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Using devenv with flake-parts

Flake Parts provides a modular framework for organizing Nix Flakes. This integration helps you structure your devenv configuration within a Nix Flake.

Before proceeding, we recommend reading about the benefits and downsides of using Nix Flakes as this approach requires familiarity with Nix Flakes concepts.

Getting started

To quickly set up project with Nix flakes, use nix flake init:

nix flake init --template github:cachix/devenv#flake-parts

This will create a flake.nix file with a basic devenv configuration and a .envrc file for direnv support.

Working with flake shells

The flake.nix file

Here's an example of a minimal flake.nix file that includes devenv:

{
  inputs = {
    nixpkgs.url = "github:cachix/devenv-nixpkgs/rolling";
    devenv.url = "github:cachix/devenv";
  };

  outputs = inputs@{ flake-parts, nixpkgs, ... }:
    flake-parts.lib.mkFlake { inherit inputs; } {
      imports = [
        inputs.devenv.flakeModule
      ];
      systems = nixpkgs.lib.systems.flakeExposed;

      perSystem = { config, self', inputs', pkgs, system, ... }: {
        # Per-system attributes can be defined here. The self' and inputs'
        # module parameters provide easy access to attributes of the same
        # system.

        # Equivalent to  inputs'.nixpkgs.legacyPackages.hello;
        packages.default = pkgs.hello;

        devenv.shells.default = {
          # https://devenv.sh/reference/options/
          packages = [ config.packages.default ];

          enterShell = ''
            hello
          '';
        };
      };
    };
}

Here a single shell is defined for all listed systems. The shell includes a single devenv configuration module, under devenv.shells, named default.

Add your devenv configuration (usually in the devenv.nix file) to this module. See devenv.nix options for more information about configuration options.

Entering the shell

Enter the devenv shell using:

nix develop --no-pure-eval

This will create a lock file and open a new shell using the devenv configuration from your flake.nix.

Why do I need to use the --no-pure-eval flag?

Flakes use "pure evaluation" by default, which prevents devenv from figuring out the environment its running in: for example, querying the working directory. The --no-pure-eval flag relaxes this restriction.

An alternative, and less flexible, workaround is to override the devenv.root option to the absolute path to your project directory. This makes the flake non-portable between machines, but does allow the shell to be evaluated in pure mode.

Launching processes, services, and tests

Once in the shell, you can launch processes and services with devenv up.

$ devenv up
17:34:37 system | run.1 started (pid=1046939)
17:34:37 run.1  | Hello, world!
17:34:37 system | run.1 stopped (rc=0)

And run tests with devenv test.

$ devenv test
Running tasks     devenv:enterShell
Succeeded         devenv:git-hooks:install 10ms
Succeeded         devenv:enterShell         4ms
2 Succeeded                                 14.75ms
• Testing ...
Running tasks     devenv:enterTest
Succeeded         devenv:git-hooks:run     474ms
No command        devenv:enterTest
1 Skipped, 1 Succeeded                      474.62ms

Import a devenv module

You can import a devenv configuration or module, such as devenv-foo.nix into an individual shell as follows.

Add imports to your devenv.shells.<name> definition:

# inside perSystem = { ... }: {

devenv.shells.default = {
  imports = [ ./devenv-foo.nix ];

  enterShell = ''
    hello
  '';
};

You can use definitions from your flake in your devenv configuration. When you do so it's recommended to use a different file name than devenv.nix, because it may not be standalone capable.

For example, if devenv-foo.nix declares a devenv service, and you've packaged it locally into perSystem.packages, you can provide the package as follows:

# inside perSystem = { config, ... }: {

devenv.shells.default = {
  imports = [ ./devenv-foo.nix ];

  services.foo.package = config.packages.foo;

  enterShell = ''
    hello
  '';
};

Your devenv module then doesn't have to provide a default:

{ config, lib, ... }:
let cfg = config.services.foo;
in {
  options = {
    services.foo = {
      package = lib.mkOption {
        type = lib.types.package;
        defaultText = lib.literalMD "defined internally";
        description = "The foo package to use.";
      };
      # ...
    };
  };
  config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
    processes.foo.exec = "${cfg.package}/bin/foo";
  };
}

Automated shell switching

You can configure your shell to launch automatically when you enter the project directory.

First, install nix-direnv.

Then add the following line to your .envrc:

use flake . --no-pure-eval

Allow direnv to evaluate the updated .envrc:

direnv allow

Multiple shells

Some projects lend themselves to defining multiple development shells. For instance, you may want to define multiple development shells for different subprojects in a monorepo. You can do this by defining the various development shells in a central flake.nix file in the root of the repository.

The flake.nix file outputs multiple devShells when you provide multiple perSystem.devenv.shells definitions. For example:

# inside perSystem = { ... }: {

devenv.shells.projectA = {
  # https://devenv.sh/reference/options/
  packages = [ config.packages.default ];

  enterShell = ''
    echo this is project A
    hello
  '';
};

devenv.shells.projectB = {
  # https://devenv.sh/reference/options/
  packages = [ config.packages.default ];

  enterShell = ''
    echo this is project B
    hello
  '';
};

# If you'd like to pick a default
devShells.default = config.devShells.projectA;

Here we have defined two shells, each with a devenv configuration and differently defined enterShell command.

To enter the shell of projectA:

$ nix develop --no-pure-eval .#projectA
this is project A
(devenv) $

To enter the shell of projectB:

$ nix develop --no-pure-eval .#projectB
this is project B
(devenv) $

The last line makes projectA the default shell:

$ nix develop --no-pure-eval .
this is project A
(devenv) $

External flakes

If you cannot, or don't want to, add a flake.nix file to your project's repository, you can use external flakes instead.

Create a separate repository with a flake.nix file, as in the example above. Then refer to this flake in your project:

$ nix develop --no-pure-eval file:/path/to/central/flake#projectA
this is project A
(devenv) $

You can also add this to the direnv configuration of the project. Make sure the following line is in .envrc:

nix flake --no-pure-eval file:/path/to/central/flake#projectA

External flakes aren't limited to local paths using file:. You can refer to flakes on github: and generic git: repositories. See Nix flake references for more options.

When using this method to refer to external flakes, it's important to remember that there is no lock file, so there is no certainty about which version of the flake is used. A local project flake file will give you more control over which version of the flake is used.