> I am still confused by how to use flakes as a "package consumer" A Flake is a git repository or another Flake compatible URL. If you want to run a flake, it'

> I am still confused by how to use flakes as a "package consumer" A Flake is a git repository or another Flake compatible URL. If you want to run a flake, it's simply: nix run github:juser/hello or: nix shell github:juser/hello If you want to install it as a user: nix profile install github:juser/hello If you do: nix profile update '.*' It will go through the packages in your profile and check for updates to the Git repositories and update the packages. If you have the Flake URL pointing to a specific revision, it will stay with that and never update: nix run github:juser/hello?rev=53cd89289e44b269e28d2340f022e5f63525bcd3 As far as I understand it, the 'nix profile' command is imperative, not declarative. Only the packages installed system wide in /etc/nixos/ are declarative. If you want to use flakes there, create a /etc/nixos/flake.nix and declare your flakes as input. nix-channel is no longer necessary when you go fully with Flakes. For declarative management of your $HOME directory you need home-manager, which is still a separate community project, not part of the core NixOS.