Declare your whole system in one Lua config: packages, AUR, services, /etc, dotfiles. archix locks every version, turns every switch into a generation, and rolls back in one command. On Arch, CachyOS and EndeavourOS.
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/archix.git && cd archix && makepkg -si return {
repos = { "core", "extra", "multilib" },
packages = { "steam", "mangohud", "obs-studio", "protonup-qt" },
users = { me = { groups = { "wheel" }, shell = "/usr/bin/zsh" } },
home = { user = "me" },
programs = {
kitty = {
enable = true,
font = { name = "JetBrainsMono Nerd Font", size = archix.force(11) },
},
},
}archix status
current generation: 41 (snapshot 2026-10-09)
the system matches the lock
Current generation: 41
One config for every machine, laid out like a neovim config. Modules declare typed options, so a typo is an error with a suggestion, not a setting that silently does nothing.
error: `programs.kity`: option does not exist (set in lua/hosts/desktop/init.lua); did you mean `programs.kitty`?
Official packages are pinned to a dated Arch Linux Archive snapshot, AUR packages to a commit. Commit the lock and every machine gets exactly the same versions.
[hosts.desktop] date = "2026-10-15" repos = ["core", "extra", "multilib"] declared = ["mangohud", "steam", …] [hosts.desktop.packages] mesa = { version = "1:25.3.0-1", repo = "extra", … }
Every switch that changes something is a generation with its own boot entry, signed when Secure Boot is set up. Roll back from the terminal or pick an older one at boot: archix reinstalls its exact packages from cache.
› Arch Linux (archix, generation 42) Arch Linux (archix, generation 41) Arch Linux (archix, generation 40) Arch Linux (archix rescue, generation 42) Arch Linux (archix rescue, generation 41)
No lockdown. Run pacman -Syu when you feel like it. A pacman hook records what changed, and the next switch asks whether to keep it. Say yes and the lock moves forward; say no and the system goes back to the lock.
Or skip the question: archix -Syu updates and adopts in one go.
$ sudo pacman -Syu :: Starting full system upgrade... $ sudo archix switch the system is newer than the lock for 3 packages (firefox, linux, mesa), probably from pacman or an AUR helper adopt them into the lock? (no reverts them to the lock) [Y/n] y switched to generation 43 (snapshot 2026-10-15)
Keep the flags you already type. Every AUR build runs in a clean chroot at the locked snapshot date and gets cached. You read the whole PKGBUILD on first install and only the diff on updates.
archix | Full update, like running yay with no arguments |
|---|---|
archix -S <pkg> | Install from the repos or the AUR, and add it to your config |
archix -Ss <query> | Search the repos and the AUR |
archix -Syu | Update from live mirrors and adopt the result into the lock |
archix -R <pkg> | Remove it from the system and from your config |
You already know the ideas. Keep the declarative config, the lockfile and the rollback. Drop the derivations, the wait for nixpkgs to catch up, and the update that breaks the build for reasons nobody can explain.
| NixOS | archix |
|---|---|
configuration.nix | init.lua |
flake.lock | archix.lock |
nixos-rebuild switch | archix switch |
nixos-rebuild switch --rollback | archix rollback |
lib.mkDefault / lib.mkForce | archix.default / archix.force |
Home Manager programs.* | programs.*, ported from Home Manager |
nix-collect-garbage | archix gc |
nixpkgs | Arch repos, the AUR, CachyOS |
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/archix.git && cd archix && makepkg -si After the first switch, archix updates itself through its own lock.
sudo archix initReads your packages, services, changed /etc files and users into a config, locked to exactly what is installed. No reinstall, and the first diff is empty.
sudo archix switchGeneration 1. From here on, every change is one you can undo.