Name

       nix edit - open the Nix expression of a Nix package in $EDITOR

Synopsis

       nix edit [option…] installable

Examples

       •  Open the Nix expression of the GNU Hello package:

       # nix edit nixpkgs#hello

       •  Get the filename and line number used by nix edit:

       # nix eval --raw nixpkgs#hello.meta.position
       /nix/store/fvafw0gvwayzdan642wrv84pzm5bgpmy-source/pkgs/applications/misc/hello/default.nix:15

Description

       This  command  opens the Nix expression of a derivation in an editor. The filename and line number of the
       derivation are taken from its meta.position attribute. Nixpkgs’ stdenv.mkDerivation sets  this  attribute
       to the location of the definition of the meta.description, version or name derivation attributes.

       The  editor  to invoke is specified by the EDITOR environment variable. It defaults to cat. If the editor
       is emacs, nano, vim or kak, it is passed the line number of the derivation using the argument +<lineno>.

Options

   Common evaluation options
       •  --arg name expr

          Pass the value expr as the argument name to Nix functions.

       •  --arg-from-file name path

          Pass the contents of file path as the argument name to Nix functions.

       •  --arg-from-stdin name

          Pass the contents of stdin as the argument name to Nix functions.

       •  --argstr name string

          Pass the string string as the argument name to Nix functions.

       •  --debugger

          Start an interactive environment if evaluation fails.

       •  --eval-store store-url

          The URL of the Nix store to use for evaluation, i.e. to store  derivations  (.drv  files)  and  inputs
          referenced by them.

       •  --impure

          Allow access to mutable paths and repositories.

       •  --include / -I path

          Add path to search path entries used to resolve lookup paths

          This option may be given multiple times.

          Paths  added  through  -I  take  precedence  over  the nix-path configuration setting and the NIX_PATH
          environment variable.

       •  --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.

                 DEPRECATED

                 Use --no-use-registries instead.

       •  --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.

       •  --output-lock-file flake-lock-path

          Write the given lock file instead of flake.lock within the top-level flake.

       •  --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.

                 DEPRECATED

                 Use nix flake update instead.

       •  --reference-lock-file flake-lock-path

          Read the given lock file instead of flake.lock within the top-level flake.

       •  --update-input input-path

          Update a specific flake input (ignoring its previous entry in the lock file).

                 DEPRECATED

                 Use nix flake update instead.

   Logging-related options
       •  --debug

          Set the logging verbosity level to ‘debug’.

       •  --log-format format

          Set the format of log output; one of raw, internal-json, bar or bar-with-logs.

       •  --print-build-logs / -L

          Print full build logs on standard error.

       •  --quiet

          Decrease the logging verbosity level.

       •  --verbose / -v

          Increase the logging verbosity level.

   Miscellaneous global options
       •  --help

          Show usage information.

       •  --offline

          Disable substituters and consider all previously downloaded files up-to-date.

       •  --option name value

          Set the Nix configuration setting name to value (overriding nix.conf).

       •  --refresh

          Consider all previously downloaded files out-of-date.

       •  --repair

          During evaluation, rewrite missing or corrupted files in  the  Nix  store.  During  building,  rebuild
          missing or corrupted store paths.

       •  --version

          Show version information.

   Options that change the interpretation of installables
       •  --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. Implies --impure.

          Note

          See man nix.conf for overriding configuration settings with command line flags.

                                                                                                    nix3-edit(1)