max / alloy

skel: make the nushell config load at all Every login printed a two-screen parse error and then dropped the entire config, so accounts got stock nushell: no theme, no vi mode, no history settings, no completions, no aliases, and the banner config.nu turns off. The error was the visible part; the discarded config was the cost. `source` is a parse-time keyword. It takes a path known while the file is parsed, so `let cache = ...; source $cache` cannot work, and neither can gating it behind a runtime `if`: the whole block is parsed either way. Both integration blocks were written that way. The aliases line below them is the same keyword with `$nu`, a parse-time constant, which is why that one was fine and shows the difference. starship and zoxide now come from /usr/share/nushell/vendor/autoload/, generated in the image. nushell reads its autoload directories itself, so nothing needs sourcing, no per-user cache is written, and the prompt is there on first login. Generating at shell start instead would miss that first login: the autoload directories are read before env.nu's writes land, as checked against 0.112.2. With the config loading, nushell then rejected two options it had never reached: filesize.metric and filesize.format, whose shape changed. The intent was metric units, which `unit` carries now. Verified on a running install: a fresh shell starts silent, show_banner is false, edit_mode is vi, `ll` resolves, history is sqlite. Also drops the em dashes from user-visible copy: the install view's title, which the console could not draw until the colour fix and which reads "install (lsblk), step 1 of 4" now, three pkg.rs messages, and the shipped dotfile comments.

Author: Max Johnson <me@maxj.phd> · 2026-07-21 22:48 UTC

Signed with PGP, not checked

Commit: a7e070eb239284945b350c1d603c7859c3ead0bb

Parent: 52a9f01

8 files changed, +62 insertions, -41 deletions

M Containerfile +29

			@@ -274,6 +274,35 @@
274	274		# /etc/shells". bash stays at /bin/sh and /bin/bash for scripts.
275	275		RUN echo /usr/bin/nu >> /etc/shells
276	276
	277	+	# =====================================================================
	278	+	# Shell integrations, generated once into nushell's system autoload dir.
	279	+	# =====================================================================
	280	+	# nushell sources every .nu in its autoload directories at startup, and
	281	+	# /usr/share/nushell/vendor/autoload is the first one it looks in. Files
	282	+	# put here are picked up by every account with no per-user setup, which
	283	+	# is what an image with a read-only /usr wants.
	284	+	#
	285	+	# Generated at build time rather than on first shell start, for two
	286	+	# reasons that only showed up when this was tried the other way round.
	287	+	# `source` is a nushell parse-time keyword: it takes a path known while
	288	+	# the file is being parsed, so `let cache = ...; source $cache` fails with
	289	+	# "Value is not a parse-time constant" and, because the failure is a parse
	290	+	# error, nushell discards the whole config file. The account then gets
	291	+	# stock nushell: no theme, no vi mode, no history settings, no aliases,
	292	+	# and the banner that config.nu turns off. The second reason is ordering:
	293	+	# the autoload directories are read before env.nu's writes land, so a file
	294	+	# generated at shell start is not seen until the next shell.
	295	+	#
	296	+	# Guarded on the binaries so this step does not fail the build if either
	297	+	# package leaves the image; nushell simply autoloads whatever is here.
	298	+	RUN mkdir -p /usr/share/nushell/vendor/autoload \
	299	+	&& if command -v starship >/dev/null; then \
	300	+	starship init nu > /usr/share/nushell/vendor/autoload/starship.nu; \
	301	+	fi \
	302	+	&& if command -v zoxide >/dev/null; then \
	303	+	zoxide init nushell > /usr/share/nushell/vendor/autoload/zoxide.nu; \
	304	+	fi
	305	+
277	306		# =====================================================================
278	307		# Config tree — the etc/ and usr/ trees in the repo map 1:1 into
279	308		# the image. Per-user defaults live under etc/skel/.config/ and

