SlateOS system changes
SlateOS describes the whole system in one place: /etc/slateos/configuration.nix (or a flake in /etc/slateos). Installing software or changing a system setting means editing that file and rebuilding. SlateOS is built on NixOS, so the format is the NixOS module language; the nixos-* tools still exist, but use the slateos-* front ends, which know where the configuration lives. Never use nix-env -i for system software; it bypasses the configuration.
If /etc/slateos does not exist (a plain NixOS machine running Slate), the same commands work on /etc/nixos.
Try a package without installing it
nix shell nixpkgs#ripgrep --command rg --version
Tier: observe (nothing persists).
Install a package system-wide
- Read the current config:
cat /etc/slateos/configuration.nix(tier: observe). - Add the package to
environment.systemPackages. Tier: reversible (it is a file edit; it may need root, see below). - Rebuild:
sudo slateos-rebuild switch. Tier: confirm. Tell the user what will change before asking.
Settings that Settings makes for the system
Some system choices have a switch in Settings and live in /etc/slateos/settings.json, which the SlateOS module reads; change them through slateos-settings, which writes the file and rebuilds, instead of editing the configuration:
slateos-settings show # what the system offers and has
sudo slateos-settings set input-methods pinyin # Chinese Pinyin; also rime, mozc (Japanese), hangul (Korean)
sudo slateos-settings set input-methods pinyin,mozc # several, in this order
sudo slateos-settings set input-methods none
Tier: confirm (a rebuild that downloads the input method, a minute or more). After it, the person switches with Ctrl+Space; apps opened before may need reopening. Settings, Keyboard does the same for the person.
Two more choices govern you, and they are the person's alone: what you may do in windows while the screen is locked (agent-while-locked: pause, elements, continue) and whether the screen locks while you work (lock-while-agent-works: yes, no). slateos-settings get agent-while-locked reads one (tier: observe). Never change them on your own initiative, and never suggest loosening them to finish a task; when the person asks, point them to Settings, AI, which explains what each choice allows, or run sudo slateos-settings set agent-while-locked pause and the like for them (they type their password).
Desktop applications (chat, office, browsers) come from Flathub for the person instead: see the apps-flatpak skill.
Root
Editing /etc/slateos and rebuilding need root. Run the command with plain sudo (never sudo -S, never echo password |, never ask for a password in chat). On the SlateOS desktop, sudo opens a password dialog for the person at the screen; they type it, the command runs, and you only see the result. Tell the user before the first sudo of a task what it will run, since the dialog does not show the command. If sudo fails with "no askpass program" or "a terminal is required", there is no desktop session: give the user the exact command to run themselves.
Undo
Every rebuild is a generation. sudo slateos-rebuild switch --rollback returns to the previous one. Tier: confirm. slateos-rebuild list-generations shows them (observe).
Verify
which <program> after the rebuild, or systemctl status <unit> for services. slateos-version prints the running system version.