Opt-in <angle/brackets> aspect resolution.

  • Templates [tested]!(templates/default/modules/tests.nix) along [examples]!(templates/examples/modules/_example/ci).

  • Concepts documented.

Need more batteries? See vic/denful.

❄️ Try it now!

Launch our template VM:

Terminal window
nix run github:vic/den

Or, initialize a project:

Terminal window
nix flake init -t github:vic/den
nix flake update den
nix run .#vm

Real-world examples for inspiration

Available templates

  • [default]!(templates/default) batteries-included layout.
  • [minimal]!(templates/minimal) truly minimalistic start.
  • [examples]!(templates/examples) tests for all features.
  • [bogus]!(templates/bogus) reproduce and report bugs.

🏠 Define [Hosts, Users]!(templates/examples/modules/_example/hosts.nix) & [Homes]!(templates/examples/modules/_example/homes.nix) concisely.

See schema in [_types.nix]!(modules/_types.nix).

modules/hosts.nix
{
  # same home-manager vic configuration
  # over laptop, macbook and standalone-hm
  den.hosts.x86_64-linux.lap.users.vic = {};
  den.hosts.aarch64-darwin.mac.users.vic = {};
  den.homes.aarch64-darwin.vic = {};
}
Terminal window
$ nixos-rebuild  switch --flake .#lap
$ darwin-rebuild switch --flake .#mac
$ home-manager   switch --flake .#vic

🧩 Aspect-oriented incremental features. ([example]!(templates/default/modules/den.nix))

Any module can contribute configurations to aspects.

modules/my-laptop.nix
{ den, inputs, ... }: {


  # Example: enhance the my-laptop aspect.
  # This can be done from any file, multiple times.
  den.aspects.my-laptop = {


    # this aspect includes configurations
    # available from other aspects
    includes = [
      # your own parametric aspects
      den.aspects.workplace-vpn
      # den's opt-in batteries includes.
      den.provides.home-manager
    ];


    # any file can contribute to this aspect, so
    # best practice is to keep concerns separated,
    # each on their own file, instead of having huge
    # modules in a single file:


    # any NixOS configuration
    nixos  = {
      # A nixos class module, see NixOS options.
      # import third-party NixOS modules
      imports = [
        inputs.disko.nixosModules.disko
      ];
      disko.devices = { /* ... */ };
    };
    # any nix-darwin configuration
    darwin = {
      # import third-party Darwin modules
      imports = [
        inputs.nix-homebrew.darwinModules.nix-homebrew
      ];
      nix-homebrew.enableRosetta = true;
    };
    # For all users of my-laptop
    homeManager.programs.vim.enable = true;


  };
}


# modules/vic.nix
{ den, ... }: {
  den.aspects.vic = {
    homeManager = { /* ... */ };
    # User contribs to host
    nixos.users.users = {
      vic.description = "oeiuwq";
    };
    includes = [
      den.aspects.tiling-wm
      den._.primary-user
    ];
  };
}

You are done! You know everything to start creating configurations with den.

Feel free to to explore the codebase, particularly our [included batteries]!(modules/aspects/provides) and [tests]!(templates/examples/modules/_example/ci).

Learn more at our documentation website

Section titled “Learn more at our documentation website”

Join our community discussion.