Nix Development Environment

This directory contains configuration pertaining to building and developing the Holos CLI with Nix. The main Nix flake configuration is defined in the repository root at ./flake.nix, and all commands in this README assume they'll be run from the repository root.

Bootstrapping

If you don't have Nix installed already, you can review commands required to do so along with direnv (to auto-activate the development environment) by running:

make -n -f nix/nix.mk bootstrap

This would:

1. Install Nix using the Determinate Systems installer
2. Install direnv for automatic environment switching
3. Guide you through setting up your shell

Remove the -n if you understand the commands that will be executed.

Common Commands

Development

# Enter development shell
nix develop

# Format Nix files
nix fmt

# Show available development shell and packages
nix flake show

# Show flake inputs and their versions
nix flake metadata

Building

# Build default package (holos CLI)
nix build

# Build specific output
nix build .#<output-name>

Directory Structure

nix/
├── devshell.nix   # Development environment configuration
├── holos.nix      # Main package derivation
└── nix.mk         # Bootstrap makefile

Environment Management

You can use either direnv or nix develop to manage your development environment:

# Using direnv (automatic)
cd /path/to/project    # Environment activates automatically
direnv allow          # First time only
direnv revoke         # Disable automatic activation

# Using nix develop (manual)
nix develop           # Enter development environment
exit                  # Leave development environment

Updating Dependencies

To update Nix dependencies:

# Update all inputs
nix flake update

# Update specific input
nix flake lock --update-input nixpkgs

For more information about Nix, see:

• Nix Manual
• Nix Flakes