M crates/alloy/src/cli.rs +4 -3

			@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
2	2		//!
3	3		//! Every command the console runs passes through here, which is what makes the
4	4		//! log pane's promise honest: the pane cannot show a command the console did
5		-	//! not run, and it cannot run one it does not show. docs/CONSOLE.md — "the
6		-	//! console is not trying to hide the CLI, it's trying to make the CLI
7		-	//! approachable" — is enforced structurally rather than by remembering to log.
	5	+	//! not run, and it cannot run one it does not show. The promise docs/CONSOLE.md
	6	+	//! makes, "the console is not trying to hide the CLI, it's trying to make the
	7	+	//! CLI approachable", is enforced structurally rather than by remembering to
	8	+	//! log.
8	9		//!
9	10		//! [`Invocation`] is the common case and [`Effect`] is the general one. Almost
10	11		//! everything the console does is running someone else's CLI, but not quite

M crates/alloy/src/install.rs +1 -1

			@@ -1590,7 +1590,7 @@
1590	1590		impl View for InstallView {
1591	1591		fn title(&self) -> String {
1592	1592		format!(
1593		-	"install ({}) — step {} of {}: {}",
	1593	+	"install ({}), step {} of {}: {}",
1594	1594		self.backend.name(),
1595	1595		self.steps.current() + 1,
1596	1596		self.steps.len(),

M crates/alloy/src/pkg.rs +5 -5

			@@ -140,8 +140,8 @@
140	140		///
141	141		/// `Other` keeps the backend's own word rather than collapsing it. Podman's
142	142		/// state vocabulary gains members (`paused`, `stopping`, `exited`), and showing
143		-	/// an unfamiliar one beats mapping it to "unknown" — same reasoning as `mesh`
144		-	/// reporting `BackendState` verbatim.
	143	+	/// an unfamiliar one beats mapping it to "unknown", the same reasoning as
	144	+	/// `mesh` reporting `BackendState` verbatim.
145	145		#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
146	146		pub enum BoxState {
147	147		Running,
			@@ -1245,7 +1245,7 @@
1245	1245		// check and same wording as `toggle`, for the same reason: the state
1246	1246		// is the console's fact, not the backend's.
1247	1247		if boxed.state == BoxState::Absent {
1248		-	anyhow::bail!("{} does not exist yet — press c to create it", boxed.name);
	1248	+	anyhow::bail!("{} does not exist yet; press c to create it", boxed.name);
1249	1249		}
1250	1250		let (name, spec) = self.declared_spec(boxed, "exported")?;
1251	1251		for effect in self.backends[index].export(name, spec)? {
			@@ -1272,7 +1272,7 @@
1272	1272		// command that can only fail. The state is the console's fact to
1273	1273		// check, not the backend's.
1274	1274		if boxed.state == BoxState::Absent {
1275		-	anyhow::bail!("{} does not exist yet — press c to create it", boxed.name);
	1275	+	anyhow::bail!("{} does not exist yet; press c to create it", boxed.name);
1276	1276		}
1277	1277		let backend = &self.backends[index];
1278	1278		let Some(invocation) = backend.stop(boxed).or_else(\|\| backend.start(boxed)) else {
			@@ -1322,7 +1322,7 @@
1322	1322		};
1323	1323		if row.boxed.state == BoxState::Absent {
1324	1324		self.error = Some(format!(
1325		-	"{} does not exist yet — press c to create it",
	1325	+	"{} does not exist yet; press c to create it",
1326	1326		row.boxed.name
1327	1327		));
1328	1328		return Flow::Continue;

M crates/alloy/src/wizard.rs +3 -3

			@@ -68,9 +68,9 @@
68	68		/// The furthest step the user has reached, current or behind them.
69	69		///
70	70		/// For the step indicator: steps at or below this are answered, the rest
71		-	/// are not yet visited. Nothing draws that indicator yet — the title says
72		-	/// "step 2 of 4" instead — so this is the last of the type still waiting on
73		-	/// its consumer, and the allow comes off with it.
	71	+	/// are not yet visited. Nothing draws that indicator yet, since the title
	72	+	/// says "step 2 of 4" instead, so this is the last of the type still
	73	+	/// waiting on its consumer, and the allow comes off with it.
74	74		#[allow(dead_code)]
75	75		pub const fn furthest(&self) -> usize {
76	76		self.furthest

M etc/skel/.config/nushell/aliases.nu +2 -2

			@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
4	4		# reconsider whether the alias earned its place.
5	5
6	6		# -------------------------------------------------------------------
7		-	# ls variants — nu's `ls` is already structured; these add flags
	7	+	# ls variants. nu's `ls` is already structured; these add flags
8	8		# -------------------------------------------------------------------
9	9		alias ll = ls -la
10	10		alias la = ls -a
			@@ -51,4 +51,4 @@
51	51		# -------------------------------------------------------------------
52	52		# alias net = alloy net
53	53		# alias audio = alloy audio
54		-	# — deferred; enable once alloy console v0.5 ships.
	54	+	# Deferred; enable once alloy console v0.5 ships.

