Nie

nie is a nix-wrapper that allows you to build, run or load your derivations similar to the nix3 command-line interface and flakes. It does not dependent on Flakes or any other experimental features and relies solely on the stable nix2 interface.

You can try out the program in a temporary shell:

# on a Flake-enabled system:
nix shell git+https://codeberg.org/jzbor/nie.git
# on any other machine with Nix installed
nix-shell -E '(import (builtins.fetchGit { url = "https://codeberg.org/jzbor/nie"; }) {}).packages.default'
# on a machine with nie installed
nie shell codeberg://jzbor/nie

Features

• Fetch repositories from Codeberg, Github and other Git sources.
• Discover packages and checks from default.nix, flake.nix or a custom Nix file.
• Add programs to your shell and enter development shells.
• Pin shells for automatic or offline usage.
• Compatibility with Flakes is enabled by lix-project/flake-compat

Examples

# Show all outputs the `jzbor/nie` repo specifies in its `default.nix`
nie show codeberg://jzbor/nie
# Show all outputs the `jzbor/nie` repo specifies in its `flake.nix`
nie show --flake-compat codeberg://jzbor/nie
# Run the `hello` program from nixpkgs
nie run github://nixos/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable#hello
# View the man page for the `vim` program from nixpkgs
nie run --man github://nixos/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable#cargo

Non-Goals

• NixOS/HomeManager integration: You can use nixos-rebuild, home-manager, nh or custom scripts for those.
• Input pinning: Use npins, niv or Nixtamal.
• Derivation and store analysis: Check out nix-tree or nix-sweep.

Contributing

I currently have no capacity to review code contributions. Exceptions can be made after discussion via e-mail or in an issue. Contributions in the form of feedback or issues are greatly appreciated.