Let's try the string method

home-manager/shared/shell/zellij.nix

@@ -3,67 +3,88 @@
   pkgs,
   inputs,
   ...
-}: {
+}: let
+  config =
+    pkgs.writeText "zellij.kdl"
+    ''
+      session_serialization true
+      theme "catppuccin-macchiato"
+
+      themes {
+          catppuccin-mocha {
+              bg "#585b70" // Surface2
+              fg "#cdd6f4"
+              red "#f38ba8"
+              green "#a6e3a1"
+              blue "#89b4fa"
+              yellow "#f9e2af"
+              magenta "#f5c2e7" // Pink
+              orange "#fab387" // Peach
+              cyan "#89dceb" // Sky
+              black "#181825" // Mantle
+              white "#cdd6f4"
+          }
+          catppuccin-macchiato {
+              bg "#5b6078" // Surface2
+              fg "#cad3f5"
+              red "#ed8796"
+              green "#a6da95"
+              blue "#8aadf4"
+              yellow "#eed49f"
+              magenta "#f5bde6" // Pink
+              orange "#f5a97f" // Peach
+              cyan "#91d7e3" // Sky
+              black "#1e2030" // Mantle
+              white "#cad3f5"
+          }
+      }
+      pane = {
+          default_tab_template {
+              children
+              pane size=1 borderless=true {
+                  plugin location="file:${inputs.conduit.packages.${pkgs.system}.default}/bin/zjstatus.wasm" {
+                      format_left   "{mode} #[fg=cyan,bold]{session}"
+                      format_center "{tabs}"
+                      format_right  "{command_git_branch} {datetime}"
+                      format_space  ""
+
+                      border_enabled  "false"
+                      border_char     "─"
+                      border_format   "#[fg=green]{char}"
+                      border_position "top"
+
+                      hide_frame_for_single_pane "true"
+
+                      mode_normal  "#[bg=blue] "
+                      mode_tmux    "#[bg=blue] "
+
+                      tab_normal   "#[fg=green] {name} "
+                      tab_active   "#[fg=red,bold,italic] {name} "
+
+                      command_git_branch_command     "git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD"
+                      command_git_branch_format      "#[fg=blue] {stdout} "
+                      command_git_branch_interval    "10"
+                      command_git_branch_rendermode  "static"
+
+                      datetime        "#[fg=#green,bold] {format} "
+                      datetime_format "%A, %d %b %Y %H:%M"
+                      datetime_timezone "Europe/Berlin"
+                  }
+              }
+          }
+      }
+    '';
+in {
   programs.zellij = {
     # This autostarts zellij on zsh start
     # TODO find specific settings for vscode to avoid
     enable = true;
     enableZshIntegration = true;
-    # settings = {
-    #   session_serialization = true;
-    #   theme = "catppuccin-macchiato";
-
-    #   themes = {
-    #     catppuccin-macchiato = {
-    #       bg = "#5b6078";
-    #       fg = "#cad3f5";
-    #       red = "#ed8796";
-    #       green = "#a6da95";
-    #       blue = "#8aadf4";
-    #       yellow = "#eed49f";
-    #       magenta = "#f5bde6";
-    #       orange = "#f5a97f";
-    #       cyan = "#91d7e3";
-    #       black = "#1e2030";
-    #       white = "#cad3f5";
-    #     };
-    #   };
-    #   pane = {
-    #     "plugin location= \"file:${inputs.zjstatus.packages.${pkgs.system}.default}/bin/zjstatus.wasm\"" = {
-    #       format_left = "{mode} #[fg=#89B4FA,bold]{session}";
-    #       format_center = "{tabs}";
-    #       format_right = "{command_git_branch} {datetime}";
-    #       format_space = "";
-
-    #       border_enabled = "false";
-    #       border_char = "─";
-    #       border_format = "#[fg=#6C7086]{char}";
-    #       border_position = "top";
-
-    #       hide_frame_for_single_pane = "true";
-
-    #       mode_normal = "#[bg=blue] ";
-    #       mode_tmux = "#[bg=#ffc387] ";
-
-    #       tab_normal = "#[fg=#6C7086] {name} ";
-    #       tab_active = "#[fg=#9399B2,bold,italic] {name} ";
-
-    #       command_git_branch_command = "git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD";
-    #       command_git_branch_format = "#[fg=blue] {stdout} ";
-    #       command_git_branch_interval = "10";
-    #       command_git_branch_rendermode = "static";
-
-    #       datetime = "#[fg=#6C7086,bold] {format} ";
-    #       datetime_format = "%A, %d %b %Y %H:%M";
-    #       datetime_timezone = "Europe/Amsterdam";
-    #     };
-    #   };
-    # };
   };
 
   home.file = {
     "zellij" = {
-      source = ./zellij.kdl;
+      source = "${config}/app/config.kdl";
       target = ".config/zellij/config.kdl";
     };
   };