home-manager:tldr:45209

The command home-manager build is used to build a Home Manager configuration and generate the corresponding user environment.

Home Manager is a program developed by the Nix community that manages the user environment by providing a declarative way to define and manage user-specific configurations. It allows users to specify their desired development environment, package installations, user-level configurations, and more.

When you run home-manager build, Home Manager looks for the configuration file (home.nix or configuration.nix) present in the current directory. This file contains the desired user-specific configurations and instructions for Home Manager. Home Manager then evaluates the configuration file and generates a user environment based on the specified configurations.

Once the command is executed, Home Manager will install and configure the specified packages and settings based on the instructions in the configuration file. This can include installing packages, managing dotfiles, setting environment variables, configuring user-specific services, and more.

The generated user environment will reflect the desired state defined in the configuration file, providing the user with a consistent and reproducible setup.