Workstation Setup Guide

Setting up a workstation involves two main phases:

1. Bootstrap – Install Nix on a Debian-based system and the base tools (populating nix/base)
2. Provision – Install APT/Flatpak packages and apply configurations via mise

Prerequisites

The setup process requires the dennybaa/dotfiles repository (you're already here). Install Git and perform the initial configuration:

sudo apt install git -y

# Clone the repository
cd ~ && git clone git@github.com:dennybaa/dotfiles.git

# Alternative: clone via public HTTPS
# cd ~ && git clone https://github.com/dennybaa/dotfiles.git

Provision a Workstation

The provision phase installs required software and applies system configurations. This process is orchestrated by mise and leverages:

• nu/install-packages.nu – Handles package operations: updating APT sources, installing APT and Flatpak packages, and managing pre-built Nix profiles
• mise – Executes configuration hooks

Bootstrap

1. Bootstrap installs Nix on your Debian-based system—the first step to using this repository.

   cd ~/dotfiles && ./bootstrap.sh && . /etc/profile.d/nix.sh

   Once bootstrapped, proceed with full provisioning using mise tasks.

2. Run the necessary bootstrap tasks (post-Nix setup).

   mise run bootstrap

3. Configure GitHub token for tools

   Why this matters: Configuring authentication prevents GitHub API rate limiting when package managers like Nix or mise fetch sources.

   Recommended approach: Create and use a fine-grained personal access token (PAT) for:

   • Generate a token at: https://github.com/settings/personal-access-tokens for only public repositories

   Use the setup:github-token task: This will prompt you for the token input and update necessary files:

   mise run setup:github-token

Workstation Configuration

Mise tasks:

mise tasks
mise run nix:add --help # for details about the command adding packages from nix/<bundle> flakes into profile

Provision a Pre-configured System Preset

Choose the appropriate command based on your system type:

• Console system (terminal-only):

  mise provision

• Desktop system (includes GUI applications):

  mise provision:desktop

Note: Use the --update (or -u) flag to refresh installed packages.

Packages

System package configuration is defined in packages.nu. Here's what it contains:

• AptSources – Files to be placed in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ and optional GPG key URLs for provisioning
• AptPackages and FlatpakPackages – Application bundles organized by type (base, desktop, etc.)

For example, to install both base and desktop APT package bundles:

mise packages:apt base desktop

Note: Management of flake-based Nix profiles is intentionally not grouped under the mise packages:nix task.

Nix Profile Packages

Nix profiles are defined in nix/*/flake.nix files. A Nix flake may have multiple outputs—for instance, nix/code/flake.nix contains default and desktop outputs. When installing a Nix profile, you cannot install multiple output sets simultaneously. Choose the specific output you need:

mise nix -o desktop nix/code

Note: If you previously installed a different flake output for a given profile, the operation will fail.