The mdBook migration split the manual into one HTML page per section,
but same-page fragment links (e.g. [Standalone setup](#sec-flakes-standalone))
were left pointing at anchors that now live on other pages, so they
silently do nothing when clicked.
Rewrite all cross-page fragment links in docs/manual and
docs/release-notes to page-qualified relative links. Option anchor
links (#opt-*, #nixos-opt-*, #nix-darwin-opt-*) are untouched since
convert-markup.py rewrites those at build time.
Also give the previously empty-label [](#sec-tests) link in the 25.05
release notes a "Tests" label, since the mdBook renderer does not
auto-fill labels from the target heading.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Program and service modules are auto-imported now, so contributor docs should point platform-specific work at guarded module behavior and tests instead of loadModule.
Document the extra module arguments, shared modules hook, and NixOS activation modes so embedded Home Manager setup matches the current integration code.
The news section told module contributors they did not need to add a
news entry because the merger would create one, contradicting the
earlier instruction to use the create-news-entry generator. Point
contributors at the generator so new modules ship with their own entry.
Add programs.ssh.settings as a freeform DAG for OpenSSH client configuration blocks. Render Host and Match blocks directly from the new settings option while preserving ordering support.
Render known ssh_config comma-list directives from Nix lists as single comma-separated lines and known space-list directives as single whitespace-separated lines. This keeps directives like KexAlgorithms, Ciphers, MACs, HostKeyAlgorithms, ProxyJump, SendEnv, GlobalKnownHostsFile, and PermitRemoteOpen from being emitted as duplicate directives where OpenSSH may only use the first value.
Migrate legacy matchBlocks into settings, keep root SSH option redirects pointed at the new option names, and hide the deprecated matchBlocks option from generated docs.
Update SSH tests, docs references, and news coverage for the new option.
Document how Home Manager handles activation-time file collisions in the usage manual, including standalone backup flags, NixOS and nix-darwin module options, per-file force handling, recursive directory behavior, and out-of-store symlink sources.
Also clarify the home.file-style ignorelinks option description so recursive symlink behavior is easier to understand from the generated option docs.
Extend the package override FAQ with flake examples for modules that expose a package option and modules that require an overlay.
Clarify that Home Manager nixpkgs.overlays only applies to standalone configurations or system-module configurations that do not enable home-manager.useGlobalPkgs.
For useGlobalPkgs setups, direct users to put overlays in the system configuration and pass any flake-provided package sets through nixosSystem or darwinSystem specialArgs.
Add a flake-based example for using a secondary nixpkgs-unstable input from Home Manager modules, matching the existing channel-based FAQ guidance.
Show how standalone configurations pass the package set with extraSpecialArgs, and explain the equivalent home-manager.extraSpecialArgs path for NixOS and nix-darwin module users.
Document that separate package sets do not automatically inherit the primary package set's nixpkgs.config or overlays, and show how to pass those values when needed.
Describe update and release-upgrade workflows separately so users can tell when to update the current branch versus move to a new Home Manager release branch.
Expand routine update instructions for flake users by explaining that flake inputs are pinned in flake.lock, showing all-input and selected-input update commands, and separating the rebuild command for standalone, NixOS module, and nix-darwin module installations.
Keep channel instructions available for standalone and system-module users, including the different channel owner used by NixOS module setups. Also correct nix-darwin terminology in the installation and flakes docs so those sections do not use NixOS-specific wording.
Adds `home.services`, an attribute set of nixpkgs
[modular services](https://nixos.org/manual/nixos/unstable/#modular-services)
sourced from `<nixpkgs/lib/services/lib.nix>`. Each service exposes
`process.argv` and the upstream NixOS-style systemd schema
(`systemd.lib`, `systemd.mainExecStart`, `systemd.service`,
`systemd.services`, `systemd.sockets`) by re-exporting
`nixos/modules/system/service/systemd/service.nix`. Service modules
shipped with `_class = "service"` (e.g.
`pkgs.<name>.passthru.services.default`) drop in unchanged --
service portability across module systems is the point of modular
services.
Lifted units are evaluated and translated from NixOS-style attrs
(`wantedBy`, `serviceConfig`, `unitConfig`, `environment`, ...) into
the section-based INI shape (`{ Unit; Service; Install; }`) that
home-manager's `systemd.user.{services,sockets}` consumes; only the
common keys are mapped, uncommon options remain reachable via
`unitConfig` / `serviceConfig` / `socketConfig`. Sub-services and
their units are dashed under the parent service name;
`process.argv` becomes the default `ExecStart` for the service's
primary unit, which defaults to `WantedBy=default.target`.
Mirrors the surface of nixpkgs' portable systemd module (services +
sockets only); other unit kinds home-manager supports natively
(timers etc.) are intentionally not modeled until upstream grows
them.
Each service's `configData.<name>` entries are materialized at
`$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/system-services/<service-prefix>/<name>` (mirroring
how `nixos/modules/system/service/systemd/{config-data-path,system}.nix`
lifts `configData` to `environment.etc`), with the absolute path
injected back into `configData.<name>.path` so the service can refer
to its files at a stable location.
Includes nmt tests covering: a basic `process.argv`-only service, a
service with a `configData` entry, and importing
`pkgs.ghostunnel.passthru.services.default` to assert the lifted user
unit contains the expected ExecStart flags and `LoadCredential`
entries.
Explain when to use extraSpecialArgs versus _module.args in the flake setup guides, and keep the generated standalone fixture aligned with the updated template output.
flakes are not stable yet, community is divided but maintaining both
flake and a set of dependencies in our scripts is hard.
So provide a nix-shell that fetches the nixpkgs recorded in the
flake.lock to keep a single source of truth
doc: updated the doc to advise `nix-shell -A dev`
- Add comprehensive documentation for upgrading Home Manager channels.
- Cover channel-based, flake-based, and NixOS module methods.
- Include troubleshooting section and state version updates.
- Update examples for NixOS 25.05 compatibility.
This commit deprecates profile management from the activation script.
The profile management is instead the responsibility of the driving
software, for example, the `home-manager` tool in the case of
standalone installs.
The legacy behavior is still available for backwards compatibility but
may be removed in the future.
The new behavior resolves (or moves us closer to resolving) a number
of long standing open issues:
- `home-manager switch --rollback`, which performs a rollback to the
previous Home Manager generation before activating. While it was
previously possible to accomplish this by activating an old
generation, it did always create a new profile generation.
This option has been implemented as part of this commit.
- `home-manager switch --specialisation NAME`, which switches to the
named specialisation. While it was previously possible to accomplish
this by manually running the specialisation activate script, it did
always create a new profile generation.
This option has been implemented as part of this commit.
- `home-manager switch --test`, which activates the configuration but
does not create a new profile generation.
This option has _not_ been implemented here since it relies on the
current configuration being activated on login, which we do not
currently do.
- When using the "Home Manager as a NixOS module" installation method
we previously created an odd `home-manager` per-user "shadow
profile" for the user. This is no longer necessary.
This has been implemented as part of this commit.
Fixes#3450
Update the documentation to inform users they can create news entries
themselves using `nix run .#create-news-entry` without waiting for
maintainers. This makes the contribution process more self-service
and improves the documentation to match the recently exposed flake
package.
