Framework 13 (12th-gen) NixOS Config

Ephemeral, themed, gaming-ready NixOS config for a Framework 13 (12th-gen Intel) laptop.

Highlights:

• 🧱 NixOS with flakes on nixos-unstable (with a nixos-24.05 stable pocket as pkgs.stable)
• 🧊 Btrfs + tmpfs root + impermanence
  • / on tmpfs (ephemeral)
  • /nix + /persist on btrfs subvolumes
• 🖥️ GNOME on Wayland with GDM themed to match your session
• 🎨 Stylix for full theming
  • Custom Base16 scheme in themes/robert-base16.nix
  • lutgen-recolored wallpaper
  • Recolored avatar piped to ~/.face
  • Firefox themed and GNOME-integrated
• 🧵 Ghostty terminal + zsh + oh-my-zsh
• 🔐 1Password (GUI + CLI + shell plugins) + Firefox integration
• 🎮 Gaming stack
  • Steam (+ gamescope session, extest)
  • Gamescope, Gamemode
  • MangoHud overlay
• 🛠️ Dev tooling
  • Python 3.12 toolchain (poetry, black, ruff, mypy, ipython)
  • direnv + nix-direnv for flake dev shells
  • VS Code (official Microsoft build)
• 🧹 Nix & system hygiene
  • Automatic Nix GC + optimise
  • nix-index + nix-index-database-comma
  • Firewall, fwupd, btrfs autoscrub
  • systemd.user.startServices = "sd-switch"

---

Repository layout

framework-nixos/
├── README.md
├── flake.nix
├── configuration.nix
├── hardware-configuration.nix
├── home.nix
├── disko-framework13-impermanence.nix
├── themes
│   └── robert-base16.nix
├── wallpapers
│   └── wallpaper.jpg
└── avatars
    └── profile.png

Most files are wired together via flake.nix and configuration.nix. hardware-configuration.nix has placeholder UUIDs you should update with your actual disk IDs.

---

Nixpkgs: unstable by default + stable pocket

The flake uses:

• nixpkgs → nixos-unstable (default for system and user packages)
• nixpkgs-stable → nixos-24.05, imported via an overlay as pkgs.stable

Unfree is enabled globally in configuration.nix:

nixpkgs.config = {
  allowUnfree = true;
};

The overlay exposes pkgs.stable:

{
  nixpkgs.overlays = [
    (final: prev: {
      stable = import nixpkgs-stable {
        inherit system;
        config = { allowUnfree = true; };
      };
    })
  ];
}

Usage examples:

# system (configuration.nix)
environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
  vim
  git
  # unstable by default

  stable.libreoffice  # explicitly from stable
];

# home (home.nix)
home.packages =
  (with pkgs; [
    neovim
    # ...
    stable.spotify
  ])
  ++ (with pkgs.gnomeExtensions; [ ... ]);

---

Disk layout & impermanence

See disko-framework13-impermanence.nix for the desired partitioning on /dev/nvme0n1:

• EFI (/boot)
• swap
• btrfs root with subvolumes: @root, @nix, @persist

hardware-configuration.nix then mounts:

• / as tmpfs (ephemeral)
• /nix as btrfs subvolume @nix
• /persist as btrfs subvolume @persist (with neededForBoot = true;)

Impermanence is configured in configuration.nix via:

environment.persistence."/persist" = {
  enable = true;
  hideMounts = true;

  directories = [ ... ];
  files = [ ... ];

  users.robert = {
    directories = [
      "Documents" "Downloads" "Music" "Pictures" "Videos"
      ".config" ".local/share" ".local/state" ".ssh" ".gnupg"
      ".local/share/Steam" ".steam"
    ];
  };
};

Everything outside /nix and those persisted paths resets on reboot.

---

Theming (Stylix, wallpaper, avatar)

Stylix is enabled in configuration.nix with:

• base16Scheme = import ./themes/robert-base16.nix;
• image = wallpaper; where wallpaper is a lutgen-recolored version of ./wallpapers/wallpaper.jpg
• Fonts (FiraCode Nerd Font, Noto Sans/Serif, Noto Color Emoji)
• Cursor theme (phinger-cursors)
• Targets:
  • Firefox (with GNOME Firefox theme)
  • Console and Plymouth explicitly disabled for Stylix theming

In home.nix, an avatar at ./avatars/profile.png is recolored with lutgen using the same Base16 palette, and installed as ~/.face via Home Manager. GDM picks this up as the user icon.

---

GNOME & GDM

configuration.nix enables:

• GNOME (Wayland) via services.xserver.desktopManager.gnome.enable = true;
• GDM via services.xserver.displayManager.gdm.enable = true; with Wayland

System-wide GNOME gsettings are set to:

• Use the Stylix-colored wallpaper for:
  • Desktop background
  • Screensaver
  • GDM background
• Prefer dark color scheme
• Use 12-hour clock without date in the top bar

User-specific GNOME settings (extensions, keybindings, favorites, etc.) are handled in home.nix via dconf.settings.

---

Shell, terminal & dev

• Default shell: zsh (with oh-my-zsh) for user robert
• Terminal: ghostty, themed by Stylix in home.nix, bound to Super+T, and set as the XDG default terminal.
• Dev tooling:
  • Python 3.12 (python312Full)
  • pipx, virtualenv, poetry
  • ipython, black, ruff, mypy
• direnv + nix-direnv for flake-based dev shells

VS Code (official Microsoft build) is enabled via programs.vscode in configuration.nix.

---

Browser & 1Password

Firefox is:

• Installed and configured at the system level (programs.firefox policies)
• Themed via Stylix’ Firefox target and the GNOME Firefox theme
• Configured with a user profile via Home Manager:
  • Custom search engines (Nix Packages, Nix Options)
  • UI tweaks (tab bar hidden via userChrome)

1Password:

• Desktop app is enabled (programs._1password-gui)
• CLI + shell plugins for tools like gh
• Firefox integration is allowed via /etc/1password/custom_allowed_browsers containing firefox

---

Gaming

Steam is enabled with:

• Remote Play and dedicated server firewall rules
• Gamescope session integration
• extest for better controller support

Also enabled:

• programs.gamescope
• programs.gamemode
• programs.mangohud (with a useful HUD configuration)

---

Nix housekeeping & safety

• Automatic Nix GC weekly (--delete-older-than 7d)
• Automatic Nix store optimisation
• nix-index + nix-index-database.comma
• Firewall enabled
• Firmware updates via fwupd
• Monthly btrfs autoScrub on /nix and /persist
• systemd.user.startServices = "sd-switch" for smoother Home Manager/systemd user service reloads

---

Timezone & location

• Static fallback timezone: America/New_York
• Dynamic timezone: services.automatic-timezoned.enable = true;
• Geolocation via geoclue2 pointing at https://beacondb.net/v1/geolocate

GNOME’s weather and location settings in home.nix are configured to automatically use this data.

---

Install / reinstall

From a NixOS installer:

1. Connect to Wi-Fi (e.g. via NetworkManager).

2. Clone this repo.

3. Run disko with disko-framework13-impermanence.nix to partition /dev/nvme0n1.

4. Mount the resulting filesystems to /mnt according to hardware-configuration.nix.

5. Run nixos-generate-config --root /mnt if needed and adjust hardware-configuration.nix UUIDs.

6. Install:

   nixos-install --root /mnt --flake .#framework-13

7. Reboot and log in as robert.

Apply changes with:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#framework-13

Because Home Manager is integrated as a NixOS module, this single command updates both system and user config.