From 8baa5ec5de960253e6ecff6f7bcb13bb25609261 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Scott Worley <scottworley@scottworley.com>
Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2026 18:26:18 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 1/1] Add the option to use `nix-env --set` for user profiles

---
 modules/auto-upgrade.nix | 14 +++++++++-----
 upgrade-config.nix       |  4 ++++
 2 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/modules/auto-upgrade.nix b/modules/auto-upgrade.nix
index 5f5fe3a..918b4a9 100644
--- a/modules/auto-upgrade.nix
+++ b/modules/auto-upgrade.nix
@@ -200,12 +200,16 @@ let
       hydrate ${config.system.build.nixos-rebuild}/bin/nixos-rebuild ${cfg.operation}
       sync
       while read user;do
-        remove_arg=-r
-        if [[ "$(userenv_query "$user" .otherPackagesAction)" == keep ]];then
-          remove_arg=
-        fi
+        configured_action=$(userenv_query "$user" .otherPackagesAction)
+        action=
+        case "$configured_action" in
+          keep)       action=-i;;
+          remove)     action=-ir;;
+          set-remove) action=--set;;
+          *)          die "Unexpected otherPackagesAction $configured_action for user $user"
+        esac
         hydrate /run/wrappers/bin/sudo -u "$user" \
-          ${pkgs.nix}/bin/nix-env -f '<nixpkgs>' $remove_arg -iA "$(userenv_query "$user" .package)"
+          ${pkgs.nix}/bin/nix-env -f '<nixpkgs>' "$action" -A "$(userenv_query "$user" .package)"
         sync
       done < <( config_query '.userEnvironments | keys []' )
     ''}
diff --git a/upgrade-config.nix b/upgrade-config.nix
index 4d69100..abf70aa 100644
--- a/upgrade-config.nix
+++ b/upgrade-config.nix
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ evalModules {
                 otherPackagesAction = mkOption {
                   type = types.enum [
                     "remove"
+                    "set-remove"
                     "keep"
                   ];
                   default = "remove";
@@ -158,6 +159,9 @@ evalModules {
                     through your one entire-environment <literal>package</literal>.
                     This keeps your environment declarative and ensures that all
                     packages receive regular updates.
+
+                    "set-remove" is mostly equilavent to "remove", but uses
+                    nix-env --set, resulting in a profile without a manifest.nix.
                   '';
                 };
               };
-- 
2.51.2