flake-aspects
The foundation. Zero-dependency aspect composition, transposition, dependency DAGs, parametric providers. Works with or without flakes. Details
Ecosystem Overview
This is the suite of open source projects the Denful community has been building, focused and composable pieces that span Aspect oriented Nix configuration, algebraic effects, interaction nets, functional reactive programming, and Nix tooling. Each one solves a specific problem and works on its own or together with the rest. The latest and most ambitious of vic’s projects is dnx, a new optimal Nix runtime, and it is where most of vic’s energy goes today.
Aspect oriented Nix
Section titled “Aspect oriented Nix”The original and largest cluster: composable, aspect-oriented Nix configuration tooling.
graph TD dendrix["dendrix, community distribution"] denful["denful, facet distribution"] den["den, configuration framework"] fa["flake-aspects, aspect composition"] ff["flake-file, flake.nix generator"] it["import-tree, recursive module imports"] wi["with-inputs, non-flake inputs"] cm["checkmate, CI & testing"] uf["dendritic-unflake, non-flake examples"] dd["den-diagram, visualization"] dendrix --> den denful --> den denful --> fa den --> fa den --> ff den --> it den --> cm den --> dd dendrix --> cm fa -.-> ff wi -.-> ff uf -.-> wi uf -.-> fa
den
The framework. Context-aware configuration system with declarative pipelines, host/user schemas, batteries included. Built on flake-aspects. Details
flake-file
The generator. Define flake inputs as typed Nix module options. Regenerate flake.nix with one command.
Details
import-tree
The loader. Recursively import Nix modules from a directory tree. The most widely adopted library in the ecosystem. Details
dendrix
The distribution. Community-driven index of Aspect oriented aspects, layers, import-trees, and templates for quick-start setups. Details
checkmate
The CI toolkit. Bundles treefmt and nix-unit for testing flakes with zero dependencies. Details
with-inputs
The bridge. Flake-compatible inputs resolution for non-flake Nix, follows, overrides, and introspection without flake.nix. Details
denful
The distribution. LazyVim-like facets for common use cases. Pre-configured Aspect oriented modules that just work. Work in progress. Details
dendritic-unflake
The proof. Multiple example setups demonstrating Aspect oriented patterns without flakes, unflake, npins, builtins, froyo, falake. Details
den-diagram
The visualizer. Turn den’s aspect-resolution pipelines into mermaid, dot, and plantuml diagrams via a five-stage graph IR pipeline. Details
FRP, Streams & Data
Section titled “FRP, Streams & Data”Stream-based reactive programming and data transformation for Nix.
ned
FRP kernel. Stream-based functional-reactive programming for Nix, inspired by Cycle.js. The reactive core of den. Details
dnzl
Actor system. Message-passing actors for pure Nix built on ned stream-cycles, pipelines, fan-outs, feedback loops. Details
zen
Module system. A minimal stream-based Nix module system, ~100-line kernel, MLTT-verified, ~26× faster than lib.evalModules. Details
bend
Parser-combinators. Lens-based bidirectional transformation and validation pipelines for Nix. Parse, Don’t Validate. Details
Algebraic Effects
Section titled “Algebraic Effects”Effect systems and handler libraries across Nix, Rust, and Go.
nfx
Nix effects. Algebraic effects with handlers for Nix, built from four kernel primitives; everything else derives from them. Details
pipe
Monadic pipe. A composable |> for any freer monad, do-style sequencing over Id, Maybe, or your own instance.
Details
fx-rs
Rust effects. Ability-style algebraic effects for stable Rust, modeled after Scala’s Kyo and fx.go. Details
fx.go
Go effects. An algebraic effect-handler system for Golang, abilities and handlers with explicit typed capabilities. Details
rust-effects
Type-theoretic effects. Freer-monad effects with FTCQueue and an MLTT dependent type checker for stable Rust. Port of nix-effects. Details
Nix Engines & Interaction Nets
Section titled “Nix Engines & Interaction Nets”Research into Nix evaluation on interaction-net substrates.
dnx
Rootless runtime. A single Rust binary, reproducible builds without root or a system-wide store, on an optimal Δ-Nets reduction engine. AGPL3. Details
GoDNix
Nix compiler. Translates Nix expressions into Delta Interaction Nets, running on GoDNet. Details
GoDNet
Go reduction engine. A Go implementation of Delta Interaction Nets and compiler backend. Details
ranix
C parser. A Nix language parser in C, built with ragel and bison. Details
Nix Tooling & Infra
Section titled “Nix Tooling & Infra”CLI tools, test runners, and infrastructure libraries for the Nix ecosystem.
nix-versions
Version finder. Find nixpkgs revisions for historical package versions, and a plain-text tool-version manager for Nix newcomers. Details
nest
Fleet framework. Declarative multi-node NixOS infrastructure with a CSS mental model, traits, selectors, and DOM-based node targeting. Details
fastest
Test runner. Parallel nix-unit compatible test execution via nix-eval-jobs. Extracted from den’s CI. Details
dag
DAG helpers. Home Manager’s directed-acyclic-graph ordering helpers as a zero-dependency standalone library. Details
ntv
Flakes editor. An interactive flakes editor and tool-versioning tool for Nix. Details
Design Philosophy
Section titled “Design Philosophy”Every project in this ecosystem shares the same core principles:
- Composable, small focused functions that combine naturally
- No lock in, works with flakes, without flakes, with flake-parts, or standalone
- Dependency minimal, most libraries have zero or near zero external dependencies
- Well tested, CI with checkmate, real test suites, real world validation
- Documented, each library has its own documentation site