cells in the Dendritic Flake

cells/ is where the flake becomes a system. Each file contributes options, branches, modules, host outputs, overlays, or development tooling.

What this node does

The cell tree is imported by import-tree. That means files can be small and local while still contributing to the final flake output.

The important subtrees are:

options/ defines the schema under my.*.
branches/ defines the named collectors that leaves attach to.
hosts/ turns branch selections into nixosConfigurations.
core/, shell/, desktop/, persist/, secrets/, server/, programs/, hardware/, and scripts/ provide leaves.
theme.nix and theme/ define and apply visual design data.
overlays/ connects custom packages and package overrides to the system.
dev/ exposes formatters, checks, and development shells.

The cell tree keeps the configuration navigable. Instead of asking, “where is this option merged?”, you ask two questions.

That gives the repository an inspectable flow from generic behavior to concrete machine.

Most leaves have this shape.

_: {
  config.my.branches.base.nixosModules = [
    ({ pkgs, ... }: {
      environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.git ];
    })
  ];
}

The file does not need to know the host. It only contributes to a branch. The host will later decide whether that branch is selected.