Nixdatifier

A KDE Plasma 6 widget for NixOS to view system generations, package diffs, flake updates, and active secrets directly from the panel.

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Features

• Timeline — Active, historical, and next-boot system generations.
• Package Diff — Lists package additions, upgrades, and removals between generations using nix store diff-closures.
• Rollback & Boot Control — Switch generations, set next-boot target, or delete generations (uses Polkit/pkexec).
• Flake Updates — Track pending package updates from upstream nixpkgs.
• Custom Commands — Pin up to 4 terminal commands (e.g., nixos-rebuild) to the widget header.
• Secrets Viewer — Inspect active age(nix) or sops-nix secrets and decryption paths.
• Customization — Change layout, background blur, opacity, colors, and fonts.

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How it works

The widget uses a QML frontend that queries helper shell scripts via PlasmaCore.DataSource to retrieve and format system state.

flowchart TD
    subgraph System
        A[nix / nix-env]
        B[polkit / pkexec]
        C["/run/secrets"]
    end

    subgraph Backend ["Shell Scripts (tools/sh/)"]
        G[generations]
        D[details]
        H[hash]
        F[flake-probe]
        S[secrets]
        T[terminal]
        I[icons]
    end

    subgraph QML ["QML Layer"]
        M[main.qml]
        FV[FullView.qml]
        CV[CompactView.qml]
        GD[GenerationDelegate.qml]
    end

    A --> G & D & H & F
    B --> T
    C --> S

    G --> M
    D --> M
    H --> M
    F --> M
    S --> M
    I --> GD

    M --> FV
    M --> CV
    FV --> GD

Loading

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Requirements

Runtime

Dependency	Purpose
nix	nix store diff-closures, nix flake update --dry-run
nix-env	nix-env --list-generations
pkexec (polkit)	Privilege escalation for generation actions
KDE Plasma ≥ 6.0	Widget host environment
Qt 6 / QML	Rendering engine

Build and Development

Dependency	Purpose
nix with flakes	Development shell and package build
qt6.qtdeclarative	qmllint and qmlformat
kdePackages.kpackage	kpackagetool6 for local install
pre-commit	QML lint and format hooks
zip	Archive creation for distribution

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Install

Manual install (any distro)

git clone https://github.com/Muddyblack/kde-nixdatifier.git
cd kde-nixdatifier
kpackagetool6 -t Plasma/Applet -i package
# or, to update an existing install:
kpackagetool6 -t Plasma/Applet -u package

Then add the widget from Plasma's "Add Widgets" panel.

To remove: kpackagetool6 -t Plasma/Applet -r org.muddyblack.nixosGenerationExplorer

NixOS (flake)

# flake.nix
{
  inputs.nixdatifier.url = "github:Muddyblack/kde-nixdatifier";

  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, nixdatifier, ... }: {
    nixosConfigurations.mybox = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      modules = [
        ({ pkgs, ... }: {
          environment.systemPackages = [
            nixdatifier.packages.${pkgs.system}.default
          ];
        })
      ];
    };
  }
}

Packaging for distribution

./pack.sh
# produces nixos-generation-explorer-<version>.plasmoid

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Configuration

All settings are available via the widget's right-click → Configure menu:

Setting	Type	Default	Description
Flake Path	String	""	Path to your NixOS flake configuration directory
Check Interval	Integer	3600	Polling interval in seconds to probe flake updates
Max Generations	Integer	10	Max generations to display in the timeline
Default View	String	"timeline"	Active tab on startup (timeline / updates / secrets / diff / hash)
Custom Commands	String	See below	JSON array representing pinned terminal command actions (max 4)
Show Command Buttons	Boolean	true	Toggle custom command actions visibility in the header
Command Terminal	String	""	Custom terminal emulator command wrapper (autodetects if empty)
Use Pkexec	Boolean	true	Elevate generation switch/delete privileges using Polkit
Confirm Before Rollback	Boolean	true	Display a verification popup dialog before activating a generation
Confirm Before Delete	Boolean	true	Display a verification popup dialog before deleting a generation
Show Delete Button	Boolean	true	Show trash icon to delete generations from system history
Show Notifications	Boolean	true	Push desktop notification alerts when upstream flake updates are detected
Secrets Path	String	""	Deployed secrets directory (defaults to /run/secrets)
Secrets Source Path	String	""	Path to encrypted secrets source config (sops-nix/agenix)
Timeline Color	Color	#9b5de5	Custom line and connector point hex color for the history list
Accent Color	Color	#b388ff	Focus and highlight elements styling color
Background Card	Boolean	true	Renders a frosted styling card under the widget content
Background Color	Color	#0a0c14	Styling color for the widget container card
Background Opacity	Double	0.5	Transparency level for the card background (0.0 to 1.0)
Background Radius	Double	14.0	Rounded corner styling radius size for the container card
Custom Text Color	Color	#ffffff	Overrides the system font color with a specific style hex
Enable Glow	Boolean	true	Toggles neon shadow drop highlights on status dots and tabs
Icon Style	String	"colored"	System icon representation mode (colored / white / black / accent)
Diff View Mode	String	"compact"	Output styling for Nix diffs (compact / detailed)
Show Package Icons	Boolean	true	Query and display app icons in diff closure lists
Compact Style	String	"icon"	Panel applet representation design (icon / number / both / pill)

Custom Commands JSON Schema

The customCommands option accepts a JSON array:

[
  { "label": "update", "cmd": "nix flake update", "color": "accent" },
  { "label": "upnix",  "cmd": "upnix",            "color": "green"  }
]

Accepted color keys: accent, green, red, default. Maximum 4 entries.