Troubleshooting

Build or activation errors

If Build & Test fails, paste the error output back into nixmac's chat. The AI agent can usually diagnose nix-darwin syntax, option, or package errors and update the config.

AI provider setup errors

• No API key set or No API key found. Please add your API key in Settings to get started. — add an OpenRouter key in Settings → API Keys, or switch to a configured Ollama model in Settings → AI Models.
• No base URL set or No vLLM base URL configured. Please set it in Settings. — the advanced vLLM/LiteLLM path needs an API base URL in Settings → API Keys and a model name that your endpoint serves.
• CLI tool not found in PATH — install and authenticate the selected advanced CLI provider, then make sure claude or opencode is available in the environment nixmac launches with.

Permission issues

nixmac needs administrator approval during activation and Full Disk Access for some nix-darwin operations. If activation fails with a permissions error, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access and make sure nixmac is listed.

Homebrew cask password prompts

Some Homebrew casks use installer packages that require administrator privileges. If a rebuild fails because a cask could not prompt for a password, copy the error into nixmac's chat so the agent can help you decide whether to retry, remove the cask from the config, or install it manually outside nix-darwin.

Nix issues

For installer-level Nix problems, see the Determinate Nix Installer docs and the nix-darwin manual.

Report a bug

Open an issue on GitHub with the error output and the relevant nixmac rebuild log from ~/Library/Logs/nixmac/.