nix3-run

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

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

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";
};

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.

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.