Nix

GitHub repository ↗ synced 2026/8/9

Awesome Nix

A curated list of the best resources in the Nix community.

Nix is a powerful package manager for Linux and other Unix systems that makes package management reliable and reproducible.

Please read the contribution guidelines before contributing.

Resources

Learning

Building a Rust service with Nix - An in-depth blog series about creating a Rust application with Nix.
Explainix - Explain Nix syntax visually.
How to Learn Nix - It's like a Let's Play, but for obscure software documentation.
Nix - A One Pager - A one page introduction to the Nix language.
nix-book - A comprehensive guide to NixOS
hardening and configuration.
Nix from First Principles: Flake Edition - A modern crash-course to using Nix features, Flakes, and developing with Nix.
Nix in 100 Seconds - A YouTube video from Fireship presenting Nix in 100 seconds.
Nix Notes - A collection of short notes about Nix, each contributing to the same virtual machine image.
Nix Pills - The best way to learn, with examples.
Nix Shorts - A collection of short notes about how to use Nix, updated for Nix Flakes.
Nix Starter Config - A few simple Nix Flake templates for getting started with NixOS + home-manager.
nix.dev - An opinionated guide for developers about getting things done using the Nix ecosystem.
NixOS & Flakes Book - An unofficial and opinionated NixOS & Flakes book for beginners.
NixOS Asia Tutorial Series - A series of high-level tutorials on using Nix Flakes, NixOS, home-manager, etc.
NixOS in Production - Free (pay-what-you-want) book in pdf format.
Unofficial NixOS test driver manual - Opinionated unofficial NixOS test driver manual with quick getting started guides and best practices.
Official Nix manual - Latest stable version of the official Nix manual, best used as reference guide. Receives updates when available.
Official NixOS manual - Latest stable version of the official NixOS manual, mix of tutorial and reference guide. Receives updates when available.
Official Nixpkgs manual - Latest stable version of the official Nixpkgs reference manual. Receives updates when available.
Tour of Nix - An online interactive tutorial on Nix language constructs.
Wombat's Book of Nix - A book-length introduction to Nix and flakes.
Zero to Nix - A flake-centric guide to Nix and its concepts created by Determinate Systems to quickly onboard beginners.

Discovery

Home Manager Option Search - Search through all 2000+ Home Manager options and read how to use them.

Nix Package Versions - Find all versions of a package that were available in a channel and the revision you can download it from.
Nix Software - Friendly package search. Supports logos, screenshots, categories, and translations into multiple languages.
nix-search-tv - CLI fuzzy finder for packages and options from Nixpkgs, Home Manager, and more.
Noogle - Nix API search engine allowing to search functions based on their types and other attributes.
NüschtOS Search - Simple and fast static-page NixOS option search.
Searchix - Search Nix packages and options from NixOS, Darwin and Home Manager.

Installation Media

nix-installer-scripts - Runs the official installer but does some tweaking as well such as adding fcontext for selinux and installing nix outside of the default profile so you don't accidently uninstall it.
nix-installer - Opinionated alternative to the official Nix install scripts.
nixos-anywhere - Install NixOS everywhere via SSH.
nixos-generators - Take a NixOS config and build multiple different images types including VirtualBox VMs, Azure images, and installation ISOs.
nixos-infect - Replace a running non-NixOS Linux host with NixOS.
nixos-up - Super easy NixOS installer that can be used from the installation ISO.

Channel History

npc - CLI to view and bisect Nixpkgs channel history.
Nix Infra Status - Get the age and current Git commit of each Nix channel.
Nix Review Tools Reports - Reports showing problematic dependencies (dependencies causing the most failed builds) for major Hydra jobsets.

nixpkgs PR tracker - A tracker for whether a PR has made it into a channel yet.

