Warning
This program is experimental and its interface is subject to change.
Name
nix develop - run a bash shell that provides the build environment of a derivation
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 developTypical commands to run inside this shell are:
# configurePhase # buildPhase # installPhaseAlternatively, 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.devwith a writable directory:# nix develop --redirect nixpkgs#glibc.dev ~/my-glibc/outputs/devNote that this is useful if you're running a
nix developshell fornixpkgs#glibcin~/my-glibcand 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.
Nix determines 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.
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
-
Run the
buildphase. -
Run the
checkphase. -
--command/-ccommand argsInstead of starting an interactive shell, start the specified command and arguments.
-
Run the
configurephase. -
--ignore-environment/-iClear the entire environment (except those specified with
--keep). -
Run the
installphase. -
Run the
installcheckphase. -
--keep/-knameKeep the environment variable name.
-
--phasephase-nameThe stdenv phase to run (e.g.
buildorconfigure). -
--profilepathThe profile to operate on.
-
--redirectinstallable outputs-dirRedirect a store path to a mutable location.
-
Run the
unpackphase. -
--unset/-unameUnset the environment variable name.
Common evaluation options
-
--argname exprPass the value expr as the argument name to Nix functions.
-
--arg-from-filename pathPass the contents of file path as the argument name to Nix functions.
-
--arg-from-stdinnamePass the contents of stdin as the argument name to Nix functions.
-
--argstrname stringPass the string string as the argument name to Nix functions.
-
Start an interactive environment if evaluation fails.
-
--eval-storestore-urlThe URL of the Nix store to use for evaluation, i.e. to store derivations (
.drvfiles) and inputs referenced by them. -
Allow access to mutable paths and repositories.
-
--include/-IpathAdd path to the Nix search path. The Nix search path is initialized from the colon-separated
NIX_PATHenvironment variable, and is used to look up the location of Nix expressions using paths enclosed in angle brackets (i.e.,<nixpkgs>).For instance, passing
-I /home/eelco/Dev -I /etc/nixoswill cause Nix to look for paths relative to
/home/eelco/Devand/etc/nixos, in that order. This is equivalent to setting theNIX_PATHenvironment variable to/home/eelco/Dev:/etc/nixosIt is also possible to match paths against a prefix. For example, passing
-I nixpkgs=/home/eelco/Dev/nixpkgs-branch -I /etc/nixoswill cause Nix to search for
<nixpkgs/path>in/home/eelco/Dev/nixpkgs-branch/pathand/etc/nixos/nixpkgs/path.If a path in the Nix search path starts with
http://orhttps://, it is interpreted as the URL of a tarball that will be downloaded and unpacked to a temporary location. The tarball must consist of a single top-level directory. For example, passing-I nixpkgs=https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/master.tar.gztells Nix to download and use the current contents of the
masterbranch in thenixpkgsrepository.The URLs of the tarballs from the official
nixos.orgchannels (see the manual page fornix-channel) can be abbreviated aschannel:<channel-name>. For instance, the following two flags are equivalent:-I nixpkgs=channel:nixos-21.05 -I nixpkgs=https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-21.05/nixexprs.tar.xzYou can also fetch source trees using flake URLs and add them to the search path. For instance,
-I nixpkgs=flake:nixpkgsspecifies that the prefix
nixpkgsshall refer to the source tree downloaded from thenixpkgsentry in the flake registry. Similarly,-I nixpkgs=flake:github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-22.05makes
<nixpkgs>refer to a particular branch of theNixOS/nixpkgsrepository on GitHub. -
--override-flakeoriginal-ref resolved-refOverride the flake registries, redirecting original-ref to resolved-ref.
Common flake-related options
-
Commit changes to the flake's lock file.
-
--inputs-fromflake-urlUse the inputs of the specified flake as registry entries.
-
Don't allow lookups in the flake registries.
DEPRECATED
Use
--no-use-registriesinstead. -
Do not allow any updates to the flake's lock file.
-
Do not write the flake's newly generated lock file.
-
--output-lock-fileflake-lock-pathWrite the given lock file instead of
flake.lockwithin the top-level flake. -
--override-inputinput-path flake-urlOverride a specific flake input (e.g.
dwarffs/nixpkgs). This implies--no-write-lock-file. -
Recreate the flake's lock file from scratch.
DEPRECATED
Use
nix flake updateinstead. -
--reference-lock-fileflake-lock-pathRead the given lock file instead of
flake.lockwithin the top-level flake. -
--update-inputinput-pathUpdate a specific flake input (ignoring its previous entry in the lock file).
DEPRECATED
Use
nix flake updateinstead.
Logging-related options
-
Set the logging verbosity level to 'debug'.
-
--log-formatformatSet the format of log output; one of
raw,internal-json,barorbar-with-logs. -
--print-build-logs/-LPrint full build logs on standard error.
-
Decrease the logging verbosity level.
-
--verbose/-vIncrease the logging verbosity level.
Miscellaneous global options
-
Show usage information.
-
Disable substituters and consider all previously downloaded files up-to-date.
-
--optionname valueSet the Nix configuration setting name to value (overriding
nix.conf). -
Consider all previously downloaded files out-of-date.
-
During evaluation, rewrite missing or corrupted files in the Nix store. During building, rebuild missing or corrupted store paths.
-
Show version information.
Options that change the interpretation of installables
-
--exprexprInterpret installables as attribute paths relative to the Nix expression expr.
-
--file/-ffileInterpret installables as attribute paths relative to the Nix expression stored in file. If file is the character -, then a Nix expression will be read from standard input. Implies
--impure.
Note
See
man nix.conffor overriding configuration settings with command line flags.