#Glossary

Project-specific terms, alphabetical. Each links to the source that defines it. See also Architecture and Data schema.

Chunk walk — The option tree is evaluated in chunks (an option path plus an optional child subset), one nix eval per chunk; a failing chunk is halved or descended at the same detail level to isolate the poisoned option, so healthy siblings keep full values (src/extract/options.ts).

Config blob / ConfigData — The expensive per-configuration JSON document (config/<kind>.<name>.json): all OptionEntry records plus a precomputed fileIndex so the SPA never scans thousands of options per click (src/schema.ts).

Customized vs defaulted — An option counts as customized when isDefined && highestPrio < 1500, i.e. a real definition beat the option's own declared default — not isDefined alone, since every option with a default is "defined" by its own declaration (src/schema.ts).

Degradation ladder — The three detail levels a failing, unsplittable chunk walks down: full → values skipped → values+descriptions skipped, each rung surfaced as a warning before the chunk is abandoned (src/extract/options.ts).

Dendritic — A flake-parts + import-tree configuration style where every .nix file is a flake-parts module discovered by directory structure; the pattern flake-explorer is optimized for (README).

Direct vs transitive input — Root-level flake.lock inputs vs inputs-of-inputs; transitive inputs carry transitive: true, are named parent/child, and are deduped so a followed input appears once (src/schema.ts, built in src/extract/manifest.ts).

flake-parts — The module framework (https://flake.parts) this project both targets as a visualization subject and uses for its own flake.nix.

Follows — flake.lock's input aliasing (inputs.x.inputs.nixpkgs.follows): InputInfo.follows records the followed node key, resolved by walking the lock graph (src/schema.ts, src/extract/manifest.ts).

Graft / GraftInfo — A top-level output detected as extending an input's same-named namespace (e.g. lib = nixpkgs.lib.extend …), flagged when >=90% of the input's attr names reappear; the UI shows only the added keys and hides the inherited bulk (src/schema.ts).

import-tree — https://github.com/vic/import-tree, the auto-importer that mounts every .nix file under a directory as a module; half of the dendritic pattern (README).

Manifest — The cheap, always-regenerated document (manifest.json): flake metadata, outputs tree, inputs, file list, import graph, configuration refs, grafts, and warnings (src/schema.ts, built in src/extract/manifest.ts).

Mounting structure — The left pane shows a configuration's own module files in their directory layout — where import-tree "mounts" them — rather than as a flat list; the tree is shaped client-side in app/lib/indexes.ts (README).

narHash — The content hash of the locked flake tree; the cache key that decides whether a config blob is still fresh, recorded in each sidecar alongside the extractor version (src/extract/cache.ts).

Priority / mkForce / mkDefault — lib.mkOverride definition priorities; the well-known values live in PRIO (mkForce 50, plain 100, mkDefault 1000, option default 1500) and drive the priority chips and customized styling (src/schema.ts).

Sidecar — The config/<kind>.<name>.meta.json file next to each config blob, recording narHash, extractor version, timestamp, option count, duration, and warnings; reconcile flips matching configs to "ok" so they are not re-evaluated (src/extract/cache.ts).

Single-flight extraction — serve extracts a pending configuration at most once concurrently: the first request triggers extraction and is held open, later requests for the same config await the same in-flight promise (src/serve.ts).

Store path — An absolute /nix/store/... path. Files are attributed to inputs by store-path prefix match against each input's outPath; lazy trees are disabled so paths are real and comparable across evals (src/extract/run-nix.ts, src/extract/manifest.ts).

storePath join key — The universal join between the two documents: FileEntry.storePath matches the file strings in an option's declarations/definitions, letting the SPA connect files to options (src/schema.ts).

UNKNOWN_FILE sentinel — The "<unknown-file>" string the module system uses for inline/anonymous modules; it appears as a file key in declarations, definitions, and the fileIndex (src/schema.ts).