nix

Use this skill for general debugging of this nix config whenever it is NOT already known that a build/flake check/rebuild is failing - runtime or boot-time misbehavior, hardware quirks driven by config, config that silently doesn't take effect, code that looks broken but builds, suspected dead/orphaned code, an unresolved issue recorded in a memory file, or any vague observation that something is off. The issue can come from existing code, a memory entry, or a user report alike. Trigger phrases include 'debug this', 'something is wrong with X', 'it builds but doesn't work', 'X stopped working after a successful rebuild', 'this option seems to have no effect', 'is this module even used', 'find dead code', 'look into that unresolved issue from memory', 'retry the fix we reverted', 'debug why X behaves like this'. Drives the frame-investigate-fix-verify loop across nix-debugger, nix-config-architect, nix-package-researcher, nix-checker, and Explore. Does NOT cover a KNOWN-failing build/flake check/rebuild (use d

Use this skill when adding or modifying nix configuration that introduces new functionality, such as new denix modules, enabling programs/services, host constants, theming, or home-manager config. Trigger phrases include 'add a module', 'enable X on host Y', 'install/integrate package Z', 'configure <service> in nix', 'add this to my nixos config', 'set up <program> via home-manager'. Drives the research-author-lint-verify pipeline across nix-package-researcher, nix-config-architect, nix-syntax-linter, and nix-checker. Does NOT cover diagnosing an existing build failure (use debugging-nix-failures instead) or pure attribute/option lookups with no authoring (dispatch nix-package-researcher directly).

Use this skill when new or improved test coverage is needed for a nix module or behavior. Trigger phrases include 'add a test for this module', 'improve test coverage', 'write a test that X', 'register this test', 'test the new module', 'cover this with a test'. Drives the author-run-triage loop across nix-test-author, nix-checker, and nix-debugger. Does NOT cover merely running the existing suite with no new test (dispatch nix-checker directly instead) or authoring non-test config (use creating-nix-modules instead).

Use this skill when a nix change needs cross-platform or cross-architecture judgment before or after authoring. Trigger phrases include 'will this build on the mac', 'is this safe in a shared module', 'where should this module live', 'does this work on aarch64', 'check cross-platform compat', 'is this Linux-only'. Drives the judge-author-verify loop across nix-compat-checker, nix-config-architect, nix-checker, and nix-debugger. Does NOT cover general authoring with no placement/guard question (use creating-nix-modules instead) or diagnosing a failure unrelated to platform differences (use debugging-nix-failures instead).

Use this skill when a nix build, flake check, nixos-rebuild, or darwin-rebuild is failing and needs to be diagnosed and fixed. Trigger phrases include 'the build failed', 'flake check fails', 'nixos-rebuild broke', 'why won't it evaluate', 'fix this nix error', 'option does not exist', 'darwin-rebuild is erroring', 'my rebuild is broken'. Drives the reproduce-diagnose-fix-reverify loop across nix-checker and nix-debugger. Does NOT cover authoring new functionality (use creating-nix-modules instead) or pure style/format sweeps with no build failure (dispatch nix-syntax-linter directly).