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 thenixpkgs
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 thevim
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 meta.mainProgram
attribute
of the derivation if it exists, and otherwise the name part of the
value of the name
attribute of the derivation (e.g. if name
is set
to hello-1.10
, it will run $out/bin/hello
).
Flake output attributes
If no flake output attribute is given, nix run
tries the following
flake output attributes:
-
defaultApp.<system>
-
defaultPackage.<system>
If an attribute name is given, nix run
tries the following flake
output attributes:
-
apps.<system>.<name>
-
packages.<system>.<name>
-
legacyPackages.<system>.<name>
Apps
An app is specified by a flake output attribute named
apps.<system>.<name>
or defaultApp.<system>
. It looks like this:
apps.x86_64-linux.blender_2_79 = {
type = "app";
program = "${self.packages.x86_64-linux.blender_2_79}/bin/blender";
};
The only supported attributes are:
-
type
(required): Must be set toapp
. -
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.