Searching packages: Difference between revisions

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There are ~~a different~~ ways to search for a package name in ~~the nix package manager~~.

There are multiple ways to search for a package name in <code>nixpkgs</code>.

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

~~== The~~ NixOS ~~packages~~ search ~~engine ==~~

There is a web service to search for

* Nix packages at [https://search.nixos.org/packages search.nixos.org/packages]

* NixOS options at [https://search.nixos.org/options search.nixos.org/options]

~~There is a website that let you search for Nix packages and NixOS options at https~~:~~//search.nixos.org/~~

* pros:

** easy to use

** allows filters

* cons:

** requires Internet connection

* pros

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

** it's easy to use

** allow filters

* cons

** it requires Internet

== Using nix search 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.

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</pre>

== Using the nix-env command ==

== Using the <code>nix-env</code> command ==

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

* pros

* pros:

** works offline

* cons

* cons:

** it's very slow and requires a lot of memory

== Interactive package browsing with ~~the~~ repl ==

== Interactive package browsing with <code>nix repl</code> ==

You can ~~use the~~ nix repl to load the nixpkgs repository and then use ~~the~~ auto completion to search for packages.

You can start <code>nix repl</code> to load the <code>nixpkgs</code> repository and then use auto completion to search for packages.

<pre>

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

~~It's possible to use the~~ 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 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.

[[Category:Reference]]

[[Category:Nixpkgs]]