refactor(nix): share glyph decoding helper

configs/nixos/modules/desktop/apps/firefox.nix

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
   inputs,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  util,
   ...
 }:
 # Configures Firefox as the desktop browser.
@@ -28,7 +29,7 @@ in
   config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
     registry.window-icon.${config.networking.hostName}.firefox = {
       class = ".*[Ff]irefox.*";
-      icon = builtins.fromJSON ''"\uf269"'';
+      icon = util.glyph "f269";
     };
 
     home-manager.users.${config.user.name} = hm: {

configs/nixos/modules/desktop/apps/ghostty.nix

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  util,
   ...
 }:
 # Ghostty as the desktop terminal.
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ in
 
     registry.window-icon.${config.networking.hostName}.ghostty = {
       class = "com.mitchellh.ghostty";
-      icon = builtins.fromJSON ''"\uf120"'';
+      icon = util.glyph "f120";
     };
 
     home-manager.users.${user}.home.packages = [ pkgs.ghostty ];

configs/nixos/modules/desktop/apps/obsidian.nix

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  util,
   ...
 }:
 # Obsidian as the desktop note-taking vault.
@@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ in
 
     registry.window-icon.${config.networking.hostName}.obsidian = {
       class = "obsidian";
-      icon = builtins.fromJSON ''"\uf02d"'';
+      icon = util.glyph "f02d";
     };
   };
 }

configs/nixos/modules/desktop/apps/signal.nix

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  util,
   ...
 }:
 # Signal desktop messenger.
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ in
 
     registry.window-icon.${config.networking.hostName}.signal = {
       class = "[Ss]ignal";
-      icon = builtins.fromJSON ''"\uf4ad"'';
+      icon = util.glyph "f4ad";
     };
   };
 }

configs/nixos/modules/desktop/apps/steam.nix

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  util,
   ...
 }:
 # Steam game launcher and runtime integration.
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@
 
     registry.window-icon.${config.networking.hostName}.steam = {
       class = "[Ss]team";
-      icon = builtins.fromJSON ''"\uf1b6"'';
+      icon = util.glyph "f1b6";
     };
   };
 }

configs/nixos/modules/desktop/apps/vencord.nix

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  util,
   ...
 }:
 # Vesktop, a Discord client with Vencord built in.
@@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ in
 
     registry.window-icon.${config.networking.hostName}.vesktop = {
       class = "[Vv]esktop";
-      icon = builtins.fromJSON ''"\uf1ff"'';
+      icon = util.glyph "f1ff";
     };
   };
 }

configs/nixos/modules/desktop/session/hyprland/default.nix

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   config,
   lib,
+  util,
   ...
 }:
 # The Hyprland compositor.
@@ -235,7 +236,7 @@
         on-click = "activate";
         format = "{id} {windows}";
         format-window-separator = " ";
-        window-rewrite-default = builtins.fromJSON ''"\uf2d0"'';
+        window-rewrite-default = util.glyph "f2d0";
         window-rewrite = lib.mapAttrs' (
           _name: windowIcon: lib.nameValuePair "class<${windowIcon.class}>" windowIcon.icon
         ) (lib.attrByPath [ config.networking.hostName ] { } config.registry.window-icon);

configs/nixos/modules/desktop/session/hyprland/hyprlock.nix

@@ -2,12 +2,19 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  util,
   ...
 }:
 # The lock screen: a hyprlock session-lock surface the compositor owns.
 let
-  sleepIcon = builtins.fromJSON ''"\udb81\udcb2"'';
+  sleepIcon = util.glyph [
-  sleepOffIcon = builtins.fromJSON ''"\udb81\udcb3"'';
+    "db81"
+    "dcb2"
+  ];
+  sleepOffIcon = util.glyph [
+    "db81"
+    "dcb3"
+  ];
 
   idleLockToggle = pkgs.writeShellScript "lockscreen-idle-inhibit-toggle" ''
     unit=lockscreen-idle-inhibit.service

configs/nixos/modules/desktop/session/mako.nix

@@ -2,17 +2,16 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  util,
   ...
 }:
 # mako as the notification daemon: toasts, a do-not-disturb mode, and history recall.
 let
-  glyph = code: builtins.fromJSON ''"\u${code}"'';
-
   dndStatus = pkgs.writeShellScript "waybar-dnd-status" ''
     if ${lib.getExe' pkgs.mako "makoctl"} mode 2>/dev/null | ${lib.getExe pkgs.gnugrep} -qx dnd; then
-      printf '{"text":"${glyph "f1f6"}","tooltip":"Do not disturb: on","class":"dnd"}\n'
+      printf '{"text":"${util.glyph "f1f6"}","tooltip":"Do not disturb: on","class":"dnd"}\n'
     else
-      printf '{"text":"${glyph "f0f3"}","tooltip":"Notifications on","class":"active"}\n'
+      printf '{"text":"${util.glyph "f0f3"}","tooltip":"Notifications on","class":"active"}\n'
     fi
   '';
 

configs/nixos/modules/desktop/session/waybar.nix

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  util,
   ...
 }:
 # Waybar: a top status bar reading system state at a glance.
@@ -30,10 +31,6 @@ let
 
   registeredWaybarModuleSettings = lib.mapAttrs (_name: module: module.settings) hostWaybarModules;
 
