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8th chunk of `src/nix/flake.md`
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* `submodules`: A Boolean denoting whether Git submodules should be fetched when this flake is used as an input. When set to `true`, Git submodules will be automatically fetched without requiring callers to specify `submodules=1` in the flake reference URL. Defaults to `false`.

* `lfs`: A Boolean denoting whether Git LFS (Large File Storage) files should be fetched when this flake is used as an input. When set to `true`, Git LFS files will be automatically fetched. Defaults to `false`.

These self-attributes eliminate the need for consumers of your flake to manually specify fetching options in their flake references.

Overrides and `follows` can be combined, e.g.

```nix
inputs.nixops.inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "dwarffs/nixpkgs";
```

sets the `nixpkgs` input of `nixops` to be the same as the `nixpkgs`
input of `dwarffs`. It is worth noting, however, that it is generally
not useful to eliminate transitive `nixpkgs` flake inputs in this
way. Most flakes provide their functionality through Nixpkgs overlays
or NixOS modules, which are composed into the top-level flake's
`nixpkgs` input; so their own `nixpkgs` input is usually irrelevant.

# Lock files

Inputs specified in `flake.nix` are typically "unlocked" in the sense
that they don't specify an exact revision. To ensure reproducibility,
Nix will automatically generate and use a *lock file* called
`flake.lock` in the flake's directory.
The lock file is a UTF-8 JSON file.
It contains a graph structure isomorphic to the graph of dependencies of the root
flake. Each node in the graph (except the root node) maps the
(usually) unlocked input specifications in `flake.nix` to locked input
specifications. Each node also contains some metadata, such as the
dependencies (outgoing edges) of the node.

For example, if `flake.nix` has the inputs in the example above, then
the resulting lock file might be:

```json
{
  "version": 7,
  "root": "n1",
  "nodes": {
    "n1": {
      "inputs": {
        "nixpkgs": "n2",
        "import-cargo": "n3",
        "grcov": "n4"
      }
    },
    "n2": {
      "inputs": {},
      "locked": {
        "owner": "edolstra",
        "repo": "nixpkgs",
        "rev": "7f8d4b088e2df7fdb6b513bc2d6941f1d422a013",
        "type": "github",
        "lastModified": 1580555482,
        "narHash": "sha256-OnpEWzNxF/AU4KlqBXM2s5PWvfI5/BS6xQrPvkF5tO8="
      },
      "original": {
        "id": "nixpkgs",
        "type": "indirect"
      }
    },
    "n3": {
      "inputs": {},
      "locked": {
        "owner": "edolstra",
        "repo": "import-cargo",
        "rev": "8abf7b3a8cbe1c8a885391f826357a74d382a422",
        "type": "github",
        "lastModified": 1567183309,
        "narHash": "sha256-wIXWOpX9rRjK5NDsL6WzuuBJl2R0kUCnlpZUrASykSc="
      },
      "original": {
        "owner": "edolstra",
        "repo": "import-cargo",
        "type": "github"
      }
    },
    "n4": {
      "inputs": {},
      "locked": {
        "owner": "mozilla",
        "repo": "grcov",
        "rev": "989a84bb29e95e392589c4e73c29189fd69a1d4e",
        "type": "github",
        "lastModified": 1580729070,
        "narHash": "sha256-235uMxYlHxJ5y92EXZWAYEsEb6mm+b069GAd+BOIOxI="
      },
      "original": {
        "owner": "mozilla",

Title: Nix Flake Self-Attributes and Lock Files
Summary
This chunk describes two 'self-attributes' for Nix flakes: `submodules` and `lfs`. Setting these to `true` in a flake's `inputs.self` section automates the fetching of Git submodules and LFS files when the flake is used as an input, removing the need for consumers to specify these options manually. It then briefly notes that input overrides and 'follows' can be combined, though eliminating transitive `nixpkgs` inputs is often unnecessary. The second major section introduces 'Lock files' (`flake.lock`), explaining their role in ensuring reproducibility by locking the typically 'unlocked' input specifications from `flake.nix` to exact revisions. `flake.lock` is a UTF-8 JSON file that forms a dependency graph, mapping original input specifications to their locked versions with additional metadata.