nixos.el - Browse NixOS options and packages

nixos.el provides interactive completing-read and tabulated-list-mode interfaces for browsing NixOS options and Nix packages from Emacs.

Features

• Browse NixOS options and packages with M-x nixos-option / nixos-package
• Tabulated list views (nixos-browse-options / nixos-browse-packages) with Embark actions
• Sortable columns, version-aware package versions, and one group per top-level option attribute (nixos-option-groups)
• The package Version column grows to the longest visible version, so an unstable suffix stays readable, and entries without a version sort last
• Mouse support (middle button opens a row elsewhere, mouse-3 menu) and export of the visible rows as Markdown (e m) or as a Nix list of pkgs attributes (e n)
• Local project evaluation (nixos-package-local) and tarball URLs (nixos-package-url)
• Org link types: nixos-package:, nixos-option:, nixos-package-search:, nixos-option-search: (opt-in module, enable with (with-eval-after-load 'org (require 'ol-nixos)))
• Evil bindings for the detail buffers and the tables (opt-in module, enable with (with-eval-after-load 'evil (require 'evil-nixos)))
• Detail buffers are magit-section trees: familiar fold and motion keys, a per-kind section hook you can reorder, and one section per flake output node
• Completion annotations, eldoc, and bookmark support

Usage

After installing, use M-x nixos-browse-options or M-x nixos-browse-packages to browse NixOS options and Nix packages. Jump directly to a package with M-x nixos-package.

In a table buffer, RET opens the entry, o and mouse-2 open it in another window, w copies its name, b opens search.nixos.org, and g reloads the table. The e prefix exports the visible rows: e m writes a Markdown table and e n writes a package table as a Nix list of pkgs attributes.

The table shrinks its columns when the window is narrow, so the description stays visible. Use { and } to resize a column by hand; a frame resize fits the columns again.

Detail buffers

M-x nixos-option, M-x nixos-package, M-x nixos-package-local, M-x nixos-package-url and M-x nixos-flake open a detail buffer. The buffer is a tree of magit-section sections, so it answers like a Magit buffer: TAB folds the section at point, n and p move between sections, ^ goes to the parent section, 1 to 4 show that many levels, and the section at point highlights. Every field line is a section, and the input tree and the output list of a flake nest one section per node.

Which sections appear is up to you. Each buffer kind has its own hook, and the entries run in order:

(setopt nixos-package-sections-hook
        '(nixos-insert-package-title
          nixos-insert-package-fields))

The hooks are nixos-option-sections-hook, nixos-package-sections-hook, nixos-flake-sections-hook and nixos-flake-overview-sections-hook. A refresh keeps the folded sections and the line of point.

Evil

Opt in with:

(with-eval-after-load 'evil (require 'evil-nixos))

A detail buffer and a table then start in the Evil normal state. The nixos commands keep their keys, and Evil’s g prefix stays a prefix:

Key	Detail buffer	Table
gr	refresh	refresh
gb	open search.nixos.org	open search.nixos.org
gR	show the requisites
gd	visit the source position
RET	open the output (flake view)	open the row
o		open the row elsewhere
w	copy the store path	copy the row name
e		export the visible rows
TAB	fold the section at point
{ }		resize a column

The keys q, r and b stay with Evil in a detail buffer, and gg, gf and gJ keep their Evil meaning beside the nixos g keys.

License

AGPL3+