Deployment Tools

bento - A KISS deployment tool to keep your NixOS fleet (servers & workstations) up to date.
Clan - A peer-to-peer deployment tool with inbuilt support for secrets and a module system to manage distributed networks.
Colmena - A simple, stateless NixOS deployment tool modeled after NixOps and morph.
comin - A deployment tool to continuously pull from Git repositories.
deploy-rs - A simple multi-profile Nix-flake deploy tool.
krops - A lightweight toolkit to deploy NixOS systems, remotely or locally.
KubeNix - A Kubernetes resource builder using Nix.
KuberNix - Single-dependency Kubernetes clusters via Nix packages.
morph - A tool for managing existing NixOS hosts.
Nixery - A Docker-compatible container registry which builds images ad-hoc via Nix.
Nixinate - A Nix flake library to provide app outputs for managing existing NixOS hosts over SSH.
Nixlets - Like Helm but using only Nix, uses Kubenix under the hood.
NixOps - The official Nix deployment tool, compatible with AWS, Hetzner, and more.
pushnix - Simple cli utility that pushes NixOS configuration and triggers a rebuild using ssh.
terraform-nixos - A set of Terraform modules designed to deploy NixOS.
terranix - Use Nix and the NixOS module system to write your Terraform code.

Virtualisation

agent-sandbox.nix - Declarative sandboxing for any package (e.g. AI coding agents) using bubblewrap on Linux and sandbox-exec on macOS.
extra-container - Run declarative NixOS containers from the command line.
microvm - NixOS-based MicroVMs.
nixos-shell - Simple headless VM configuration using Nix (similar to Vagrant).

Command-Line Tools

alejandra - An opinionated Nix code formatter optimized for speed and consistency.
angrr - Auto Nix GC Roots Retention. This tool simply deletes auto GC roots based on the modified time of their symbolic link target.
comma - Quickly run any binary; wraps together nix run and nix-index.
deadnix - Scan Nix files for dead code.
devenv - A Nix-based tool for creating developer shell environments quickly and reproducibly.
dix - Diff Nix; a super-fast tool to diff Nix related things.
manix - Find configuration options and function documentation for Nixpkgs, NixOS, and Home Manager.
nh - Better output for nix, nixos-rebuild, home-manager and nix-darwin CLI leveraging dix and nix-output-monitor.
nix-alien - Run unpatched binaries on Nix/NixOS easily.
nix-diff - A tool to explain why two Nix derivations differ.
nix-du - Visualise which gc-roots to delete to free some space in your Nix store.
nix-index - Quickly locate Nix packages with specific files.
nix-init - Generate Nix packages from URLs with hash prefetching, dependency inference, license detection, and more.
nix-melt - A ranger-like flake.lock viewer.
nix-output-monitor - A tool to produce useful graphs and statistics when building derivations.
nix-prefetch - A universal tool for updating source checksums.
nix-tree - Interactively browse the dependency graph of Nix derivations.
nixfmt - A formatter for Nix code, intended to easily apply a uniform style.
nixos-cli - Configurable all-in-one CLI for common NixOS tools with an emphasis on improved user experience.
nixpkgs-hammering - An opinionated linter for Nixpkgs package expressions.
nurl - Generate Nix fetcher calls from repository URLs.
nvd - Diff package versions between two store paths; it's especially useful for comparing NixOS generations on rebuild.
optnix - A terminal-based options searcher for Nix module systems.
statix - A linter/fixer to check for and fix antipatterns in Nix code.

