nix-search-cli

nix-search is a CLI client for search.nixos.org/packages. Use nix-search to find packages by name, description, installed programs, version, or other metadata. Requires an active internet connection to work.

Major features and benefits:

• Find how to install the binary you need
• Searches work the same as the web interface by default
• Use flags to explicitly query attribute names, installed programs, and versions
• Each result is linked to the web interface (in supported terminals)
• Results are compact and nicely colorized by default (in supported terminals)

Docs: https://github.com/peterldowns/nix-search-cli

Usage:
  nix-search some program or package [flags]

Examples:
  # Search for nix packages in the https://search.nixos.org index
  
  # ... like the web interface
  nix-search python linter
  nix-search --search "python linter"  
  # ... by package name
  nix-search --name python
  nix-search --name 'emacsPackages.*'  
  # ... by version
  nix-search --version 1.20 
  nix-search --version '1.*'           
  # ... by installed programs
  nix-search --program python
  nix-search --program "py*"
  # ... with ElasticSearch QueryString syntax
  nix-search --query-string="package_programs:(crystal OR irb)"
  nix-search --query-string='package_description:(MIT Scheme)'
  # ... on a specific channel, default "unstable". The valid channel
  #     values are what the search.nixos.org index has, check
  #     that website to see what options they show in their interface.
  nix-search --channel=unstable python3
  # ... or flakes indexed by search.nixos.org, see their website
  #     for more information.
  nix-search --flakes wayland
  
  # ... or search with multiple filters and options
  nix-search golang --program go --version '1.*' --details

Flags:
  -c, --channel string        which channel to search in (default "unstable")
  -d, --details               show expanded details for each result
  -f, --flakes                search flakes instead of nixpkgs
  -h, --help                  help for nix-search
  -j, --json                  emit results in json-line format
  -m, --max-results int       maximum number of results to return (default 20)
  -n, --name string           search by package name
  -p, --program string        search by installed programs
  -q, --query-string string   search by elasticsearch querystring
  -r, --reverse               print results in reverse order
  -s, --search string         default search, same as the website
  -v, --version string        search by version

For example, here's how you would find all the right package to install gcloud, and then install that package. The results show the version of each package as well as the full set of installed binaries. In a supported terminal, we use nice colors:

$ nix-search -p gcloud
google-cloud-sdk-gce @ 408.0.1: gcloud bq docker-credential-gcloud git-credential-gcloud.sh gsutil
google-cloud-sdk @ 408.0.1: gcloud bq docker-credential-gcloud git-credential-gcloud.sh gsutil

$ nix profile install nixpkgs#google-cloud-sdk

Here's how you would find out how to install python 3.12:

Install

Golang:

# run it
go run github.com/peterldowns/nix-search-cli/cmd/nix-search@latest --help
# install it
go install github.com/peterldowns/nix-search-cli/cmd/nix-search@latest

Homebrew:

brew install peterldowns/tap/nix-search-cli

Nix (flakes):

# run it
nix run github:peterldowns/nix-search-cli -- --help
# install it
nix profile install github:peterldowns/nix-search-cli --refresh

Docker:

# run it
docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/peterldowns/nix-search-cli:latest --help
# pull it
docker pull ghcr.io/peterldowns/nix-search-cli:latest

Manual:

• Visit the latest Github release
• Download the appropriate binary: nix-search-$os-$arch

Motivation

Nix is useful as a way to install packages, but without this project there is no easy way to find the attribute name to use to install a given program.

The Nix Wiki page on "Searching Packages" recommends using the search.nixos.org interface, but doing this requires using a browser.

As for nix-env --query, it supports searching over attribute names, but not other fields or metadata (including the programs that the attribute installs).

For instance, you can use nix-env -qaP to search for attribute names:

# nix-env -qaP google-cloud-sdk
nixpkgs.google-cloud-sdk      google-cloud-sdk-408.0.1
nixpkgs.google-cloud-sdk-gce  google-cloud-sdk-408.0.1

but you cannot find an attribute name given a binary you'd like to install:

# nix-env -qaP gcloud
error: selector 'gcloud' matches no derivations

Contributing

Common tasks are run by just

# show all available commands
just
just --list

This repository is compatible with nix (standard), nix (flakes), direnv, and lorri. You can explicitly enter a development shell with all necessary dependencies with either nix develop (flakes) or nix shell (standard).

This repository ships configuration details for VSCode. After entering a development shell, run code . from the root of the repository to open VSCode.

# get developer dependencies by entering a nix shell.
# if you have direnv / lorri installed, you just need to allow the config once.
nix develop # (flakes)
nix-shell # (standard)
direnv allow # direnv

Testing and Linting:

just test
just lint

Building:

# build with `go build`, result is in `./bin/nix-search`
just build
# build with `nix`, result is in `./result/bin/nix-search`
nix build # (flakes)
nix-build # (standard)

Run the binary:

# if built with `just build`:
./bin/nix-search --help
# if built with `nix build` or `nix-build`:
./result/bin/nix-search --help
# or, you can build + run directly through nix:
nix run . -- help # flakes
# or, you can open a new shell with the binary available on $PATH through nix:
nix shell # and then `nix-search`
nix shell -c nix-search --help # directly run `nix-search` from inside this shell

Update the flake.lock:

# Re-generate the flake.lock file
nix flake lock
# Update all dependencies and update the flake.lock file
nix flake update