M etc/skel/.config/nushell/config.nu +17 -26

			@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
1	1		# Alloy Nushell config
2	2		#
3		-	# Loaded on every nu shell start. Configures nu's own behavior — table style,
	3	+	# Loaded on every nu shell start. Configures nu's own behavior: table style,
4	4		# history, completions, keybindings, color palette for nu's own output.
5	5		#
6	6		# Aliases live in aliases.nu (sourced at the bottom).
7	7		# Environment lives in env.nu (loaded before this file by nu itself).
8	8
9	9		# -------------------------------------------------------------------
10		-	# Alloy color palette — Akari Dawn (default light).
	10	+	# Alloy color palette, Akari Dawn (default light).
11	11		# Source of truth: makeover's themes/akari-dawn.toml.
12	12		# -------------------------------------------------------------------
13	13		let alloy = {
			@@ -90,9 +90,13 @@
90	90		use_ls_colors: true
91	91		}
92	92
	93	+	# `metric: true` and `format: "auto"` were this record's shape in an
	94	+	# older nushell and are rejected by 0.112 as unknown options. The intent
	95	+	# was metric units, which `unit` now carries.
93	96		filesize: {
94		-	metric: true
95		-	format: "auto"
	97	+	unit: "metric"
	98	+	show_unit: true
	99	+	precision: 1
96	100		}
97	101
98	102		cursor_shape: {
			@@ -172,30 +176,17 @@
172	176		}
173	177
174	178		# -------------------------------------------------------------------
175		-	# Integrations — conditionally loaded if the tool is present
	179	+	# Integrations
176	180		# -------------------------------------------------------------------
177		-
178		-	# starship prompt
179		-	if (which starship \| is-not-empty) {
180		-	let starship_cache = ($nu.cache-dir \| path join "starship-init.nu")
181		-	if not ($starship_cache \| path exists) {
182		-	mkdir ($starship_cache \| path dirname)
183		-	starship init nu \| save -f $starship_cache
184		-	}
185		-	source $starship_cache
186		-	}
187		-
188		-	# zoxide directory jumper
189		-	if (which zoxide \| is-not-empty) {
190		-	let zoxide_cache = ($nu.cache-dir \| path join "zoxide-init.nu")
191		-	if not ($zoxide_cache \| path exists) {
192		-	mkdir ($zoxide_cache \| path dirname)
193		-	zoxide init nushell \| save -f $zoxide_cache
194		-	}
195		-	source $zoxide_cache
196		-	}
	181	+	# starship and zoxide are not set up here. The image generates their init
	182	+	# files into /usr/share/nushell/vendor/autoload/, which nushell sources by
	183	+	# itself before this file runs. See the Containerfile for why: `source` is
	184	+	# a parse-time keyword, so it cannot take a path a `let` computed and it
	185	+	# cannot be gated behind a runtime `if`. Written that way it was a parse
	186	+	# error, and a parse error costs the whole file, not just its own line.
197	187
198	188		# -------------------------------------------------------------------
199		-	# Aliases (small, curated — see aliases.nu)
	189	+	# Aliases (small, curated; see aliases.nu)
200	190		# -------------------------------------------------------------------
	191	+	# `$nu` is a parse-time constant, so this path is one `source` can take.
201	192		source ($nu.default-config-dir \| path join "aliases.nu")

M etc/skel/.config/nushell/env.nu +1 -1

			@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
50	50		# a comment for future-Alloy debugging.
51	51
52	52		# -------------------------------------------------------------------
53		-	# Cursor — Bibata Modern Classic, size 24. Also declared in
	53	+	# Cursor: Bibata Modern Classic, size 24. Also declared in
54	54		# ~/.icons/default/index.theme and the GTK settings.ini; env vars here
55	55		# cover apps and toolkits that read XCURSOR_* directly.
56	56		# -------------------------------------------------------------------