Development

Arion - Run docker-compose with help from Nix/NixOS.
attic - Multi-tenant Nix Binary Cache.
cached-nix-shell - A nix-shell replacement that uses caching to open subsequent shells quickly.
Cachix - Hosted binary cache service; free for open-source projects.
compose2nix - Generate a NixOS config from a Docker Compose project.
Conflake - A batteries included, autoload files, convention-based configuration framework for flake.nix.
Devbox - Instant, portable, and predictable development environments.
devshell - mkShell with extra bits and a toml config option to be able to onboard non-nix users.
dream2nix - A framework for automatically converting packages from other build systems to Nix.
flake-edit - Edit your flake inputs with auto-follows and update functionality directly from the CLI.
flake-utils-plus - A lightweight Nix library flake for painless NixOS flake configuration.
flake-utils - Pure Nix flake utility functions to help with writing flakes.
flake.parts - Minimal Nix modules framework for Flakes: split your flakes into modules and get things done with community modules.
flakelight - A modular flake framework aiming to minimize boilerplate.
flox - Manage and share development environments, package projects, and publish artifacts anywhere.
gitignore.nix - The most feature-complete and easy-to-use .gitignore integration.
haumea - Filesystem-based module system for the Nix language similar to traditional programming languages, with support for file hierarchy and visibility.
lorri - A much better nix-shell for development that augments direnv.
make-shell - mkShell meets modules, a modular almost-drop-in replacement for pkgs.mkShell function.
MCP-NixOS - An MCP server that provides AI assistants with accurate information about NixOS packages, options, Home Manager, and nix-darwin configurations.
namaka - Snapshot testing for Nix based on haumea.
nil - NIx Language server, an incremental analysis assistent for writing in Nix.
niv - Easy dependency management for Nix projects with package pinning.
nix2container - An efficient container building workflow with Nix.
nix-direnv - A fast loader and flake-compliant configuration for the direnv environment auto-loader.
nix-health - A program to check the health of your Nix install. Furthermore, individual projects can configure their own health checks in their flake.nix.
nix-oci - A flake-parts module for building minimal, reproducible OCI containers using nix2container.
nix-update - Update versions/source hashes of nix packages.
nixd - Nix language server, based on Nix libraries.
nixpkgs-review - The best tool to verify that a pull-request in Nixpkgs is building properly.
Nixtest - Testing framework for Nix, with snapshot and unit test support, JUnit generation etc.
npins - A simple tool for handling different types of dependencies in a Nix project. It is inspired by and comparable to Niv.
pog - A new, powerful way to do bash scripts. Pog is a powerful Nix library that transforms the way developers create command-line interfaces (CLIs).
pre-commit-hooks.nix - Run linters/formatters at commit time and on your CI.
rnix-lsp - A syntax-checking language server for Nix.
robotnix - A declarative and reproducible build system for Android (AOSP) images.
services-flake - A NixOS-like service configuration framework for Nix flakes.
Snowfall Lib - A library that makes it easy to manage your Nix flake by imposing an opinionated file structure.
templates - Project templates for many languages using Nix flakes.
treefmt-nix - A formatter that allows formatting all your project files with a single command, all via a single .nix file.

DevOps

Nix GitLab CI - Define GitLab CI pipelines in pure Nix with full access to all Nix packages (incl. caching).
nixidy - Kubernetes GitOps with Nix and Argo CD.
Standard - An opinionated Nix Flakes framework to keep Nix code in large projects organized, accompanied by a friendly CLI/TUI optized for DevOps scenarios.

Programming Languages

Arduino

nixduino - Nix-based tool to help build Arduino sketches.

Clojure

clj-nix - Nix helper functions for Clojure projects.

Crystal

crystal2nix - Convert shard.lock into Nix expressions.

Elixir

deps_nix - Converts Mix dependencies to Nix derivations.

Elm

elm2nix - Convert elm.json into Nix expressions.

Gleam

nix-gleam - Generic Nix builder for Gleam applications.

Haskell

cabal2nix - Converts a Cabal file into a Nix build expression.
haskell-flake - A flake-parts Nix module for Haskell development.
haskell.nix - Alternative Haskell Infrastructure for Nixpkgs.
nix-haskell-mode - Automatic Haskell setup in Emacs.
nixkell - A Haskell project template using Nix and direnv.

Haxe

haxix - Nix flake to build haxe/Heaps.io projects.
kebab - Haxe packages for Nix.

Julia

Manifest2Nix.jl - A Nix library for creating reproducible Julia builds and experiments via precompilation.

Lean

lean4-nix - Nix flake build for Lean 4, and lake2nix.

Node.js

Napalm - Support for building npm packages in Nix with a lightweight npm registry.
node2nix - Generate Nix expression from a package.json (or package-lock.json) (to be stored as files).
npmlock2nix - Generate Nix expressions from a package-lock.json (in-memory), primarily for web projects.

OCaml

opam2nix - Generate Nix expressions from opam packages.

PHP

composer-plugin-nixify - Composer plugin to help with Nix packaging.
composer2nix - Generate Nix expressions to build composer packages.
composition-c4 - Support for building composer packages from a composer.lock (using IFD).
nix-phps - Flake containing old and unmaintained PHP versions (intended for CI use).
nix-shell - Nix shells for PHP development.

