From e4af90e702516075249ee66beda12deb44e414d9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Timothy DeHerrera <tim@nrdxp.dev>
Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2024 21:52:24 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] doc: explain the high-level concepts in a README

---
 README.md | 58 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 56 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7f79833..1e64b7e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,57 @@
-> ⚠️ Warning: WIP ⚠️
+> ⚠️ Warning: WIP Alpha ⚠️
+>
+> This is meant to deprecate current NixOS module mechanism as *legacy* when it's ready, but we are not quite there yet.
 
-This is meant to deprecate current NixOS module mechanism as *legacy*.
+# Nix Module System
+
+A flexible and efficient module system for Nix, providing structured organization and composition of Nix code with strong isolation by composing modules into discreet units referred to as "atoms" (akin to cargo crates, etc.).
+
+## Key Features
+
+- **Modular Structure**: Organize Nix code into directories, each defined by a `mod.nix` file.
+- **Automatic Importing**: Nix files in a module directory are automatically imported.
+- **Isolation**: Modules are imported into the Nix store, enforcing boundaries and preventing relative path access.
+- **Scoping**: Each module has access to `self`, `super`, `atom`, and `std`.
+- **Standard Library**: Includes a standard library (`std`) augmented with `builtins`.
+
+## How It Works
+
+1. **Module Structure**:
+   - `mod.nix`: Defines a module. Its presence is required for the directory to be treated as a module.
+   - Other `.nix` files: Automatically imported as module members.
+   - Subdirectories with `mod.nix`: Treated as nested modules.
+
+2. **Scoping**:
+   - `self`: Current module, includes `outPath` for accessing non-Nix files.
+   - `super`: Parent module (if applicable).
+   - `atom`: Top-level module.
+   - `std`: Standard library and `builtins`.
+
+3. **Composition**: Modules are composed recursively, with `mod.nix` contents taking precedence.
+
+4. **Isolation**: Modules are imported into the Nix store, enforcing boundaries.
+
+## Usage
+
+```nix
+let
+  compose = import ./path/to/this/module/system;
+  myModule = compose ./path/to/my/atom/root;
+in
+  myModule
+```
+
+## Best Practices
+
+* Always use "mod.nix" to define a module in a directory.
+* Break out large functions or code blocks into their own files
+* Organize related functionality into subdirectories with their own "mod.nix" files.
+* Leverage provided scopes for clean, modular code.
+* Use `"${self}"` when needing to access non-Nix files within a module.
+
+## Future Work
+
+* private members
+* CLI with static analysis powers (eka)
+* tooling integration (LSP, etc)
+* atom composition (remote atoms, mono-repos, etc)