COSMIC: Difference between revisions

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COSMIC was primarily developed for use in the [https://pop.system76.com/ Pop!_OS] distribution.

== ~~NixOS module~~ (starting with NixOS 25.05) ==

== Installation (starting with NixOS 25.05) ==

COSMIC support in nixpkgs is still in development. You can follow progress via [https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/259641 the tracking issue].

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</syntaxhighlight>Alternatively, there is a [https://github.com/lilyinstarlight/nixos-cosmic flake] to setup COSMIC on NixOS.

== ~~COSMIC packages~~ ==

== Configuration ==

~~While~~ the ~~whole desktop~~ is ~~not configured many packages~~ are ~~available in nixpkgs already~~. ~~You can search~~ for ~~packages~~ with ~~a query similar to this one https:~~//~~search~~.~~nixos~~.~~org~~/packages~~?query~~=cosmic~~&from~~=~~0&size~~=~~1000&sort~~=~~relevance&channel~~=~~unstable~~. ~~Note that not all of~~ the ~~results will~~ be ~~part~~ of the COSMIC ~~desktop~~.

COSMIC stores its configuration in [https://github.com/ron-rs/ron Rusty Object Notation (RON)] files. By default, the system-wide configuration is used unless user-specific files are present.

Currently, NixOS does not provide declarative options for configuring COSMIC through the NixOS module system.

=== System-wide configuration ===

If no user configuration exists, COSMIC falls back to system-wide defaults. These configuration files are bundled with each cosmic package and are located in their respective <code>[package]/share/cosmic/</code> directories.

When COSMIC is enabled using the NixOS option <code>services.desktopManager.cosmic.enable = true;</code>, the <code>/share/cosmic</code> directories from the relevant packages are symlinked into <code>/run/current-system/sw</code>.

This allows COSMIC to locate and apply the default configurations at runtime.

=== User configuration ===

User configuration files are located in <code>~/.config/cosmic/</code>.

They override the system defaults when present, and are automatically created or updated when using the COSMIC Settings application.

=== Component-specific configuration ===

Each COSMIC component maintains its own configuration files. For example, the COSMIC Panel reads and stores its configuration at <code>~/.config/cosmic/com.system76.CosmicPanel.Panel</code>

Components can be configured by modifying these files directly. For instance, to place the Time and Notifications applets in the center of the COSMIC panel, create the following file:

{{file|3=

Some([

"com.system76.CosmicAppletTime",

"com.system76.CosmicAppletNotifications",

])

|name=~/.config/cosmic/com.system76.CosmicPanel.Panel/v1/plugins_center|lang=rust}}

Most configuration changes are applied immediately without needing to restart the session.

== Tips and tricks ==

=== Excluding COSMIC applications ===

To exclude certain applications that are installed by default with COSMIC, set the {{nixos:option|environment.cosmic.excludePackages}} module option (only available in 25.11):

{{file|/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|nix|<nowiki>

environment.cosmic.excludePackages = with pkgs; [

cosmic-edit

];

</nowiki>}}

[[Category:Desktop environment]]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 COSMIC was primarily developed for use in the [https://pop.system76.com/ Pop!_OS] distribution.
-== NixOS module (starting with NixOS 25.05) ==
+== Installation (starting with NixOS 25.05) ==
 COSMIC support in nixpkgs is still in development. You can follow progress via [https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/259641 the tracking issue].
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 </syntaxhighlight>Alternatively, there is a [https://github.com/lilyinstarlight/nixos-cosmic flake] to setup COSMIC on NixOS.
-== COSMIC packages ==
+== Configuration ==
-While the whole desktop is not configured many packages are available in nixpkgs already. You can search for packages with a query similar to this one https://search.nixos.org/packages?query=cosmic&from=0&size=1000&sort=relevance&channel=unstable. Note that not all of the results will be part of the COSMIC desktop.
+COSMIC stores its configuration in [https://github.com/ron-rs/ron Rusty Object Notation (RON)] files. By default, the system-wide configuration is used unless user-specific files are present.
+Currently, NixOS does not provide declarative options for configuring COSMIC through the NixOS module system.
+=== System-wide configuration ===
+If no user configuration exists, COSMIC falls back to system-wide defaults. These configuration files are bundled with each cosmic package and are located in their respective <code>[package]/share/cosmic/</code> directories.
+When COSMIC is enabled using the NixOS option <code>services.desktopManager.cosmic.enable = true;</code>, the <code>/share/cosmic</code> directories from the relevant packages are symlinked into <code>/run/current-system/sw</code>.
+This allows COSMIC to locate and apply the default configurations at runtime.
+=== User configuration ===
+User configuration files are located in <code>~/.config/cosmic/</code>.
+They override the system defaults when present, and are automatically created or updated when using the COSMIC Settings application.
+=== Component-specific configuration ===
+Each COSMIC component maintains its own configuration files. For example, the COSMIC Panel reads and stores its configuration at <code>~/.config/cosmic/com.system76.CosmicPanel.Panel</code>
+Components can be configured by modifying these files directly. For instance, to place the Time and Notifications applets in the center of the COSMIC panel, create the following file:
+{{file|3=
+Some([
+    "com.system76.CosmicAppletTime",
+    "com.system76.CosmicAppletNotifications",
+])
+|name=~/.config/cosmic/com.system76.CosmicPanel.Panel/v1/plugins_center|lang=rust}}
+Most configuration changes are applied immediately without needing to restart the session.
+== Tips and tricks ==
+=== Excluding COSMIC applications ===
+To exclude certain applications that are installed by default with COSMIC, set the {{nixos:option|environment.cosmic.excludePackages}} module option (only available in 25.11):
+{{file|/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|nix|<nowiki>
+  environment.cosmic.excludePackages = with pkgs; [
+    cosmic-edit
+  ];
+</nowiki>}}
 [[Category:Desktop environment]]