PureScript

Easy PureScript Nix - A project to easily use PureScript and other tools with Nix.
purs-nix - CLI and library combo designed for managing PureScript projects using Nix. It provides a Nix API that can be used within your projects, as well as a command-line interface for managing your development process.

Python

poetry2nix - Build Python packages directly from Poetry's poetry.lock. No conversion step needed.
uv2nix - Convert uv workspaces into pure Nix derivations.

Ruby

Bundix - Generates a Nix expression for your Bundler-managed application.
ruby-nix - Generates reproducible ruby/bundler app environment with Nix.

Rust

cargo2nix - Granular caching, development shell, Nix & Rust integration.
crane - A Nix library for building Cargo projects with incremental artifact caching.
fenix - Rust toolchains and Rust analyzer nightly for nix.
naersk - Build Rust packages directly from Cargo.lock. No conversion step needed.
nix-cargo-integration - A library that allows easy and effortless integration for Cargo projects.
rust-nix-templater - Generates Nix build and development files for Rust projects.

Scala

sbt-derivation - mkDerivation for sbt, similar to buildGoModule.

Zig

zig2nix - Flake for packaging, building and running Zig projects.
zon2nix - Convert the dependencies in build.zig.zon to a Nix expression.

NixOS Modules

base16.nix - Flake way to theme programs in base16 colorschemes, mustache template support included.
Home Manager - Manage your user configuration just like NixOS.
impermanence - Lets you choose what files and directories you want to keep between reboots.
musnix - Do real-time audio work in NixOS.
nix-bitcoin - Modules and packages for Bitcoin nodes with higher-layer protocols with an emphasis on security.
nix-darwin - Manage macOS configuration just like on NixOS.
nix-mineral - Conveniently and reasonably harden NixOS.
nix-topology - Generate infrastructure and network diagrams directly from your NixOS configuration.
NixOS hardware - NixOS profiles to optimize settings for different hardware.
NixOS-WSL - Modules for running NixOS on the Windows Subsystem for Linux.
Nixvim - A pre-packaged Neovim distribution built with Nix modules and Nixpkgs.
nvf - A portable, modular Neovim configuration framework for Nix.
Self Host Blocks - Modular server management based on NixOS modules and focused on best practices.
Simple Nixos Mailserver - A complete mailserver, managed with NixOS modules.
Stylix - System-wide colorscheming and typography for NixOS.

NixOS Configuration Editors

Desktop apps

Nix Software Center - Install and manage Nix packages. Desktop app in Rust and GTK.
NixOS Configuration Editor - Graphical editor for NixOS configuration. Desktop app in Rust and GTK.

Webinterface

MyNixOS - Graphical editor for Nix flakes. Create and manage configurations and modules for NixOS and Nix home-manager. Rather a Nix generator than a Nix editor, because it does not allow to import Nix files.

Overlays

awesome-nix-hpc - High Performance Computing package sets.
neovim-nightly-overlay - Daily bumped Neovim nightly package.
nixpkgs-firefox-darwin - Automatically updated Firefox binary packages for macOS.
nixpkgs-mozilla - Mozilla's overlay with Rust toolchains and Firefox.
nixpkgs-wayland - Bleeding-edge Wayland packages.
NUR - Nix User Repositories. The mother of all overlays, allowing access to user repositories and installing packages via attributes.
rust-overlay - Pure and reproducible nix overlay of binary distributed Rust toolchains.
System Manager - A non-NixOS Linux system configuration tool built on Nix.
zig-overlay - A Nix flake packaging the Zig compiler. The flake mirrors the binaries built officially by Zig and does not build them from source.

Distributions

nixbsd - A NixOS fork with a FreeBSD kernel.
NixNG - A GNU/Linux distribution similar to NixOS. The defining difference is a focus on containers and lightweightness.
SnowflakeOS - A NixOS-based Linux distribution focused on beginner friendliness and ease of use.

Community

#nix:nixos.org
#nixos on Libera.Chat
Discord - Nix/Nixos (Unofficial)
Discourse - The best place to get help and discuss Nix-related topics.
NixCon - The annual community conference for contributors and users of Nix and NixOS.
Wiki (Official)
Wiki (Unofficial)