# Testing Nomarchy

How to verify changes actually work — from cheap eval checks to booting the
full desktop. Adapted from the previous Nomarchy iteration's agent docs.

**The honesty rule (for humans and AI agents alike):** for Waybar, Hyprland,
or any visual change, the only reliable check is booting the live ISO. If
you can't boot it (e.g. you're on macOS or have no KVM), **say so** rather
than claiming success. "All Nix files parse" is not "the bar renders."

## 1. Cheap checks (always do these first)

```sh
nix flake check --no-build          # full module-system evaluation, no builds
nix-instantiate --parse <file>      # syntax-only, works even on macOS
git ls-files '*.py' | xargs python3 -m py_compile   # all tracked Python
bash -n <script>.sh                 # shell syntax (tools/, installer bits)
```

`nix flake check` needs a Linux machine (or a Linux builder) since all
outputs are `x86_64-linux`. It catches type errors, missing options, and
bad merges — most breakage stops here. It also evaluates the downstream
template through `lib.mkFlake` (including a real nixos-hardware profile),
so template/wrapper drift fails fast too.

## 1b. CI (automatic on push)

Every push to `main`/`v1` runs `.gitea/workflows/check.yml`: the §1
cheap checks (flake eval, Python + shell syntax) on the Gitea instance.
That's the **eval tier only** — the runner is a docker container without
KVM, so the `checks.*` VM suite and real builds stay local (this file)
until a KVM-capable runner is registered; the workflow carries a
commented `vm-checks` job ready for that day. A green CI run is *not* "it
renders" (the honesty rule below still applies) — it means "nobody broke
evaluation".

## 2. Build and boot the live ISO

```sh
# Build + boot in QEMU, one command:
tools/test-live-iso.sh

# Or by hand:
nix build .#nixosConfigurations.nomarchy-live.config.system.build.isoImage
# → result/iso/*.iso  — dd it to a USB stick for real hardware
```

The script prefers UEFI (OVMF) with a legacy-BIOS fallback, uses KVM when
`/dev/kvm` is readable, and boots with `virtio-vga-gl` + `gl=on` —
**Hyprland and Ghostty need real OpenGL in the guest**; without it the
session may not start.

### What the live environment gives you

- Auto-login as `nomarchy` (no password, passwordless sudo), greetd →
  Hyprland via `initial_session`; logging out lands on tuigreet.
- The flake is seeded writable at `~/.nomarchy` (from the read-only
  `/etc/nomarchy` copy) — `$NOMARCHY_PATH` already points there.
- Locked flake inputs are pinned into the ISO store, so
  `home-manager switch` works **without a network**.

## 3. Verification checklist

Work through these in order; each one exercises a different layer.

| # | Check | Verifies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boots to Hyprland with the default theme wallpaper visible (Boreal) | greetd autologin, awww, session start |
| 2 | Waybar shows at top, themed (blue accent on dark) | HM waybar module, palette baking |
| 3 | `SUPER+Return` opens Ghostty with the default theme colors (Boreal) | terminal default, ANSI palette |
| 4 | `btop` in the terminal is themed | per-theme asset baking |
| 5 | `nomarchy-theme-sync list` prints 24 presets | package, baked themes dir |
| 6 | `nomarchy-theme-sync apply gruvbox` → state written, `home-manager switch` runs, desktop re-themes, wallpaper changes | the whole engine: state write, pure eval, HM rebuild, wallpaper hook |
| 7 | `SUPER+SHIFT+T` cycles wallpapers instantly (try `tokyo-night` for 4, or `boreal` for its set) | the runtime wallpaper path |
| 8 | `nomarchy-theme-sync apply summer-night` → after the switch the bar has its own identity (light bar, different styling) | whole-swap waybar.css assets |
| 9 | Open a GTK app — dark theme matching the palette | Stylix layer |
| 10 | `home-manager generations` lists one generation per theme change; activating an older one rolls the theme back | atomicity / rollback story |

Items 6 and 8 are the big ones — they prove the all-Home-Manager theming
model end to end.

## 4. Testing the installer

One command runs the whole offline regression:

```sh
tools/test-install.sh
```

It builds the ISO, boots it in QEMU **with networking disabled**, runs an
unattended LUKS+swap install onto a blank disk via the installer's
`NOMARCHY_UNATTENDED=1` mode (config delivered on a small vfat disk —
typing long commands into a guest drops keystrokes), waits for the
installer's poweroff, then boots the installed disk, enters the
passphrase, and screenshots the first boot. The machine-checkable parts
(install completes, disk boots) fail the script; the visual verdict —
**themed desktop, no autogenerated-config banner, no login prompt** — is
yours, from `first-boot.png`. The helpers it builds on live in
`tools/vm/` (QMP key injection, GL-safe VNC screenshots) and work for any
manual VM poking; `tools/vm/gap-analysis.py` is the maintainer tool for
diagnosing offline installs that try to build from source.

To test by hand instead, replicate what `tools/test-install.sh` does: the
unattended env it uses is in the script, and the same flow works
interactively from the live terminal. If the desktop comes up unthemed,
read `/var/log/nomarchy-hm-preactivate.log` on the installed system.

Two full-desktop VM harnesses (softGL Hyprland, too heavy for `checks.*`)
live next to the scripts: `tools/theme-shot.nix` (themed-desktop
screenshots) and `tools/monitor-fallback.nix` (undock blackout rescue —
disabled panel must re-enable when the last active output disappears).

## 5. VM-specific gotchas

- **No KVM** (e.g. nested without acceleration): everything works but
  `home-manager switch` will be painfully slow. Don't read slowness as
  breakage.
- **Black screen / session exits**: almost always missing guest GL. Use the
  script's qemu flags; on real hardware check `journalctl -b -u greetd`.
- **Tiny resolution**: the live config forces `monitor = ,highres,auto,1`;
  if QEMU still picks 1024×768, resize the window — Hyprland follows.
- **First theme switch is the slowest**: it evaluates the flake on a RAM
  disk. Subsequent switches reuse the eval cache.

## 6. When something fails

- Session/login problems: `journalctl -b -u greetd`, then `journalctl
  --user -b`.
- Theme switch failures: run `nomarchy-theme-sync apply <x>` from a
  terminal — the home-manager output streams there. The state file is
  written *before* the rebuild, so after fixing you can just re-run
  `home-manager switch --flake ~/.nomarchy`.
- Report results faithfully: what booted, what rendered, what you could
  not verify and why.
