Ok THIS nix shell should work across architectures now... that was a huge issue earlier.

shell.nix

@@ -1,38 +1,108 @@
 { pkgs ? import <nixpkgs> {} }:
 
-pkgs.mkShell {
+let
-  buildInputs = with pkgs; [
+  isDarwin = pkgs.stdenv.isDarwin;
+  isLinux = pkgs.stdenv.isLinux;
+
+  commonBuildInputs = with pkgs; [
     nodejs_24
     nodePackages.pnpm
     git
     curl
   ];
 
+  # Dependencies for Playwright's self-downloaded browsers (for macOS)
+  playwrightSelfDownloadLibs = with pkgs; [
+    glibc
+    libgcc
+    glib
+    nss
+    nspr
+    dbus
+    atk
+    at-spi2-atk
+    at-spi2-core
+    cups
+    expat
+    xorg.libX11
+    xorg.libxcb
+    xorg.libXext
+    xorg.libXfixes
+    xorg.libXrandr
+    xorg.libXcomposite
+    xorg.libXdamage
+    xorg.libXcursor
+    xorg.libXi
+    xorg.libXrender
+    xorg.libXtst
+    libxkbcommon
+    mesa
+    libglvnd
+    cairo
+    pango
+    fontconfig
+    freetype
+    harfbuzz
+    udev
+    alsa-lib
+    icu
+    libdrm
+    libpng
+    gnutls
+  ];
+
+  # Path string for LD_LIBRARY_PATH, only for self-downloaded Playwright
+  playwrightLibPath = pkgs.lib.makeBinPath playwrightSelfDownloadLibs;
+
+in
+pkgs.mkShell {
+  buildInputs = commonBuildInputs ++ (
+    if isDarwin
+    then playwrightSelfDownloadLibs
+    else [ pkgs.chromium ]
+  );
+
   shellHook = ''
     echo "🚀 atridotdad development environment loaded!"
     echo "Node version: $(node --version)"
     echo "pnpm version: $(pnpm --version)"
     
-    # Always allow Playwright/Puppeteer to download their own browsers
+    # Conditional setup for Chromium/Playwright
-    export PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=0
+    ${if isDarwin then ''
-    export PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD=false
+      # macOS: Playwright downloads its own browser
-    
+      echo "Chromium path: Playwright will download its own for macOS"
-    
+      export PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=0
+      export PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD=false
+      
+      export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="${playwrightLibPath}:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
+
+      PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH="$HOME/.cache/ms-playwright"
+      if [ ! -d "$PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH" ] || [ -z "$(ls -A "$PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH")" ]; then
+        echo "🌐 Installing Playwright browsers (for macOS)..."
+        pnpm exec playwright install
+      else
+        echo "✅ Playwright browsers already installed (for macOS)."
+      fi
+    '' else if isLinux then ''
+      # Linux: Use Nixpkgs-provided Chromium
+      echo "Chromium path: ${pkgs.chromium}/bin/chromium"
+      export PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD=1
+      export PLAYWRIGHT_CHROMIUM_EXECUTABLE_PATH="${pkgs.chromium}/bin/chromium"
+      export PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD=true
+      export PUPPETEER_EXECUTABLE_PATH="${pkgs.chromium}/bin/chromium"
+    '' else ''
+      echo "Unsupported OS detected."
+    ''}
+
     if [ ! -d "node_modules" ]; then
       echo "📦 Installing pnpm dependencies..."
       pnpm install
     fi
-
-    # Check if Playwright browsers are installed and install them if not
-    PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH="$HOME/.cache/ms-playwright"
-    if [ ! -d "$PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH" ] || [ -z "$(ls -A "$PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH")" ]; then
-      echo "🌐 Installing Playwright browsers..."
-      pnpm exec playwright install --with-deps # --with-deps ensures all necessary drivers/libraries are also fetched
-    else
-      echo "✅ Playwright browsers already installed."
-    fi
   '';
 
-  PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD = "0";
+  # Environment variables
-  PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD = "false";
+  PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD = if isDarwin then "0" else "1";
+  PLAYWRIGHT_CHROMIUM_EXECUTABLE_PATH = if isDarwin then null else "${pkgs.chromium}/bin/chromium";
+  PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD = if isDarwin then "false" else "true";
+  PUPPETEER_EXECUTABLE_PATH = if isDarwin then null else "${pkgs.chromium}/bin/chromium";
 }