nix-dmenu-flexipatch

bakkeby/dmenu-flexipatch wrapped in a nix flake.

flexipatch ships 55 dmenu patches as preprocessor toggles in patches.h. this flake generates that header from a nix attrset, so every patch is a plain package parameter - no fork to maintain, no manual header editing, fully declarative and reproducible.

dmenu-flexipatch.override {
  patches = {
    CENTER = true;
    FUZZYMATCH = true;
    LINE_HEIGHT = true;
    ALPHA = true;   # libXrender gets pulled in automatically
  };
}

quick start

# default build behaves like vanilla dmenu 5.4 (all patches off)
nix run github:sophronesis/nix-dmenu-flexipatch -- -v

# try dmenu_run from it
nix shell github:sophronesis/nix-dmenu-flexipatch -c dmenu_run

usage in a flake

{
  inputs.nix-dmenu-flexipatch.url = "github:sophronesis/nix-dmenu-flexipatch";

  # ... in your nixos/home-manager config:

  environment.systemPackages = [
    (inputs.nix-dmenu-flexipatch.packages.${pkgs.system}.default.override {
      patches = {
        CENTER = true;
        BORDER = true;
        FUZZYMATCH = true;
      };
    })
  ];
}

or via the overlay, which adds pkgs.dmenu-flexipatch and builds against your nixpkgs (this flake's nixpkgs pin is only used for its own standalone builds and checks):

nixpkgs.overlays = [
  inputs.nix-dmenu-flexipatch.overlays.default
  # optional: make it the system-wide dmenu so dmenu_run pickers use it
  (final: prev: {
    dmenu = final.dmenu-flexipatch.override { patches = { CENTER = true; }; };
  })
];

parameters

param	default	what it does
patches	{ }	attrset of flexipatch toggles merged over the defaults in patches.nix. keys are the upstream define names minus the _PATCH suffix, values are booleans. unknown names fail at eval time with the offending key.
conf	null	replacement config.def.h - a string, path or derivation
extraPatches	[ ]	regular source diffs applied on top via stdenv patching
xinerama	true	vanilla dmenu config.mk toggle (not a flexipatch)
extraMakeFlags	[ ]	escape hatch for anything else in config.mk

patch-specific libraries are wired automatically: ALPHA adds libXrender, PANGO adds pango/pangoxft, BIDI adds fribidi. every other patch is pure preprocessor and needs nothing.

the full patch list with descriptions and upstream links lives in patches.nix. you can also introspect a build:

nix eval github:sophronesis/nix-dmenu-flexipatch#default.patchSet      # all toggles
nix eval github:sophronesis/nix-dmenu-flexipatch#default.enabledPatches

conflicting patches

flexipatch does not make every combination valid. upstream notes a few incompatibilities in the patch comments (carried over into patches.nix), e.g. PANGO vs SCROLL, and MULTI_SELECTION takes precedence over PIPEOUT / PRINTINPUTTEXT / NON_BLOCKING_STDIN. invalid combos fail at compile time, exactly as they would building by hand.

nix flake check builds a set of representative combos: default, a 19-patch featured set, pango, bidi, vi-mode and no-xinerama.

updating

./update.sh                    # bump the flexipatch input + regenerate patches.nix
./update.sh --no-flake-update  # regenerate only, from the current lock

the script re-derives patches.nix from upstream patches.def.h (descriptions and links included) and syncs the upstream dmenu version into package.nix. needs nix and jq.

related projects

checked before publishing (2026-07-11): nothing else exposes flexipatch toggles as nix parameters for dmenu.

• bandithedoge/nur-packages - packages dmenu-flexipatch (and dwm/st/slock variants) in NUR, but builds stock defaults with no way to enable patches
• paulhersch/nix-config - closest prior art for the trick itself: generates a patches file for st-flexipatch from a nix list, inside a personal config rather than a reusable flake
• polarmutex/dmenu - dmenu-flexipatch fork with a flake that builds a pre-edited in-tree patches.h, not parameterized, unmaintained
• dmenu-flexipatch is not in nixpkgs (only vanilla dmenu), and upstream has no nix support

license

MIT for this wrapper. dmenu and the patches keep their own licensing, see the upstream LICENSE.