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Update nix-config: pull remote changes, update flake inputs, check, and deploy. Use when the user says "update", "update dependencies", "update nix", "update inputs", when repo-sync flags stale inputs, or when flake.lock is more than 2 weeks old.
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Based on SOC occupation classification
Nix debugging strategies and common fixes. Use when encountering Nix evaluation errors, build failures, flake lock issues, infinite recursion, hash mismatches, or when the user asks to debug a Nix problem. Also useful for nix repl tricks and home-manager troubleshooting.
Guide for adding a new home-manager module to nix-config. Use when creating a new module directory under home/, adding a new program or tool to the config, or when the user says "add a module" or "create a new module".
Guide for adding a new agenix-encrypted secret to the nix-config setup. Use when adding SSH keys, API tokens, encrypted config files, or any secret that should be age-encrypted. Covers the two-repo workflow between nix-config and nix-config-personal.
Deploy and verify nix-config changes. Use after making changes to any nix-config module, when the user says "deploy", "switch", "apply changes", or "test the config". Handles make check, make switch, and visual verification for UI changes.
| name | nix-update |
| description | Update nix-config: pull remote changes, update flake inputs, check, and deploy. Use when the user says "update", "update dependencies", "update nix", "update inputs", when repo-sync flags stale inputs, or when flake.lock is more than 2 weeks old. |
| allowed-tools | Bash(git *), Bash(nix *), Bash(make *), Bash(nix develop --command *) |
Pull remote changes and update flake inputs. Full workflow: fetch → pull → update → check → switch → commit.
Check current state before making changes:
git status --short
git log --oneline origin/main..HEAD
If there are uncommitted changes or unpushed commits, warn before proceeding — updating on a dirty tree risks conflicts.
git fetch --quiet
git pull --rebase
If there are conflicts, stop and resolve before continuing.
nix flake update
This updates all inputs (nixpkgs, home-manager, nix-darwin, agenix, etc.) to their latest versions.
To update a single input:
nix flake lock --update-input <name>
make check
If check fails, the update introduced a breaking change. Common causes:
Use /nix-debug to investigate failures. If an input broke, see "Follows override" in CLAUDE.md for pinning strategies.
make switch
For non-visual changes, verify the change took effect. For visual changes, ask Thomas to verify.
If deploying with local personal flake changes:
make switch PERSONAL_INPUT=path:$HOME/repos/nix-config-personal
nix develop --command git commit -a -m "chore(deps): update flake inputs"
If remote changes were also pulled, the lock update should be a separate commit from any other work.
nix develop --command git push
If nix-config-personal also has stale inputs:
cd ~/repos/nix-config-personal
git pull --rebase
nix flake update
nix develop --command git commit -a -m "chore(deps): update flake inputs"
nix develop --command git push
Then re-deploy nix-config with the updated personal flake:
cd ~/repos/nix-config
make switch REFRESH=1
Flake inputs should be updated roughly every 2 weeks to stay current with security patches and package updates. The repo-sync skill flags when flake.lock is older than 14 days.