Searching packages: Difference between revisions
Package search does not only search package names, but also the description. Added pro/contra to a subsection. Added idea of search engines in browser) |
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== Using <code>search.nixos.org</code> website == | == Using <code>search.nixos.org</code> website == | ||
There is a web service to search | There is a web service to search with | ||
: | : [[channel branches]] | ||
:* Nix packages at [https://search.nixos.org/packages search.nixos.org/packages] | :* Nix packages at [https://search.nixos.org/packages search.nixos.org/packages] | ||
:* NixOS options at [https://search.nixos.org/options search.nixos.org/options] | :* NixOS options at [https://search.nixos.org/options search.nixos.org/options] | ||
: | : [[flakes]] | ||
:* packages at [https://search.nixos.org/flakes?type=packages search.nixos.org/flakes?type=packages] | :* 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] | :* options at [https://search.nixos.org/flakes?type=options search.nixos.org/flakes?type=options] | ||
| Line 15: | Line 15: | ||
* allows filters | * allows filters | ||
* nice GUI in browser | * nice GUI in browser | ||
* browser extensions possible (like @ | * browser extensions possible (like @nixpkgs as search engine in Firefox) | ||
; cons: | ; cons: | ||
* always requires Internet connection | * always requires Internet connection | ||
If you'd like to search with this web service from the command line, you may use [https://github.com/peterldowns/nix-search-cli peterldowns/nix-search-cli]. It provides exactly the same search experience by default. | |||
== Other online sites for searching == | |||
These are another possible places to search | |||
* [https://github.com/search?q=language%3ANix+&type=code github.com] - search for regex/strings in nixpkgs, home-manager, nix-darwin and any other public github repos. | |||
* [https://mynixos.com mynixos.com] - search for packages in nixpkgs, also nixos, home-manager, nix-darwin options. Not foss and unofficial. | |||
* [https://home-manager-options.extranix.com home-manager-options.extranix.com] - search for home-manager options. [https://github.com/mipmip/home-manager-option-search foss] | |||
== Using the <code>nix search</code> command == | == Using the <code>nix search</code> command == | ||
While this command | 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. | ||
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">nix | <syntaxhighlight lang="bash">nix search nixpkgs firefox</syntaxhighlight> | ||
; pros: | ; pros: | ||
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* requires disk space for caching | * requires disk space for caching | ||
* quite long command | * quite long command | ||
There are third party tools that allow searching for packages similarly to <code>nix search</code>, namely: | |||
* [https://github.com/diamondburned/nix-search diamondburned/nix-search]: A faster and channel-compatible <code>nix search</code> using only stable Nix tools (no [[flakes]] required) which creates a local database with a package index. | |||
== Using the <code>nix-env</code> command == | == Using the <code>nix-env</code> command == | ||
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With the read–eval–print loop (REPL) of nix you can browse packages interactively. | With the read–eval–print loop (REPL) of nix you can browse packages interactively. | ||
Starting the [ | Starting the [https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-repl.html nix repl] | ||
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">nix repl</syntaxhighlight> | <syntaxhighlight lang="bash">nix repl</syntaxhighlight> | ||
<syntaxhighlight lang="console"> | <syntaxhighlight lang="console"> | ||
Welcome to Nix 2. | Welcome to Nix 2.18.2. Type :? for help. | ||
nix-repl> | nix-repl> | ||
</syntaxhighlight> | </syntaxhighlight> | ||
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nix-repl> | nix-repl> | ||
</syntaxhighlight> | </syntaxhighlight> | ||
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">:load <nixpkgs | <syntaxhighlight lang="bash">nix-repl> :load <nixpkgs> | ||
Added 21181 variables. | |||
Added | </syntaxhighlight>Type the first letters of a package | ||
</syntaxhighlight> | <syntaxhighlight lang="bash">nix-repl> neo </syntaxhighlight> | ||
Type the first letters of a package | |||
<syntaxhighlight lang=" | |||
Press <tt>Tab ↹</tt> key<!-- {{[[mw:Template::Key press]]|Tab}} --> for auto completion | 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 | There are third party programs that make it easier to determine which package you need to install in order to obtain a specific file or program. | ||
These are most commonly used, and require you to create an index on your computer before you can search for a package: | |||
* [https://github.com/nix-community/nix-index nix-community/nix-index] | |||
* [https://github.com/replit/rippkgs replit/rippkgs] | |||
These are online tools which search an index someone else keeps up to date: | |||
* [https://github.com/peterldowns/nix-search-cli peterldowns/nix-search-cli]: <code>nix-search -p theBinaryIWantToInstall</code> to search the search.nixos.org elasticsearch index. | |||
[[Category:Reference]] | [[Category:Reference]] | ||
[[Category:Nixpkgs]] | [[Category:Nixpkgs]] | ||