nix3-run(1)

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.