Flake-Parts Expert

Flake-Parts Expert

Specialized guidance for the flake-parts framework - a modular system for organizing Nix flakes.

What is Flake-Parts?

Flake-parts is a framework that applies the NixOS module system to flake organization. It eliminates boilerplate for multi-system builds by generating per-system outputs automatically.

Core benefit: Define packages once in perSystem, automatically generated for all target systems.

Structure with mkFlake

Flake-parts organizes flakes into logical sections:

{
  inputs.flake-parts.url = "github:hercules-ci/​flake-parts";

  outputs = inputs@{ flake-parts, ... }:
    flake-parts.lib.mkFlake { inherit inputs; } {
      # Target architectures - define once
      systems = [ "x86_64-linux" "aarch64-linux" ];

      # External modules
      imports = [ ./​modules/​packages.nix ];

      # Multi-system configuration (defined once, generated for all systems)
      perSystem = { config, pkgs, system, ... }: {
        packages.hello = pkgs.hello;
        devShells.default = pkgs.mkShell {
          packages = [ config.packages.hello ];
        };
      };

      # Traditional flake-level attributes (single-system)
      flake = {
        nixosConfigurations.machine = { };
      };
    };
}

Generated structure:

# Input:
perSystem.packages.hello = pkgs.hello;

# Output:
packages.x86_64-linux.hello = <derivation>;
packages.aarch64-linux.hello = <derivation>;

perSystem vs flake

Use perSystem for things that build across multiple platforms:

• Packages, devShells, apps
• Formatters, checks
• Anything that should exist per-system

Use flake for unique, non-system-specific outputs:

• nixosConfigurations (each machine is unique)
• homeConfigurations (each config is unique)
• Custom flake outputs

Standard perSystem Options

Flake-parts provides these standard options in perSystem:

• packages - Derivations to build (e.g., packages.myapp = pkgs.hello;)
• apps - Executable applications (for nix run)
• devShells - Development environments (for nix develop)
• checks - Tests and validation (run with nix flake check)
• formatter - Code formatter (single package, run with nix fmt)
• legacyPackages - Large package sets (not evaluated by default, for performance)

All are automatically generated for each system in the systems list.

Module Arguments

Flake-parts provides special arguments to avoid repetitive .${system} interpolation.

Per-System Arguments (in perSystem)

pkgs - nixpkgs for current system:

perSystem = { pkgs, ... }: {
  packages.myapp = pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "myapp" "echo hello";
};

system - Current architecture string:

perSystem = { system, ... }: {
  # system = "x86_64-linux", "aarch64-linux", etc.
};

inputs' (inputs prime) - Inputs with system auto-selected:

# Without inputs':
packages.bar = inputs.foo.packages.${system}.bar;

# With inputs':
perSystem = { inputs', ... }: {
  packages.bar = inputs'.foo.packages.bar;
};

self' (self prime) - This flake's outputs with system pre-selected:

perSystem = { self', ... }: {
  devShells.default = pkgs.mkShell {
    packages = [ self'.packages.myapp ];
  };
};

config - Per-system configuration values:

perSystem = { config, ... }: {
  packages.foo = ...;
  packages.bar = ... config.packages.foo ...;  # Reference other packages
};

final (with easyOverlay) - Package set after overlays:

perSystem = { pkgs, final, ... }: {
  imports = [ inputs.flake-parts.flakeModules.easyOverlay ];

  packages.lib = pkgs.callPackage ./​lib.nix { };
  packages.app = pkgs.callPackage ./​app.nix {
    my-lib = final.lib;  # Use overlaid version
  };
};

Top-Level Arguments

withSystem - Enter a system's scope to access perSystem values:

This bridges single-system outputs (like NixOS configs) with multi-system packages:

flake.nixosConfigurations.machine = withSystem "x86_64-linux" (
  { config, ... }:
    # Now have access to all perSystem arguments
    nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      modules = [{
        environment.systemPackages = [
          config.packages.myapp    # Access perSystem packages
          config.packages.mytool
        ];
      }];
    }
);

Without withSystem: self.packages.x86_64-linux.myapp (repetitive and verbose).

getSystem - Function to retrieve per-system config:

let
  x86Packages = (getSystem "x86_64-linux").packages;
in
  # Use packages from specific system

moduleWithSystem - Brings perSystem arguments into top-level module scope (advanced).

Function Signature Inspection

The module system uses builtins.functionArgs to determine which arguments to pass:

# ✅ CORRECT - explicitly name what you need
{ pkgs, system, config, ... }: { }

# ❌ WRONG - catch-all doesn't get special arguments
args: { }  # args won't contain pkgs, system, etc.

Only named parameters in your function signature receive values.

