nix-mode

An Emacs major mode for editing Nix expressions. There is also a manual available at nix-mode.org.

Submodes

A quick list of what is provided.

nix-mode.el

This is the main usage of nix-mode. This provides basic handling of .nix files. Syntax highlighting and indentation support using SMIE are provided. nix-mode can be used with the following snippet:

(require 'nix-mode)
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.nix\\'" . nix-mode))

or with use-package:

(use-package nix-mode
  :mode "\\.nix\\'")

nix.el

nix.el contains some miscellaneous tools for Nix developers. Interactive functions include:

• nix-unpack - unpack source of a Nix attribute.

  To use this just type:

  M-x nix-unpack

  Followed by your Nix path & attribute path.

• nix-build - build a Nix derivation.

  This is meant to work similarly to M-x compile. It will use your current directory & build it if there is a default.nix there.

nix.el also provides some basic functions for interfacing with Nix. Some variables are provided to point to the Nix binaries that can be used in Lisp code:

• nix-executable
• nix-build-executable
• nix-instantiate-executable
• nix-store-executable
• nix-shell-executable

Other useful functions for Lisp scripts are provided:

• nix-system - Get the current system, detected by Nix

nix-repl.el

nix-repl.el has two purposes.

First, it provides an interface for completion, used by nix-company.el.

Second, it provides an interactive function to open an repl. You can open this with:

M-x nix-repl

nix-prettify-mode.el

When nix-prettify-mode is enabled, hash-parts of the Nix store file names are prettified, i.e. displayed as nix-prettify-char character (… by default.).

This is based on a similar mode for Guix: Prettify Mode (Emacs-Guix Reference Manual).

Origins

This repository is based off of the nix-mode.el file originally located in the Nix repository at misc/emacs/nix-mode.el. Please see the CHANGELOG file for a list of changes.

Other Emacs packages

@shlevy has an excellent package for integrating nix-shell into emacs. It is available at shlevy/nix-buffer.

@travisbhartwell also has some package dealing with Nix. They are available at travisbhartwell/nix-emacs.