[workaround] nix build error: 'infinite recursion encountered'

[Ziqi-Yang]

⬇️⬇️⬇️ Find the workaround for this issue in the comment below ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Command: sudo nixos-rebuild switch --show-trace
Here is the error text: https://paste.sr.ht/~meow_king/213fa6661d111fdb8df3f724ed221d81ced8845f

---

My configuration:

  imports = [
    ./centerpiece_config.nix
  ];

And here is the content of centerpiece_config.nix:

{ inputs, lib, config, pkgs, ...}:
{
  imports = [
    inputs.centerpiece.hmModules."x86_64-linux".default
  ];
  programs.centerpiece = {
    enable = true;
  };
}

[a-kenji]

Thanks for reaching out!

Can you show a little more about how you import the configuration?

[Ziqi-Yang]

Hi, @a-kenji. I just pushed my nixos configuration to the internet (I'm a beginner TBH). Here are the relevant parts:

1. https://git.sr.ht/~meow_king/nixos-config/tree/8443968aadb88200f16da1a7c3d44de374ecbd8c/item/hosts/default.nix#L30
2. https://git.sr.ht/~meow_king/nixos-config/tree/8443968aadb88200f16da1a7c3d44de374ecbd8c/item/home/linux/desktop/default.nix#L5
3. https://git.sr.ht/~meow_king/nixos-config/tree/8443968aadb88200f16da1a7c3d44de374ecbd8c/item/home/linux/desktop/centerpiece_config.nix

If I un-comment the commented parts in third file, then the error occurs.

[friedow]

⬇️⬇️⬇️ WORKAROUND ⬇️⬇️⬇️

We have had this happen a couple of times now. The problem is that the centerpiece module is imported in a long chain of imports. Nix seems to have an internal threshhold of import calls after which the evaluation is terminated with 'infinite recursion encountered'.

The workaround for this issue is pulling the centerpiecemodule import higher up in the import chain. For starters, try importing the centerpiece module directly in your flake. If that works, push it down one level after another ;).