Searching packages: Difference between revisions

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there is also a search for everybody's (experimental) darling flakes nowadays
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There are multiple ways to search for a package name in <code>nixpkgs</code>.
There are numerous approaches available for searching substrings within both package names and package descriptions in <code>nixpkgs</code>.


== Using <code>search.nixos.org</code> ==
== Using <code>search.nixos.org</code> website ==


There is a web service to search for
There is a web service to search with
* Nix packages at [https://search.nixos.org/packages search.nixos.org/packages]
: [[channel branches]]
* NixOS options at [https://search.nixos.org/options search.nixos.org/options]
:* Nix packages at [https://search.nixos.org/packages search.nixos.org/packages]
* packages for [[flakes]] at [https://search.nixos.org/flakes?type=options search.nixos.org/flakes?type=options]
:* NixOS options at [https://search.nixos.org/options search.nixos.org/options]
* options for [[flakes]] at [https://search.nixos.org/flakes?type=packages search.nixos.org/flakes?type=packages]
: [[flakes]]
:* packages at [https://search.nixos.org/flakes?type=packages search.nixos.org/flakes?type=packages]
:* options at [https://search.nixos.org/flakes?type=options search.nixos.org/flakes?type=options]


* pros:
; pros:
** easy to use
* easy to use
** allows filters
* allows filters
* cons:
* nice GUI in browser
** requires Internet connection
* browser extensions possible (like @nixpgs as search engine in Firefox)
; cons:
* always requires Internet connection


== Using <code>nix search</code> command ==
== Using the <code>nix search</code> command ==


While this command is still experimental, you can use it to search for a package. It may be slow the first time, but further runs will use cached results.
While this command requires [[flakes]], you can use it to search for a package. It may be slow the first time, but further runs will use cached results.


<pre>
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">nix search nixpkgs firefox</syntaxhighlight>
$ nix --extra-experimental-features "nix-command flakes" search nixpkgs firefox
 
</pre>
; pros:
* fast
* possible offline usage
; cons:
* requires disk space for caching
* quite long command


== Using the <code>nix-env</code> command ==
== Using the <code>nix-env</code> command ==
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It's possible to search for a package using <code>nix-env -qaP</code>
It's possible to search for a package using <code>nix-env -qaP</code>


* pros:
; pros:
** works offline
* works offline
* cons:
; cons:
** it's very slow and requires a lot of memory
* it's very slow and requires a lot of memory


== Interactive package browsing with <code>nix repl</code> ==
== Using the <code>nix repl</code> environment ==


You can start <code>nix repl</code> to load the <code>nixpkgs</code> repository and then use auto completion to search for packages.
With the read–eval–print loop (REPL) of nix you can browse packages interactively.


<pre>
Starting the [https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-repl.html nix repl]
$ nix repl
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">nix repl</syntaxhighlight>
Welcome to Nix 2.8.1. Type :? for help.
<syntaxhighlight lang="console">
Welcome to Nix 2.18.2. Type :? for help.


nix-repl> :load <nixpkgs>
nix-repl>  
Added 16519 variables.
</syntaxhighlight>


nix-repl> firef[PRESS TAB]
Loading the repository for nixpkgs
</pre>
<syntaxhighlight lang="console">
nix-repl>
</syntaxhighlight>
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">nix-repl> :load <nixpkgs>
Added 21181 variables.
</syntaxhighlight>Type the first letters of a package
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">nix-repl> neo  </syntaxhighlight>
Press <tt>Tab ↹</tt> key<!-- {{[[mw:Template::Key press]]|Tab}} --> for auto completion


== Reverse search: searching which package provides a file ==
== Reverse search: searching which package provides a file ==


There is a third party program [https://github.com/bennofs/nix-index nix-index] to find which package provides a given file. This is particularly useful when you are looking for a very specific file but you don't know which package installs it.
There is third party programs [https://github.com/nix-community/nix-index nix-index], and [https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/Flakes rippkgs] to find which package provides a given file. This is particularly useful when you are looking for a very specific file but you don't know which package installs it.


[[Category:Reference]]
[[Category:Reference]]
[[Category:Nixpkgs]]
[[Category:Nixpkgs]]
Retrieved from "https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/Searching_packages"