Reference

nix3-develop(1)

run a bash shell that provides the build environment of a derivation

Warning
This program is experimental ⟨@docroot@/development/experimental-features.md#xp-feature-nix-command⟩ 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 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 ⟨./nix.md#installables⟩\c . 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

•

--build ⟨#opt-build⟩

Run the build phase.

•

--check ⟨#opt-check⟩

Run the check phase.

•

--command ⟨#opt-command⟩ / -c command args

Instead of starting an interactive shell, start the specified command and arguments.

•

--configure ⟨#opt-configure⟩

Run the configure phase.

•

--install ⟨#opt-install⟩

Run the install phase.

•

--installcheck ⟨#opt-installcheck⟩

Run the installcheck phase.

•

--phase ⟨#opt-phase⟩ phase-name

The stdenv phase to run (e.g. build or configure).

•

--profile ⟨#opt-profile⟩ path

The profile to operate on.

•

--redirect ⟨#opt-redirect⟩ installable outputs-dir

Redirect a store path to a mutable location.

•

--unpack ⟨#opt-unpack⟩

Run the unpack phase.

Common evaluation options

•

--arg ⟨#opt-arg⟩ name expr

Pass the value expr as the argument name to Nix functions.

•

--arg-from-file ⟨#opt-arg-from-file⟩ name path

Pass the contents of file path as the argument name to Nix functions.

•

--arg-from-stdin ⟨#opt-arg-from-stdin⟩ name

Pass the contents of stdin as the argument name to Nix functions.

•

--argstr ⟨#opt-argstr⟩ name string

Pass the string string as the argument name to Nix functions.

•

--debugger ⟨#opt-debugger⟩

Start an interactive environment if evaluation fails.

•

--eval-store ⟨#opt-eval-store⟩ store-url

The URL of the Nix store ⟨@docroot@/store/types/index.md#store-url-format⟩ to use for evaluation, i.e. to store derivations (.drv files) and inputs referenced by them.

•

--impure ⟨#opt-impure⟩

Allow access to mutable paths and repositories.

•

--include ⟨#opt-include⟩ / -I path

Add path to search path entries used to resolve lookup paths ⟨@docroot@/language/constructs/lookup-path.md⟩

This option may be given multiple times.

Paths added through -I take precedence over the nix-path configuration setting ⟨@docroot@/command-ref/conf-file.md#conf-nix-path⟩ and the NIX_PATH environment variable ⟨@docroot@/command-ref/env-common.md#env-NIX_PATH⟩\c .

•

--override-flake ⟨#opt-override-flake⟩ original-ref resolved-ref

Override the flake registries, redirecting original-ref to resolved-ref.

Common flake-related options

•

--commit-lock-file ⟨#opt-commit-lock-file⟩

Commit changes to the flake’s lock file.

•

--inputs-from ⟨#opt-inputs-from⟩ flake-url

Use the inputs of the specified flake as registry entries.

•

--no-registries ⟨#opt-no-registries⟩

Don’t allow lookups in the flake registries.

DEPRECATED

Use --no-use-registries ⟨@docroot@/command-ref/conf-file.md#conf-use-registries⟩ instead.

•

--no-update-lock-file ⟨#opt-no-update-lock-file⟩

Do not allow any updates to the flake’s lock file.

•

--no-write-lock-file ⟨#opt-no-write-lock-file⟩

Do not write the flake’s newly generated lock file.

•

--output-lock-file ⟨#opt-output-lock-file⟩ flake-lock-path

Write the given lock file instead of flake.lock within the top-level flake.

•

--override-input ⟨#opt-override-input⟩ input-path flake-url

Override a specific flake input (e.g. dwarffs/nixpkgs). This implies --no-write-lock-file.

•

--recreate-lock-file ⟨#opt-recreate-lock-file⟩

Recreate the flake’s lock file from scratch.

DEPRECATED

Use nix flake update ⟨@docroot@/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-flake-update.md⟩ instead.

•

--reference-lock-file ⟨#opt-reference-lock-file⟩ flake-lock-path

Read the given lock file instead of flake.lock within the top-level flake.

•

--update-input ⟨#opt-update-input⟩ input-path

Update a specific flake input (ignoring its previous entry in the lock file).

DEPRECATED

Use nix flake update ⟨@docroot@/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-flake-update.md⟩ instead.

Logging-related options

•

--debug ⟨#opt-debug⟩

Set the logging verbosity level to ‘debug’.

•

--log-format ⟨#opt-log-format⟩ format

Set the format of log output; one of raw, internal-json, bar or bar-with-logs.

•

--print-build-logs ⟨#opt-print-build-logs⟩ / -L

Print full build logs on standard error.

•

--quiet ⟨#opt-quiet⟩

Decrease the logging verbosity level.

•

--verbose ⟨#opt-verbose⟩ / -v

Increase the logging verbosity level.

Miscellaneous global options

•

--help ⟨#opt-help⟩

Show usage information.

•

--offline ⟨#opt-offline⟩

Disable substituters and consider all previously downloaded files up-to-date.

•

--option ⟨#opt-option⟩ name value

Set the Nix configuration setting name to value (overriding nix.conf).

•

--refresh ⟨#opt-refresh⟩

Consider all previously downloaded files out-of-date.

•

--repair ⟨#opt-repair⟩

During evaluation, rewrite missing or corrupted files in the Nix store. During building, rebuild missing or corrupted store paths.

•

--version ⟨#opt-version⟩

Show version information.

Options that change environment variables

•

--ignore-env ⟨#opt-ignore-env⟩ / -i

Clear the entire environment, except for those specified with --keep-env-var.

•

--keep-env-var ⟨#opt-keep-env-var⟩ / -k name

Keep the environment variable name, when using --ignore-env.

•

--set-env-var ⟨#opt-set-env-var⟩ / -s name value

Sets an environment variable name with value.

•

--unset-env-var ⟨#opt-unset-env-var⟩ / -u name

Unset the environment variable name.

Options that change the interpretation of installables

•

--expr ⟨#opt-expr⟩ expr

Interpret installables ⟨@docroot@/command-ref/new-cli/nix.md#installables⟩ as attribute paths relative to the Nix expression expr.

•

--file ⟨#opt-file⟩ / -f file

Interpret installables ⟨@docroot@/command-ref/new-cli/nix.md#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.conf ⟨@docroot@/command-ref/conf-file.md#command-line-flags⟩ for overriding configuration settings with command line flags.

History