name: Rebuilding the Devbox description: This skill covers how to apply configuration changes to the devbox, including full rebuilds with nixos-anywhere. Use this when you need to update the system or recover from issues.

Rebuilding the Devbox

Quick Reference

Applying Changes

System Changes (requires sudo)

After editing files in hosts/devbox/:

cd ~/projects/workstation
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#devbox

This rebuilds the NixOS system. May require reboot if kernel changed.

User Changes (no sudo, fast)

After editing files in users/dev/ or assets/:

cd ~/projects/workstation
home-manager switch --flake .#dev

This is fast (~10 seconds) and doesn't affect system services.

Updating Packages

To update all flake inputs (nixpkgs, home-manager, etc.):

nix flake update
git add flake.lock
git commit -m "Update flake.lock"

Then apply as above.

Nuclear Option: Full Rebuild with nixos-anywhere

If the devbox is corrupted or you want a fresh start:

Prerequisites (on your Mac)

1. Ensure you have the latest config committed and pushed
2. Run scripts/update-ssh-config.sh to get current IP
3. Have nixos-anywhere available: nix-shell -p nixos-anywhere

Steps

# From your Mac, targeting the devbox
nixos-anywhere --flake .#devbox root@devbox

# Wait for reboot, then SSH in
ssh devbox

# Apply home-manager (not included in nixos-anywhere)
cd ~/Code/workstation  # clone if needed
home-manager switch --flake .#dev

After Rebuild

1. Re-authenticate GitHub: gh auth login
2. Clone workstation repo if needed
3. Apply home-manager config

Troubleshooting

"flake.nix not found"

Make sure you're in the workstation repo directory.

Home-manager errors about missing files

The assets/ directory must exist. Check that assets/claude/skills/ exists.

System won't boot after rebuild

Boot into previous generation from bootloader menu, then fix config.