ANIX v1: Abora NixOS Profile Manager and Snapshot Tool

ANIX is the human-facing management layer for Abora and NixOS. It provides shorter, safer commands for common NixOS tasks — profiles, snapshots, rebuilds, rollbacks, desktop changes, and system settings — while still calling the standard NixOS toolchain underneath. ANIX does not replace NixOS; it makes the day-to-day workflow less rough.

Mental Model

ANIX operates on three levels at once:

Config — it edits a small anix.nix file in /etc/nixos/ that declares your preferences declaratively.
Snapshots — it keeps a local Git history of /etc/nixos/ so you always have a recovery point before risky operations.
Rebuilds — it calls nixos-rebuild under the hood, adding a dry-build preview step and a confirmation prompt before switching.

For example, anix switch nix gaming is the safer front-end for:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake /etc/nixos#gaming

ANIX adds a snapshot of any unsaved config changes, runs a dry-build preview, shows package closure diffs, and asks you to confirm before proceeding.

Quick Start

anix init         # create anix.nix with sensible defaults
anix quickstart   # init + snapshot repo setup + status overview
anix status       # show current profile, generation, and snapshot state
anix --gui        # open the graphical helper (zenity) or grouped terminal menu

Built-in Named Profiles

Abora ships with five named flake profiles you can switch between without writing any Nix yourself:

Profile	Purpose
`stable`	Standard Abora install, follows the stable channel
`minimal`	Lightweight headless or console-only configuration
`gaming`	Adds Steam, GameMode, and gaming-oriented packages
`creator`	Adds creative apps: Blender, Inkscape, Krita, OBS, and more
`developer`	Adds developer tooling: editors, compilers, containers, and Git extras

Switch between them with anix switch nix <profile>.

Core Commands

Inspection

Status and info
Settings
Features

anix status           # profile, generation, flake, Git, and snapshot state
anix profiles         # list available flake profiles from nixosConfigurations
anix generations      # list recent NixOS system generations
anix show             # show current anix.nix settings
anix edit             # open anix.nix in $EDITOR
anix wallpapers       # list wallpapers available for anix set wallpaper
anix docs             # show local documentation paths for ANIX, TinyPM, and Abora

anix set hostname my-pc
anix set timezone America/New_York
anix set keyboard us
anix set keyboard.xkb us
anix set desktop gnome
anix set wallpaper bluehorizon.png
anix set shell zsh

Settable keys: hostname, timezone, keyboard, keyboard.xkb, desktop, wallpaper, shell, gc.days, gc.dates.

anix enable allowUnfree
anix enable bluetooth
anix enable flatpak
anix enable openssh
anix enable garbageCollect
anix disable thermald
anix disable tlp

Toggleable features: allowUnfree, experimentalNix, bluetooth, printing, flatpak, audio, openssh, thermald, tlp, tinypm, garbageCollect.

Profile Operations

Preview
Activate
Rollback

anix diff nix gaming          # dry-build and show package closure changes
anix diff nix developer       # preview what would change before switching

anix test nix gaming          # temp-activate (lost on reboot)
anix boot nix gaming          # prepare for next boot, no immediate switch
anix switch nix gaming        # switch now (with dry-build + confirmation)
anix switch nix gaming --now  # switch immediately without a confirmation prompt

anix rollback nix             # roll back to the previous generation
anix rollback nix minimal     # rebuild and switch to a specific profile
anix rollback nix --now       # roll back immediately without confirmation

Snapshots and Maintenance

anix save                     # local Git snapshot of /etc/nixos
anix save "before gaming"     # snapshot with a custom commit message
anix gc old                   # garbage collect old generations (prompts first)
anix doctor                   # run ANIX health checks
anix doctor --fix             # create missing config and snapshot basics
anix apply                    # rebuild using the current ANIX layer
anix tinypm status            # show TinyPM per-user install state
anix tinypm install           # install TinyPM for the current user

Snapshot Safety Model

ANIX takes a conservative approach to system changes:

Snapshot unsaved config

Before any switch, test, boot, or rollback operation, ANIX checks for unsaved changes in /etc/nixos/. If changes exist, it offers to create a local Git snapshot first.

