nix3-run(1)

📦
version 2.35.3 · 13 versions
, in fedora 44

✨ nix3-run(1) — go run a Nix application, bestie ✨

hiiii so this is nix3-run(1) from the General Commands Manual, and it's literally the page that tells you how to make Nix go zoom and actually launch stuff. it's giving "cheat code for nix run" and honestly? iconic. 💅

⚠️ Warning ⚠️ This program is experimental and its interface is subject to change. like, fr fr, the interface will change under your feet, so don't build your entire personality around it. 😭

🎀 Name

nix run — run a Nix application

💖 Synopsis

nix run [option…] installable args…

🌸 Examples

  • Run the default app from the blender-bin flake:
# nix run blender-bin
  • Run a non-default app from the blender-bin flake:
# nix run blender-bin#blender_2_83
🫶 Tip: you can find apps provided by this flake by running nix flake show blender-bin.
  • Run vim from the nixpkgs flake:
# nix run nixpkgs#vim
🌟 Note that vim (as of the time of writing of this page) is not an app but a package. Thus, Nix runs the eponymous file from the vim package.
  • Run vim with arguments:
# nix run nixpkgs#vim -- --help
  • Run the default app from the current directory with arguments:
# nix run . -- arg1 arg2
💀 Note: The first positional argument is always treated as the installable, even after --. To pass arguments to the default installable, specify it explicitly: nix run . -- arg1 arg2 or nix run -- . arg1 arg2.

🦋 Description

nix run builds and runs installable, which must evaluate to an app or a regular Nix derivation.

If installable evaluates to an app (see below), it executes the program specified by the app definition.

If installable evaluates to a derivation, it will try to execute the program <out>/bin/<name>, where out is the primary output store path of the derivation, and name is the first of the following that exists:

  • The meta.mainProgram attribute of the derivation.
  • The pname attribute of the derivation.
  • The name part of the value of the name attribute of the derivation.

For instance, if name is set to hello-1.10, nix run will run $out/bin/hello. ✨

🌈 Flake output attributes

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

  • apps.<system>.default
  • packages.<system>.default

If an attribute name is given, nix run tries the following flake output attributes:

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

👑 Apps

An app is specified by a flake output attribute named apps.<system>.<name>. It looks like this:

apps.x86_64-linux.blender_2_79 = {
  type = "app";
  program = "${self.packages.x86_64-linux.blender_2_79}/bin/blender";
  meta.description = "Run Blender, a free and open-source 3D creation suite.";
};

The only supported attributes are:

  • type (required): Must be set to app.
  • program (required): The full path of the executable to run. It must reside in the Nix store.
  • meta.description (optional): A description of the app.

✨ Options ✨

🧠 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. (your lil debugging era 🫶)
  • --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. (stack 'em up 💅)

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.

aaaand that's the whole page, bestie, you ate that 🍓 the footer says nix3-run(1) — it's the nix3-run(1) page from the General Commands Manual, so like, that's the manual name and the version-of-record right there. now go run something cute. 💜🦋✨

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