Flatpaks the Nix way (nixcon2025)

Nix and Flatpak are often seen as solving similar problems from different angles: one declarative and reproducible, the other sandboxed and user-friendly. But what happens when you try to make them work together? And why would you want to do it? In this talk, I’ll present nix-flatpak (https://github.com/gmodena/nix-flatpak), an open-source project to declaratively manage Flatpak apps with Nix. This project started as a personal learning experiment to understand Nix, flakes, and module design, and grew into a practical tool to bridge the Nix and Flatpak ecosystems. We’ll cover: - A quick primer on Flatpaks and why they matter for desktop NixOS users - How Flatpak installations are managed declaratively in nix-flatpak - Architecture decisions and tradeoffs: convergent state vs full reproducibility - How to test and validate the module logic across system and user installations - What’s ahead: improving UX, stability, and community feedback The talk is intended to be interactive. I’ll share how the project evolved, but also open the floor to ideas, questions, and use cases from the community. Your feedback will directly shape the future of nix-flatpak. about this event: https://talks.nixcon.org/nixcon-2025/talk/XJ9JLH/