Dry-build preview

When you run anix switch nix <profile> without --now, ANIX runs a nixos-rebuild dry-build first. This catches syntax errors and evaluates the full package closure before anything is activated.

Closure diff

After the dry-build, ANIX compares the new and current package closures with nix store diff-closures, so you can see exactly what will be added or removed.

Confirm and switch

Only after the preview is shown does ANIX prompt for confirmation. Running with --now skips the preview and confirmation in one step.

Error explanation

If the rebuild fails, ANIX inspects the log for known patterns — unknown options, unfree blocks, syntax errors — and prints a human-readable explanation with suggestions before showing the raw log tail.

Snapshots are local Git commits by default. ANIX warns you about possible secrets in your config before committing. Pushing to a remote is opt-in:

anix config set snapshots.push true

Graphical Helper

anix --gui opens an interactive helper. If a graphical session is available and zenity is installed, it presents a point-and-click interface. Otherwise it falls back to a grouped numbered terminal menu covering the same operations.

anix --gui

The GUI workspace groups actions into eight areas: Overview, Settings, Features, Profiles, Snapshots, Packages, Maintenance, and Docs.

ANIX NixOS Module Reference

ANIX ships as a NixOS module (nix/modules/anix.nix). All options are declared under the anix.* namespace.

Core

Option	Type	Default	Purpose
`anix.enable`	bool	`false`	Enable the ANIX configuration layer
`anix.hostname`	string or null	`null`	Hostname override for `networking.hostName`
`anix.timezone`	string or null	`null`	Timezone override, e.g. `America/New_York`
`anix.keyboard.console`	string or null	`null`	TTY keymap, e.g. `us`, `de`
`anix.keyboard.xkb`	string or null	`null`	Graphical desktop keyboard layout
`anix.desktop`	enum or null	`null`	Desktop profile (Abora OS only)
`anix.wallpaper`	string or null	`null`	Wallpaper filename (Abora OS only)

Packages and Shell

Option	Type	Default	Purpose
`anix.packages`	list of packages	`[]`	Extra system packages in the ANIX layer
`anix.fonts`	list of packages	`[]`	Extra font packages
`anix.allowUnfree`	bool	`true`	Allow unfree packages like Discord and Steam
`anix.experimentalNix`	bool	`true`	Enable `nix-command` and `flakes`
`anix.shell`	`bash`, `zsh`, `fish`, or null	`null`	Default shell for normal users

Services

Option	Type	Default	Purpose
`anix.services.bluetooth`	bool	`true`	Enable Bluetooth hardware support
`anix.services.printing`	bool	`true`	Enable CUPS printing
`anix.services.openssh`	bool	`false`	Enable the OpenSSH server
`anix.services.flatpak`	bool	`true`	Enable Flatpak integration
`anix.services.audio`	bool	`true`	Enable PipeWire audio (with ALSA and PulseAudio compat)

Power

Option	Type	Default	Purpose
`anix.power.thermald`	bool	`true`	Enable thermald for thermal management
`anix.power.tlp`	bool	`false`	Enable TLP laptop power management

Nix Store and Garbage Collection

Option	Type	Default	Purpose
`anix.trustedUsers`	list of strings	`[]`	Users added to `nix.settings.trusted-users`
`anix.autoOptimiseStore`	bool	`true`	Enable automatic Nix store optimisation
`anix.garbageCollect.enable`	bool	`false`	Enable scheduled garbage collection
`anix.garbageCollect.dates`	string	`"weekly"`	Systemd calendar expression for GC
`anix.garbageCollect.options`	string	`"--delete-older-than 14d"`	Options passed to `nix-collect-garbage`

TinyPM Bootstrap

Option	Type	Default	Purpose
`anix.tinypm.enable`	bool	`true`	Auto-install TinyPM on first user login via a systemd user service
`anix.tinypm.flavor`	string	`"abora"`	TinyPM flavor passed to the installer

When anix.tinypm.enable is true, a tinypm-init systemd user service runs on first login and installs TinyPM into ~/.tinypm/. A stamp file at ~/.local/state/tinypm/anix-init-done prevents reinstallation on subsequent logins.