-  # A Nerd Font Private-Use-Area codepoint as a literal character, decoded
-  # through JSON so the glyph survives as bytes rather than an editor paste.
-  g = code: builtins.fromJSON ''"\u${code}"'';
-
   networkStatus = pkgs.writeShellScript "waybar-network-status" ''
     active=$(
       ${lib.getExe' pkgs.networkmanager "nmcli"} -t -f DEVICE,TYPE,STATE,CONNECTION device status \
@@ -42,7 +39,7 @@ let
 
     if [ -z "$active" ]; then
       ${lib.getExe pkgs.jq} -cn \
-        --arg text "${g "f127"} off" \
+        --arg text "${util.glyph "f127"} off" \
         --arg tooltip "Network disconnected" \
         --arg class "disconnected" \
         '{ text: $text, tooltip: $tooltip, class: $class }'
@@ -52,7 +49,7 @@ let
     IFS=: read -r device type _state connection <<< "$active"
 
     case "$type" in
-      wifi) icon="${g "f1eb"}" ;;
+      wifi) icon="${util.glyph "f1eb"}" ;;
       ethernet) icon="LAN" ;;
       *) icon="NET" ;;
     esac
@@ -99,7 +96,6 @@ in
           modules-left = waybarModulesFor "left";
           modules-center = waybarModulesFor "center";
           modules-right = waybarModulesFor "right";
-
         }
         registeredWaybarModuleSettings
       ];
@@ -133,13 +129,13 @@ in
         order = 70;
         settings = {
           format = "{icon} {capacity}%";
-          format-charging = "${g "f0e7"} {capacity}%";
+          format-charging = "${util.glyph "f0e7"} {capacity}%";
           format-icons = [
-            (g "f244")
+            (util.glyph "f244")
-            (g "f243")
+            (util.glyph "f243")
-            (g "f242")
+            (util.glyph "f242")
-            (g "f241")
+            (util.glyph "f241")
-            (g "f240")
+            (util.glyph "f240")
           ];
           states = {
             warning = 20;

configs/nixos/modules/desktop/utilities/audio.nix

@@ -2,12 +2,10 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  util,
   ...
 }:
 # PipeWire as the desktop audio server.
-let
-  glyph = code: builtins.fromJSON ''"\u${code}"'';
-in
 {
   options.modules.desktop.utilities.audio.enable = lib.mkEnableOption "the PipeWire audio server";
 
@@ -45,8 +43,8 @@ in
       mpris = {
         order = 30;
         settings = {
-          format = "${glyph "f001"} {title}";
+          format = "${util.glyph "f001"} {title}";
-          format-paused = "${glyph "f04c"} {title}";
+          format-paused = "${util.glyph "f04c"} {title}";
           max-length = 40;
           on-click = "play-pause";
           on-scroll-up = "next";
@@ -58,11 +56,11 @@ in
         order = 40;
         settings = {
           format = "{icon} {volume}%";
-          format-muted = "${glyph "f026"} muted";
+          format-muted = "${util.glyph "f026"} muted";
           format-icons = [
-            (glyph "f026")
+            (util.glyph "f026")
-            (glyph "f027")
+            (util.glyph "f027")
-            (glyph "f028")
+            (util.glyph "f028")
           ];
           on-click = "${lib.getExe' pkgs.wireplumber "wpctl"} set-mute @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ toggle";
         };

configs/nixos/modules/desktop/utilities/recording.nix

@@ -2,11 +2,12 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  util,
   ...
 }:
 # Keybound screen recording: pick a region, then toggle a video-only capture.
 let
-  recordingIcon = builtins.fromJSON ''"\uf03d"'';
+  recordingIcon = util.glyph "f03d";
 
   # A single key both starts and stops.
   # A running wf-recorder is stopped with SIGINT so it finalises the file.

configs/nixos/modules/network/vpn-client.nix

@@ -2,12 +2,16 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  util,
   ...
 }:
 let
   cfg = config.modules.network.vpn-client; # NOLINT(let_order)
 
-  vpnIcon = builtins.fromJSON ''"\udb83\udc9d"'';
+  vpnIcon = util.glyph [
+    "db83"
+    "dc9d"
+  ];
 
   vpnStatus = pkgs.writeShellScript "waybar-vpn-status" ''
     interface=${lib.escapeShellArg cfg.interface}

src/dotfiles/util.nix

@@ -25,6 +25,14 @@ in
 
   removeNixSuffix = path: lib.removeSuffix ".nix" (builtins.baseNameOf path);
 
+  glyph =
+    code:
+    builtins.fromJSON (
+      "\""
+      + (if builtins.isList code then lib.concatMapStrings (part: "\\u${part}") code else "\\u${code}")
+      + "\""
+    );
+
   registry.predicates.uniqueValue = uniqueValue;
 
   registry.predicates.uniquePerHost =