NixOS Documentation

Development Best Practices

• •Prefer options over packages - use built-in configuration options rather than installing packages directly
• •Keep related configuration in separate files

Configuration Options

• •man configuration.nix - System-level NixOS options
• •man home-configuration.nix - Home-manager options

Manual source files (markdown, organized by topic):

Nixpkgs Manual

https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/tree/master/doc

• •languages-frameworks/: 50+ languages (python, rust, go, haskell, javascript, java, etc.)
• •build-helpers/: fetchers, testers, trivial-builders, dev-shell-tools, images
• •hooks/: 40+ build hooks (cmake, meson, python, perl, autopatchelf, etc.)
• •stdenv/: standard environment, cross-compilation, meta, multiple-output, passthru
• •functions/: Nix library functions reference
• •module-system/: NixOS module system documentation
• •packages/: package management
• •contributing/: contribution guidelines
• •toolchains/: LLVM and cross-compilation toolchains

Nix Manual

https://github.com/NixOS/nix/tree/master/doc/manual/source

• •language/: syntax, types, operators, derivations, builtins, string-interpolation
• •command-ref/: nix-build, nix-shell, nix-env, nix-store, experimental-commands
• •package-management/: package handling
• •advanced-topics/: distributed-builds, diff-hook, post-build-hook, eval-profiler
• •architecture/: system design
• •protocols/: protocol specifications
• •store/: store implementation

NixOS Manual

https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/tree/master/nixos/doc/manual

• •configuration/: config-syntax, package-mgmt, file-systems, networking, user-mgmt, firewall, gpu-accel, linux-kernel, wayland, x-windows, ssh, wireless
• •administration/: system administration
• •installation/: installation procedures
• •development/: development guides

NixOS Wiki

Note: There are two NixOS wikis. Prefer the official one.

• •https://wiki.nixos.org/ (Official NixOS wiki - preferred)
• •https://nixos.wiki/ (Community wiki)