Desktop and theme configuration with Home Manager

Division of responsibilities: system layer vs. user layer#

System layer (NixOS): installs base packages, enables the display manager (SDDM/GDM), and loads drivers.
User layer (Home Manager): sets the wallpaper, desktop shortcuts, font sizes, and taskbar layout.

Hands-on: declarative Hyprland configuration#

On NixOS, you do not even need to edit hyprland.conf manually.

{
  wayland.windowManager.hyprland = {
    enable = true;
    settings = {
      # 这里就是原生的 hyprland 配置，只不过写成了 Nix 语法
      monitor = ",preferred,auto,auto";
      "$mod" = "SUPER";
      bind = [
        "$mod, RETURN, exec, kitty"
        "$mod, Q, killactive"
      ];
      decoration = {
        rounding = 10;
        blur.enabled = true;
      };
    };
  };
}

Consistent styling: KDE Plasma#

KDE has a large and intricate set of configuration options. If you want to bring all its settings into Nix, you can use plasma-manager.

# 先在 Flake 输入中引入 plasma-manager，
# 并将 inputs.plasma-manager.homeManagerModules.plasma-manager 加入 HM imports/modules。
# 在 home.nix 中：
{
  programs.plasma = {
    enable = true;
    workspace = {
      theme = "breeze-dark";
      lookAndFeel = "org.kde.breezedark.desktop";
    };
    panels = [
      {
        location = "bottom";
        height = 36;
        widgets = [
          "org.kde.plasma.kickoff"
          "org.kde.plasma.icontasks"
          "org.kde.plasma.systemtray"
          "org.kde.plasma.digitalclock"
        ];
      }
    ];
  };
}

Fonts and themes (GTK/Qt)#

Giving GTK and Qt a consistent appearance is important.

{ pkgs, ... }: {
  gtk = {
    enable = true;
    theme = {
      name = "Adwaita-dark";
      package = pkgs.gnome-themes-extra;
    };
    cursorTheme = {
      name = "Adwaita";
      package = pkgs.adwaita-icon-theme;
    };
  };

  qt = {
    enable = true;
    platformTheme.name = "gtk";
    style.name = "adwaita-dark";
  };
}

Advice for going further#

Do not get too absorbed in configuring every pixel at this stage. Start with a usable environment, then gradually bring individual settings into Nix as you use it day to day.

Module and version prerequisites#

Home Manager's Hyprland configuration does not replace system-level session, permission, and portal configuration. Check desktop-theme examples against your pinned Home Manager, Hyprland, and plasma-manager versions; also verify the GTK/Qt appearance in an actual session.

References & further reading

Adapted from technical notes. Examples use generic names.