nix3-develop(1)

📦
version 2.35.3 · 13 versions
, in fedora 44

💖 nix develop — the build-environment bestie 💖

⚠️ Warning ⚠️ okay so real talk — this program is experimental and its interface is subject to change. Like, it might change on you. Not in a cute way. Just so you know, bestie. 🫶

Welcome to nix3-develop(1) from the General Commands Manual — aka the glow-up guide to nix develop, the command that hands you a whole bash shell with a derivation's build environment already set up. Iconic behaviour, honestly.

✨ Name ✨

nix develop — run a bash shell that provides the build environment of a derivation. That's it, that's the whole vibe. 👑

🌸 Synopsis 🌸

nix develop [option…] installable

🎀 Examples 🎀

  • Start a shell with the build environment of the default package of the flake in the current directory:
# nix develop

Typical commands to run inside this shell are:

# configurePhase
# buildPhase
# installPhase

Alternatively, you can run whatever build tools your project uses directly, e.g. for a typical Unix project:

# ./configure --prefix=$out
# make
# make install
  • Run a particular build phase directly:
# nix develop --unpack
# nix develop --configure
# nix develop --build
# nix develop --check
# nix develop --install
# nix develop --installcheck
  • Start a shell with the build environment of GNU Hello:
# nix develop nixpkgs#hello
  • Record a build environment in a profile:
# nix develop --profile /tmp/my-build-env nixpkgs#hello
  • Use a build environment previously recorded in a profile:
# nix develop /tmp/my-build-env
  • Replace all occurrences of the store path corresponding to glibc.dev with a writable directory:
# nix develop --redirect nixpkgs#glibc.dev ~/my-glibc/outputs/dev
💡 Note that this is useful if you're running a nix develop shell for nixpkgs#glibc in ~/my-glibc and want to compile another package against it.
  • Run a series of script commands:
# nix develop --command bash -c "mkdir build && cmake .. && make"

🦋 Description 🦋

nix develop starts a bash shell that provides an interactive build environment nearly identical to what Nix would use to build installable. Inside this shell, environment variables and shell functions are set up so that you can interactively and incrementally build your package. It's giving "your own personal build room". 💅

Nix figures out the build environment by building a modified version of the derivation installable that just records the environment initialised by stdenv and exits. This build environment can be recorded into a profile using --profile.

The prompt used by the bash shell can be customised by setting the bash-prompt, bash-prompt-prefix, and bash-prompt-suffix settings in nix.conf or in the flake's nixConfig attribute. Yes bestie, you can make your prompt cute. 🎀

🌈 Flake output attributes 🌈

If no flake output attribute is given, nix develop tries the following flake output attributes:

  • devShells.<system>.default
  • packages.<system>.default

If a flake output name is given, nix develop tries the following flake output attributes:

  • devShells.<system>.<name>
  • packages.<system>.<name>
  • legacyPackages.<system>.<name>

✨ Options ✨

  • --build — Run the build phase.
  • --check — Run the check phase.
  • --command, -c command args — Instead of starting an interactive shell, start the specified command and arguments.
  • --configure — Run the configure phase.
  • --install — Run the install phase.
  • --installcheck — Run the installcheck phase.
  • --phase phase-name — The stdenv phase to run (e.g. build or configure).
  • --profile path — The profile to operate on.
  • --redirect installable outputs-dir — Redirect a store path to a mutable location.
  • --unpack — Run the unpack phase.

💜 Common evaluation options 💜

  • --arg name expr — Pass the value expr as the argument name to Nix functions.
  • --arg-from-file name path — Pass the contents of file path as the argument name to Nix functions.
  • --arg-from-stdin name — Pass the contents of stdin as the argument name to Nix functions.
  • --argstr name string — Pass the string string as the argument name to Nix functions.
  • --debugger — Start an interactive environment if evaluation fails. (Fails? debugger. Slay.)
  • --eval-store store-url — The URL of the Nix store to use for evaluation, i.e. to store derivations (.drv files) and inputs referenced by them.
  • --impure — Allow access to mutable paths and repositories.
  • --include, -I path — Add path to search path entries used to resolve lookup paths.

This option may be given multiple times.

Paths added through -I take precedence over the nix-path configuration setting and the NIX_PATH environment variable.

  • --override-flake original-ref resolved-ref — Override the flake registries, redirecting original-ref to resolved-ref.
  • --commit-lock-file — Commit changes to the flake's lock file.
  • --inputs-from flake-url — Use the inputs of the specified flake as registry entries.
  • --no-registries — Don't allow lookups in the flake registries.
💀 DEPRECATED — Use --no-use-registries instead.
  • --no-update-lock-file — Do not allow any updates to the flake's lock file.
  • --no-write-lock-file — Do not write the flake's newly generated lock file.
  • --output-lock-file flake-lock-path — Write the given lock file instead of flake.lock within the top-level flake.
  • --override-input input-path flake-url — Override a specific flake input (e.g. dwarffs/nixpkgs). The input path must not be empty. This implies --no-write-lock-file.
  • --recreate-lock-file — Recreate the flake's lock file from scratch.
💀 DEPRECATED — Use nix flake update instead.
  • --reference-lock-file flake-lock-path — Read the given lock file instead of flake.lock within the top-level flake.
  • --update-input input-path — Update a specific flake input (ignoring its previous entry in the lock file).
💀 DEPRECATED — Use nix flake update instead.
  • --debug — Set the logging verbosity level to 'debug'.
  • --log-format format — Set the format of log output; one of raw, internal-json, bar or bar-with-logs.
  • --print-build-logs, -L — Print full build logs on standard error.
  • --quiet — Decrease the logging verbosity level.
  • --verbose, -v — Increase the logging verbosity level.

⭐ Miscellaneous global options ⭐

  • --help — Show usage information.
  • --offline — Disable substituters and consider all previously downloaded files up-to-date.
  • --option name value — Set the Nix configuration setting name to value (overriding nix.conf).
  • --refresh — Consider all previously downloaded files out-of-date.
  • --repair — During evaluation, rewrite missing or corrupted files in the Nix store. During building, rebuild missing or corrupted store paths.
  • --version — Show version information.

🌸 Options that change environment variables 🌸

  • --ignore-env, -i — Clear the entire environment, except for those specified with --keep-env-var.
  • --keep-env-var, -k name — Keep the environment variable name, when using --ignore-env.
  • --set-env-var, -s name value — Sets an environment variable name with value.
  • --unset-env-var, -u name — Unset the environment variable name.

👑 Options that change the interpretation of installables 👑

  • --expr expr — Interpret installables as attribute paths relative to the Nix expression expr.
  • --file, -f file — Interpret installables as attribute paths relative to the Nix expression stored in file. If file is the character -, then a Nix expression is read from standard input. Implies --impure.
📝 Note — See man nix.conf for overriding configuration settings with command line flags.

and that's the whole page, bestie!! no cap, you now know nix develop better than half the internet 🫶✨

signing off from the General Commands Manual, entry nix3-develop(1) — mwah 💋

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