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Downstream users now own only system.nix and home.nix; their flake.nix is generated once from the template and never hand-edited. mkFlake (lib.nix) wires both layers and maps hardwareProfile = "<name>" to nixos-hardware modules (new input, pinned here, nixpkgs follows ours; unknown names fail with did-you-mean suggestions). Flake checks evaluate the template through mkFlake — including a real profile — so drift fails `nix flake check`. Also from the live-VM testing session: install the home-manager CLI in the live ISO and pin flake inputs transitively (offline theme switching needs stylix's own inputs too), plus swww→awww doc updates. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
92 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
92 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
# Testing Nomarchy
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How to verify changes actually work — from cheap eval checks to booting the
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full desktop. Adapted from the previous Nomarchy iteration's agent docs.
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**The honesty rule (for humans and AI agents alike):** for Waybar, Hyprland,
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or any visual change, the only reliable check is booting the live ISO. If
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you can't boot it (e.g. you're on macOS or have no KVM), **say so** rather
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than claiming success. "All Nix files parse" is not "the bar renders."
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## 1. Cheap checks (always do these first)
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```sh
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nix flake check --no-build # full module-system evaluation, no builds
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nix-instantiate --parse <file> # syntax-only, works even on macOS
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python3 -m py_compile pkgs/nomarchy-theme-sync/nomarchy-theme-sync.py
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```
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`nix flake check` needs a Linux machine (or a Linux builder) since all
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outputs are `x86_64-linux`. It catches type errors, missing options, and
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bad merges — most breakage stops here. It also evaluates the downstream
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template through `lib.mkFlake` (including a real nixos-hardware profile),
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so template/wrapper drift fails fast too.
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## 2. Build and boot the live ISO
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```sh
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# Build + boot in QEMU, one command:
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tools/test-live-iso.sh
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# Or by hand:
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nix build .#nixosConfigurations.nomarchy-live.config.system.build.isoImage
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# → result/iso/*.iso — dd it to a USB stick for real hardware
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```
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The script prefers UEFI (OVMF) with a legacy-BIOS fallback, uses KVM when
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`/dev/kvm` is readable, and boots with `virtio-vga-gl` + `gl=on` —
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**Hyprland and Ghostty need real OpenGL in the guest**; without it the
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session may not start.
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### What the live environment gives you
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- Auto-login as `nomarchy` (no password, passwordless sudo), greetd →
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Hyprland via `initial_session`; logging out lands on tuigreet.
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- The flake is seeded writable at `~/.nomarchy` (from the read-only
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`/etc/nomarchy` copy) — `$NOMARCHY_PATH` already points there.
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- Locked flake inputs are pinned into the ISO store, so
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`home-manager switch` works **without a network**.
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## 3. Verification checklist
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Work through these in order; each one exercises a different layer.
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| # | Check | Verifies |
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|---|---|---|
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| 1 | Boots to Hyprland with Tokyo Night wallpaper visible | greetd autologin, awww, session start |
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| 2 | Waybar shows at top, themed (blue accent on dark) | HM waybar module, palette baking |
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| 3 | `SUPER+Return` opens Ghostty with Tokyo Night colors | terminal default, ANSI palette |
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| 4 | `btop` in the terminal is themed | per-theme asset baking |
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| 5 | `nomarchy-theme-sync list` prints 21 presets | package, baked themes dir |
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| 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 |
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| 7 | `SUPER+SHIFT+T` cycles wallpapers instantly (try `tokyo-night`: 4 of them) | the runtime wallpaper path |
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| 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 |
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| 9 | Open a GTK app — dark theme matching the palette | Stylix layer |
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| 10 | `home-manager generations` lists one generation per theme change; activating an older one rolls the theme back | atomicity / rollback story |
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Items 6 and 8 are the big ones — they prove the all-Home-Manager theming
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model end to end.
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## 4. VM-specific gotchas
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- **No KVM** (e.g. nested without acceleration): everything works but
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`home-manager switch` will be painfully slow. Don't read slowness as
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breakage.
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- **Black screen / session exits**: almost always missing guest GL. Use the
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script's qemu flags; on real hardware check `journalctl -b -u greetd`.
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- **Tiny resolution**: the live config forces `monitor = ,highres,auto,1`;
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if QEMU still picks 1024×768, resize the window — Hyprland follows.
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- **First theme switch is the slowest**: it evaluates the flake on a RAM
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disk. Subsequent switches reuse the eval cache.
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## 5. When something fails
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- Session/login problems: `journalctl -b -u greetd`, then `journalctl
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--user -b`.
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- Theme switch failures: run `nomarchy-theme-sync apply <x>` from a
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terminal — the home-manager output streams there. The state file is
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written *before* the rebuild, so after fixing you can just re-run
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`home-manager switch --flake ~/.nomarchy`.
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- Report results faithfully: what booted, what rendered, what you could
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not verify and why.
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