Example: anix.nix

The following is a representative anix.nix with common values set.

{ pkgs, ... }:
{
  anix.enable = true;

  anix.hostname = "my-pc";
  anix.timezone = "America/New_York";
  anix.keyboard.console = "us";
  anix.keyboard.xkb = "us";

  anix.desktop = "gnome";
  anix.wallpaper = "bluehorizon.png";

  anix.allowUnfree = true;
  anix.experimentalNix = true;
  anix.shell = "zsh";

  anix.tinypm.enable = true;

  anix.services.bluetooth = true;
  anix.services.printing = true;
  anix.services.flatpak = true;
  anix.services.audio = true;
  anix.services.openssh = false;

  anix.power.thermald = true;
  anix.power.tlp = false;

  anix.packages = with pkgs; [ ];
  anix.fonts = with pkgs; [ inter nerd-fonts.jetbrains-mono ];

  anix.trustedUsers = [ "root" "@wheel" ];
  anix.garbageCollect.enable = true;
  anix.garbageCollect.dates = "weekly";
  anix.garbageCollect.options = "--delete-older-than 14d";
}

After editing anix.nix, rebuild with:

anix apply

Or use the set command to change a single value and rebuild in the same step:

anix set desktop hyprland
anix apply

ANIX Doctor Checks

anix doctor verifies the full ANIX and NixOS management layer.

Check	What is verified
`nix command available`	`nix` is on `PATH`
`nixos-rebuild available`	`nixos-rebuild` is on `PATH`
`config directory exists`	`/etc/nixos/` is present
`flake.nix exists`	`flake.nix` is in the config directory
`flake outputs evaluate`	`nix flake show` succeeds
`config is a Git repo`	Snapshot history is initialized
`config repo is clean`	No unsaved changes
`ANIX config exists`	`anix.nix` is present
`ANIX config preflight`	No syntax or option errors
`ANIX desktop valid`	Desktop value matches supported list
`system generation profile`	`/nix/var/nix/profiles/system` exists

Run anix doctor --fix to automatically create the config directory, initialise the snapshot repo, and write a default anix.nix where safely possible.

Get Started

Using Abora

Tools

Recovery & Support

Contributing

ANIX v1: Abora NixOS Profile Manager and Snapshot Tool

Mental Model

Quick Start

Built-in Named Profiles

Core Commands

Inspection

Profile Operations

Snapshots and Maintenance

Snapshot Safety Model

Graphical Helper

ANIX NixOS Module Reference

Core

Packages and Shell

Services

Power

Nix Store and Garbage Collection

TinyPM Bootstrap

Example: anix.nix

ANIX Doctor Checks

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Using Abora

Tools

Recovery & Support

Contributing

Documentation Index

​Mental Model

​Quick Start

​Built-in Named Profiles

​Core Commands

​Inspection

​Profile Operations

​Snapshots and Maintenance

​Snapshot Safety Model

​Graphical Helper

​ANIX NixOS Module Reference

​Core

​Packages and Shell

​Services

​Power

​Nix Store and Garbage Collection

​TinyPM Bootstrap

​Example: anix.nix

​ANIX Doctor Checks

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Mental Model

Quick Start

Built-in Named Profiles

Core Commands

Inspection

Profile Operations

Snapshots and Maintenance

Snapshot Safety Model

Graphical Helper

ANIX NixOS Module Reference

Core

Packages and Shell

Services

Power

Nix Store and Garbage Collection

TinyPM Bootstrap

Example: anix.nix

ANIX Doctor Checks