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 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 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. If file is the character -, then a Nix expression will be read from standard input.