A modern, beautiful, and performant NixOS desktop configuration featuring Niri's scrollable-tiling compositor and Noctilia Shell's stunning interface.

• 🎨 Beautiful by Default: Noctilia Shell with Ayu theme
• 🪟 Unique Window Management: Niri's scrollable-tiling compositor
• ⚡ Blazing Fast: zram swap, tmpfs caching, optimized VM settings
• 🔒 Secure: Wayland-native, no X11, proper portal configuration
• 📦 Reproducible: NixOS flakes ensure identical setups across machines
• 🧩 DRY Architecture: Shared base config, host-specific overrides only
• ⚙️ Easy Customization: Single user-config.nix file for personal settings

• Scrollable-tiling window management (Super+H/L to scroll)
• Smooth 60fps animations
• Per-monitor workspaces
• Dynamic workspace creation
• Native Wayland, no X11 dependencies

• Stunning desktop shell with widgets
• App launcher with fuzzy search
• Control center with power profiles
• Lock screen that matches your theme
• System monitor, calendar, weather
• Media controls and notifications

• zram: 50% RAM compressed swap
• tmpfs: 3GB in-memory cache
• VM tuning: Optimized swappiness and dirty ratios
• Nix caching: Fast rebuilds with parallel builds
• Auto GC: Weekly cleanup of old generations

• Development: VSCode, Windsurf, GitHub Desktop
• Browsers: Google Chrome, Firefox
• Office: OnlyOffice, Impression (presentations)
• Communication: Telegram, Zapzap (WhatsApp)
• Cloud: Nextcloud client
• Security: Bitwarden
• Remote: AnyDesk, Deskflow (KVM)
• Media: MPV, Pavucontrol
• File Management: Nautilus, FileZilla
• System: htop, btop, neofetch

See home/default.nix for complete list.

Note: These instructions are for a fresh NixOS installation. Just copy and paste each command!

sudo nano /etc/nixos/configuration.nix

Find a spot in the file and add these two lines:

environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.git ];
nix.settings.experimental-features = [ "nix-command" "flakes" ];

Then save the file: Press Ctrl+O, then Enter, then Ctrl+X

sudo nixos-rebuild switch

git clone https://github.com/JulianPasco/nocturi.git ~/nixos-config

nano ~/nixos-config/user-config.nix

Update these values with your information:

• username - Your Linux username
• fullName - Your name
• email - Your email
• timezone - Your timezone (e.g., "Europe/London", "America/New_York")
• locale - Your locale (e.g., "en_US.UTF-8")

Save: Press Ctrl+O, then Enter, then Ctrl+X

For desktop/work machine:

cp -a /etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix ~/nixos-config/hosts/work/

For laptop/home machine:

cp -a /etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix ~/nixos-config/hosts/home/

For desktop/work:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/nixos-config#work

For laptop/home:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/nixos-config#home

sudo reboot

✅ Done! After reboot, log in at the terminal and Niri will start automatically.

See home/default.nix for complete list.

├── flake.nix                    # Flake configuration
├── user-config.nix              # ⭐ YOUR PERSONAL SETTINGS (edit this!)
├── modules/
│   ├── base/                    # Shared config for all hosts
│   ├── home/                    # Noctilia Shell config
│   └── system/                  # Niri system integration
├── hosts/
│   ├── home/                    # Laptop config (bluetooth, battery)
│   └── work/                    # Desktop config
└── home/                        # User packages and settings

Personal settings: user-config.nix ⭐ Edit this first! (username, timezone, location, etc.)

System-wide changes: modules/base/default.nix (applies to all hosts)

Host-specific: hosts/{hostname}/configuration.nix (overrides for single machine)

User interface: modules/home/noctilia.nix (Noctilia appearance - advanced)

User apps: home/default.nix (packages and home-manager settings)

Edit modules/home/noctilia.nix:

colorSchemes.predefinedScheme = "Ayu";  # or "Catppuccin", "TokyoNight", etc.

Place images in ~/Pictures/Wallpapers/ and they'll rotate automatically (or set automationEnabled = false for static).

Edit home/default.nix and add to home.packages:

home.packages = with pkgs; [
  your-package-here
];

Default is powersaver. To change, edit modules/home/noctilia.nix:

startup = "noctalia-shell ipc call powerProfile set performance";

1. Clone repo on new machine
2. Generate hardware config: sudo nixos-generate-config --show-hardware-config > /tmp/hw.nix
3. Create hosts/newhost/ directory
4. Copy hardware config there
5. Create hosts/newhost/configuration.nix (use hosts/work as template)
6. Add to flake.nix:

nixosConfigurations = {
  newhost = mkHost "newhost" [];
};

7. Deploy: sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#newhost

When there are new updates to the config, run these commands:

cd ~/nixos-config

git pull

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/nixos-config#work

Tip: Replace #work with #home if you're on a laptop.

This updates NixOS packages, Niri, and Noctilia to their latest versions:

cd ~/nixos-config

nix flake update

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake ~/nixos-config#work

Note: If you get a "Permission denied" error on flake.lock, fix ownership with:

sudo chown -R $USER:users ~/nixos-config

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --rollback

Or select a previous generation from the boot menu.

• ✅ TTY auto-login to Niri (no display manager overhead)
• ✅ Wayland-native (no X11)
• ✅ XDG portals configured (screen sharing works)
• ✅ PipeWire audio
• ✅ Power management (battery, power profiles)
• ✅ Bluetooth support (on laptop)
• ✅ Calendar and weather integration
• ✅ Tailscale VPN
• ✅ Firefox with Wayland
• ✅ Automatic Nix store optimization
• ✅ Weekly garbage collection

Found a bug or want to improve something? PRs welcome!

MIT License - feel free to use and modify.

• Niri - Scrollable-tiling Wayland compositor
• Noctilia Shell - Beautiful desktop shell
• NixOS - Declarative Linux distribution

Enjoy your beautiful, fast, and reproducible desktop! ⭐