Nomarchy/docs/OVERRIDES.md

Overriding Nomarchy's defaults

You consume Nomarchy as a flake input and own two files: system.nix and home.nix. Your config is merged with Nomarchy's modules, so changing a default is just a matter of knowing which of three knobs to reach for. The rule of thumb:

Appearance → the CLI. Behaviour → home.nix. Whole component → toggle it off.

1. Appearance (gaps, colors, rounding, fonts, opacity) — use the CLI

Everything that defines the look flows from state.json, the single source of truth. Change it with nomarchy-state-sync, which writes the JSON and rebuilds — one generation, applied to Hyprland, Waybar, Kitty, btop and Stylix at once:

nomarchy-state-sync set ui.gapsOut 16      # gaps, borders, rounding, opacity
nomarchy-state-sync set ui.rounding 0
nomarchy-state-sync set fonts.mono "FiraCode Nerd Font"
nomarchy-state-sync apply gruvbox          # whole palette

Icon pack

Icons follow the active theme's light/dark mode using Papirus — the only icon pack shipped by default (Papirus alone is ~1 GiB, so extra packs are opt-in rather than a cost every install pays). To switch to another pack:

nomarchy-state-sync set icons "Tela-dark"  # or "" to return to Papirus-by-mode

Only the pack you name is pulled into your system (the first switch downloads it). Known packs and an example theme name from each:

Set icons to…	Pack
Papirus, Papirus-Dark, Papirus-Light	Papirus (default; "" auto-picks Dark/Light by mode)
Tela, Tela-dark, Tela-<color>[-dark]	Tela (colors: blue, green, red, purple, nord, dracula, …)
Qogir, Qogir-Dark, Qogir-Light	Qogir (note the capital D/L)
Reversal, Reversal-dark	Reversal
Numix-Circle, Numix-Circle-Light	Numix Circle

The choice is a sticky global override — it survives apply <palette> switches (presets don't carry an icon field). To add a pack that isn't listed, append a row to iconPacks in modules/home/theme.nix. Set icons to "" any time to drop back to Papirus with automatic Dark/Light.

Auto theme (day/night)

Switch automatically between a light day theme and a dark night theme on a schedule — the same one engine as a manual apply, no second pipeline. Turn it on from Look & Feel › Auto theme (SUPER+M): toggle it, pick the day and night themes, and set the sunrise/sunset times. The same from a shell:

nomarchy-state-sync set settings.autoTheme.day summer-day --no-switch
nomarchy-state-sync set settings.autoTheme.night summer-night --no-switch
nomarchy-state-sync set settings.autoTheme.sunset 20:00 --no-switch
nomarchy-state-sync set settings.autoTheme.enable true --no-switch
nomarchy-state-sync auto --force   # one rebuild: installs the timer + applies now

State lives in settings.autoTheme:

Field	Meaning
enable	on / off
day / night	theme slugs (see nomarchy-state-sync list) — the exclusive pairs are made for this: boreal-dawn/boreal, executive-ivory/executive-slate, kiln-clay/kiln, summer-day/summer-night
sunrise / sunset	switch times, "HH:MM" (24-hour)

A timer fires exactly at the configured sunrise and sunset (plus once shortly after login, and it catches up on a transition missed while the machine was off or asleep) — it only rebuilds when the active theme actually needs to change. The times are baked into the timer, so editing them (or enabling) rebuilds once; disabling is instant. Preview the current decision without switching with nomarchy-state-sync auto --which.

These values are deliberately kept at normal priority in the modules, so they stay owned by the theme system. If you insist on pinning one in home.nix regardless of the active theme, use lib.mkForce (see §4) — but then the CLI can no longer change that knob.

2. Behaviour (input, misc, monitor, animations, terminal chrome) — home.nix

Non-appearance defaults are set with lib.mkDefault, so a plain assignment in your home.nix wins — no mkForce needed:

# home.nix
{ ... }:
{
  wayland.windowManager.hyprland.settings = {
    input.follow_mouse = 0;            # was 1
    input.touchpad.natural_scroll = false;
    misc.disable_splash_rendering = false;
    monitor = [ "DP-1,2560x1440@144,0x0,1" ];   # raw rule — replaces the default
    animations.enabled = false;
  };

  programs.kitty.settings = {
    window_padding_width = 4;          # was 12
  };
}

For monitor layout, prefer the friendlier nomarchy.monitors (a list of per-output submodules — resolution/position/scale/rotation — turned into Hyprland rules and applied on hotplug; run nwg-displays to find the values interactively). Assigning settings.monitor directly, as above, replaces it.

Adding vs. overriding lists

bind, bindel, bindl, bindm and exec-once are lists kept at normal priority, so anything you add concatenates with Nomarchy's — your binds and autostarts run alongside the defaults:

{
  wayland.windowManager.hyprland.settings = {
    bind = [
      "$mod, B, exec, firefox"
      "$mod SHIFT, S, exec, grim -g \"$(slurp)\" - | satty --filename -"
    ];
    exec-once = [ "nm-applet --indicator" ];
  };
}

To remove or replace a default bind, override the whole bind list with lib.mkForce [ … ] (you then own the full list), or rebind the key to something else (last definition for a key wins in Hyprland).

You can also drop raw config that doesn't fit the Nix schema:

{ wayland.windowManager.hyprland.extraConfig = ''
    bindl = , switch:Lid Switch, exec, hyprlock
  '';
}

Waybar

For a themed bar identity, ship whole-swap assets (themes/<slug>/waybar.jsonc and waybar.css) — see the main README. To replace the bar wholesale from home.nix, assign programs.waybar.settings. mainBar / programs.waybar.style (both mkDefault, so a plain assignment wins). For a one-off tweak of a single generated key, lib.mkForce it.

3. Whole component — toggle it off and bring your own

Each desktop piece has an enable flag (all default true). Turn one off and Nomarchy contributes nothing for it, leaving the field clear for your own:

# home.nix
{
  nomarchy.hyprland.enable = false;   # then write your own wayland.windowManager.hyprland
  nomarchy.waybar.enable = false;
  nomarchy.swaync.enable = false;
  nomarchy.idle.enable = false;       # no hyprlock/hypridle
}

# system.nix
{
  nomarchy.system.plymouth.enable = false;
  nomarchy.system.greeter.enable = false;   # bring your own login manager
}

See the option tables in the README for the full list.

4. Last resort: lib.mkForce

To override a value Nomarchy sets at normal priority (an appearance value, or a whole list), raise your definition's priority:

{ lib, ... }:
{
  # hardcode rounding against the theme (the CLI can no longer change it)
  wayland.windowManager.hyprland.settings.decoration.rounding = lib.mkForce 0;

  # own the entire keybind list
  wayland.windowManager.hyprland.settings.bind = lib.mkForce [ "$mod, Return, exec, kitty" ];
}

If a plain assignment errors with "has conflicting definition values", that value is theme-owned at normal priority — either change it via the CLI (§1) or mkForce it here.

Quick reference

You want to…	Do this
Change gaps / colors / rounding / fonts	nomarchy-state-sync set … or apply
Change input / misc / monitor / animations / terminal chrome	plain assignment in home.nix
Arrange monitors declaratively	nomarchy.monitors (values via nwg-displays)
Add keybinds / autostarts	add to the bind / exec-once list (concatenates)
Replace all keybinds	bind = lib.mkForce [ … ]
Hardcode an appearance value against the theme	lib.mkForce in home.nix
Drop a whole component	nomarchy.<component>.enable = false
Raw Hyprland lines	wayland.windowManager.hyprland.extraConfig