Templates Overview

Den ships several templates that cover progressively complex setups. Use nix flake init to scaffold a new project:

nix flake init -t github:denful/den#<template>

Choosing a Template

Template	Use case	Flakes	flake-parts	Home-Manager
minimal	Smallest possible Den setup	✓	✗	✗
default	Recommended starting point	✓	✓	✓
example	Feature showcase with namespaces	✓	✓	✓
noflake	Stable Nix, no flakes	✗	✗	✗
nvf-standalone	Den based NVF without NixOS	✓	✗	✗
microvm	MicroVM host and guests	✓	✗	✗
flake-parts-modules	flake-parts perSystem submodules	✓	✓	✗
bogus	Bug reproduction	✓	✓	✓
ci	Den’s own test suite	✓	✓	✓

Demo Directories

The following are not nix flake init templates — they are demo directories that live in the Den repository. Their flake.nix references Den via a relative path:../.., so they only resolve from inside a checkout of the repo. To explore one, clone the repo and copy templates/<demo>/ out as your starting point, or run the commands on its page from the repo root.

Demo	Use case	Flakes	flake-parts	Home-Manager
fleet-demo	Multi-host fleet with environments	✓	✓	✓
terranix-demo	Terraform config from den hosts	✓	✓	✗

Quick Start

mkdir my-nix && cd my-nix
nix flake init -t github:denful/den
nix flake update den

This clones the default template. Edit modules/hosts.nix to declare your machines, then:

nix run .#vm

Project Structure

Every template follows the same pattern:

flake.nix          # or default.nix for noflake
modules/
  den.nix          # host/user declarations + den.flakeModule import
  *.nix            # aspect definitions, one concern per file

Den uses import-tree to recursively load all .nix files under modules/. You never need to manually list imports — just create files.

What Each Template Demonstrates

• minimal — The absolute minimum: one host, one user, no extra dependencies
• default — Production-ready structure with Home-Manager, VM testing, dendritic flake-file
• example — Namespaces, angle brackets, cross-platform (NixOS + Darwin), providers
• noflake — Using Den with npins instead of flakes
• microvm — Demostrates Den extensibility showcasing MicroVM virtualization.
• nvf-standalone — Demostrates Den outside the NixOS/nix-Darwin framework.
• flake-parts-modules — Integrate Den aspects with third-party flake-parts perSystem submodules.
• fleet-demo — Multi-host fleet with environments, cross-host pipe.collect, haproxy load balancing
• terranix-demo — Generate Terraform config from den hosts using policy.instantiate
• bogus — Creating minimal reproductions for bug reports with nix-unit
• ci — Comprehensive tests covering every Den feature (your best learning resource)

Next Steps

Start with the Minimal template to understand Den’s core, then graduate to Default for a real setup.