nix3-edit

Warning: This program is experimental and its interface is subject to change.

Name

nix edit - open the Nix expression of a Nix package in $EDITOR

Synopsis

nix edit [option…] installable

Examples

•

Open the Nix expression of the GNU Hello package:

# nix edit nixpkgs#hello

•

Get the filename and line number used by nix edit:

# nix eval --raw nixpkgs#hello.meta.position
/nix/store/fvafw0gvwayzdan642wrv84pzm5bgpmy-source/pkgs/applications/misc/hello/default.nix:15

Description

This command opens the Nix expression of a derivation in an editor. The filename and line number of the derivation are taken from its meta.position attribute. Nixpkgs’ stdenv.mkDerivation sets this attribute to the location of the definition of the meta.description, version or name derivation attributes.

The editor to invoke is specified by the EDITOR environment variable. It defaults to cat. If the editor is emacs, nano, vim or kak, it is passed the line number of the derivation using the argument +<lineno>.

Options

Common evaluation options:

•

--arg name expr

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

•

--argstr name string

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

•

--eval-store store-url

The Nix store to use for evaluations.

•

--impure

Allow access to mutable paths and repositories.

•

--include / -I path

Add path to the list of locations used to look up <...> file names.

•

--override-flake original-ref resolved-ref

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

Common flake-related options:

•

--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. This option is deprecated; use --no-use-registries.

•

--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.

•

--override-input input-path flake-url

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

•

--recreate-lock-file

Recreate the flake’s lock file from scratch.

•

--update-input input-path

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

Options that change the interpretation of installables:

•

--derivation

Operate on the store derivation rather than its outputs.

•

--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 will be read from standard input.