The @ Pattern

Access multiple scopes without shadowing:

{ config, ... }: {
  myTopLevelOption = "foo";

  perSystem = toplevel@{ config, pkgs, ... }: {
    # config          = per-system config
    # toplevel.config = top-level config

    packages.example = pkgs.writeText "value"
      toplevel.config.myTopLevelOption;
  };
}

Essential Patterns

Convert Standard Flake to Flake-Parts

Before:

outputs = { nixpkgs, ... }:
  let
    systems = [ "x86_64-linux" "aarch64-linux" ];
    forAllSystems = nixpkgs.lib.genAttrs systems;
  in {
    packages = forAllSystems (system: {
      hello = nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system}.hello;
    });
  };

After:

outputs = inputs@{ flake-parts, ... }:
  flake-parts.lib.mkFlake { inherit inputs; } {
    systems = [ "x86_64-linux" "aarch64-linux" ];
    perSystem = { pkgs, ... }: {
      packages.hello = pkgs.hello;
    };
  };

Simple Module Import

# flake.nix
{
  imports = [ ./​modules/​packages.nix ];
}

# modules/​packages.nix
{ perSystem = { pkgs, ... }: {
  packages.hello = pkgs.hello;
}; }

importApply (pass flake-level context to modules)

Flake-parts-specific utility for passing arguments like withSystem to modules:

# flake.nix
{
  imports = [
    (inputs.flake-parts.lib.importApply ./​modules/​nixos.nix {
      inherit withSystem;
    })
  ];
}

# modules/​nixos.nix
{ withSystem }: { inputs, ... }: {
  flake.nixosConfigurations.machine = withSystem "x86_64-linux" (
    { config, ... }:
      inputs.nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem { ... }
  );
}

Why importApply is needed: Modules imported via imports don't have access to the flake's lexical scope (like withSystem). importApply lets you pass those as arguments.

easyOverlay Module

Flake-parts module that auto-generates overlays from perSystem packages:

perSystem = { config, pkgs, final, ... }: {
  imports = [ inputs.flake-parts.flakeModules.easyOverlay ];

  packages = {
    mylib = pkgs.stdenv.mkDerivation { ... };
    myapp = pkgs.stdenv.mkDerivation {
      buildInputs = [ final.mylib ];  # Use overlaid version
    };
  };

  # Automatically generates overlays.default
  overlayAttrs = {
    inherit (config.packages) mylib myapp;
  };
};

Key distinction:

• pkgs = "previous" package set (before overlay)
• final = "final" package set (after overlay)

Use final when packages reference each other to get the overlaid versions.

Reusable Flake Modules

Export modules for use in other flakes:

# your-tool/​flake.nix
{
  flake.flakeModules.default = {
    perSystem = { config, lib, pkgs, ... }: {
      options.your-tool = {
        enable = lib.mkEnableOption "your-tool";
        package = lib.mkOption {
          type = lib.types.package;
          default = pkgs.your-tool;
        };
      };

      config = lib.mkIf config.your-tool.enable {
        packages.your-tool = config.your-tool.package;
      };
    };
  };
}

# consumer-flake/​flake.nix
{
  inputs.your-tool.url = "github:you/​your-tool";

  outputs = inputs@{ flake-parts, ... }:
    flake-parts.lib.mkFlake { inherit inputs; } {
      imports = [ inputs.your-tool.flakeModules.default ];

      perSystem.your-tool.enable = true;
    };
}

Best Practices

1. Don't traverse inputs - Never iterate through inputs with mapAttrs or similar (causes unnecessary fetching and evaluation)
2. Namespace options - Use mymodule.foo not just foo to avoid collisions
3. Favor perSystem - Most work happens there (packages, shells, checks)
4. Use specific options - Prefer foo.package over foo.flake for better granularity
5. Use ' suffixed arguments - Prefer inputs' and self' over manual system selection

Debugging

Enable debug mode:

{
  debug = true;
  # ... rest of config
}

Inspect with nix repl:

nix repl
:lf .
currentSystem.allModuleArgs.pkgs        # Inspect current system pkgs
debug.allSystems.x86_64-linux           # Inspect specific system
currentSystem.options.packages.files    # See where values are defined
debug.options.systems.declarations      # See where options are declared

Common Issues

"path does not exist" Error

Files must be git-tracked for flakes to see them:

git add .claude/​skills/​flake-parts/
# OR for quick testing:
git add -N file.nix  # Track without staging content

Circular Dependency

Don't access self directly in modules. Use self' in perSystem or return functions from top-level.

Wrong Module Context

Use @ syntax to access both top-level and perSystem config:

perSystem = toplevel@{ config, ... }: {
  # config = perSystem config
  # toplevel.config = top-level config
}

Undefined Variable in Module Argument

The module system only passes arguments you explicitly name:

# ✅ CORRECT
{ pkgs, system, config, ... }: { }

# ❌ WRONG
args: { }  # Won't receive special arguments

Beyond the Basics

For specialized flake-parts features, load these guides:

• module-arguments.md - Complete reference for all module arguments, the @ pattern, and function signature inspection
• overlays.md - easyOverlay module details, final vs pkgs distinction
• modular-organization.md - importApply patterns, reusable flakeModules, dogfooding
• advanced.md - Partitions, custom outputs, debug mode, migration from standard flakes