machines/mibook/environments.nix

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ in
 {
   my.profiles = {
     kde-desktop.enable = true;
+    kde-desktop.startOnBoot = false;
     zsh.enable = true;
     apps = {
       desktop_apps = true;

modules/environments/kde-desktop/default.nix

@@ -11,9 +11,19 @@ in
 {
   options.my.profiles.kde-desktop = with lib; {
     enable = mkEnableOption "KDE Desktop Environment";
+    startOnBoot = mkOption {
+      type = types.bool;
+      default = true;
+      description = ''
+        Whether the display manager (SDDM) starts automatically at boot.
+        When false, the system boots to a text console and KDE can be
+        launched on demand with the `desktop` command.
+      '';
+    };
   };
 
-  config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
+  config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable (lib.mkMerge [
+    {
       services = {
         displayManager.sddm.enable = true;
         displayManager.sddm.wayland.enable = true;
@@ -23,5 +33,15 @@ in
         # Programms can be added here...
         numix-icon-theme
       ];
-  };
+    }
+    (lib.mkIf (!cfg.startOnBoot) {
+      # Boot to a text console; SDDM stays installed but is not pulled in
+      # by any boot target. Launch KDE on demand with `desktop`.
+      systemd.services.display-manager.wantedBy = lib.mkForce [ ];
+      systemd.defaultUnit = lib.mkForce "multi-user.target";
+      environment.systemPackages = [
+        (pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "desktop" "exec sudo systemctl start display-manager.service")
+      ];
+    })
+  ]);
 }