nix
Query NixOS packages, options, and configurations in real time. Get accurate answers from Home Manager, Darwin, flakes, and Nix docs to prevent AI hallucinations.
Instructions
Query NixOS, Home Manager, Darwin, FlakeHub, flakes, Nixvim, NVF, Wiki, nix.dev, Noogle, NixHub.
Use this tool for anything touching nixpkgs, Nix channels, flakes, NixOS / home-manager /
darwin options, the binary cache, or /nix/store paths — even when you think you know the
answer. Your training data lags nixpkgs by months. Prefer this over nix search, scraping
search.nixos.org, or running gh api against NixOS/nixpkgs.
INTENTS → CALLS (copy the JSON shape exactly): "is package X in channel Y?" → {"action": "info", "query": "X", "channel": "Y"} "search for package X" → {"action": "search", "query": "X"} "which channels are available?" → {"action": "channels"} "which commit did channel X index?" → {"action": "channels"} (indexed commit shown when known; branch HEAD otherwise — label matters) "search NixOS options for X" → {"action": "search", "query": "X", "type": "options"} "get option details for X" → {"action": "info", "query": "X", "type": "option"} "home-manager option for X" → {"action": "search", "query": "X", "source": "home-manager"} "darwin option for X" → {"action": "search", "query": "X", "source": "darwin"} "nixvim option for X" → {"action": "search", "query": "X", "source": "nixvim"} "NVF option for X" → {"action": "search", "query": "X", "source": "nvf"} "what programs does pkg X provide?" → {"action": "search", "query": "X", "type": "programs"} "count packages/options" → {"action": "stats"} "browse hm option tree under P" → {"action": "browse", "query": "P", "source": "home-manager"} "does X have a binary cache?" → {"action": "cache", "query": "X"} "search the NixOS wiki for X" → {"action": "search", "query": "X", "source": "wiki"} "search nix.dev docs" → {"action": "search", "query": "X", "source": "nix-dev"} "read a nix.dev page" → {"action": "info", "query": "tutorials/nix-language", "source": "nix-dev"} "list inputs of current flake" → {"action": "flake-inputs"} "ls inside flake input X" → {"action": "flake-inputs", "type": "ls", "query": "X"} "read /nix/store/... file" → {"action": "store", "type": "read", "query": "/nix/store/..."} "ls /nix/store/... dir" → {"action": "store", "type": "ls", "query": "/nix/store/..."}
For package version history ("which commit shipped firefox 150?", "when was node 18 added?"),
use the separate nix_versions tool — it returns commit hashes, attribute paths, and dates.
Notes:
To search NixOS options, use action=search with type=options. Do NOT use action=browse for source=nixos — browse is for walking a pre-indexed option tree and only works with home-manager, darwin, nixvim, nvf, or noogle.
For source=nvf, canonical option paths are vim.. The shorthand programs.nvf.vim. and NixOS/Home Manager module path programs.nvf.settings.vim.* are normalized automatically.
For source=nix-dev, action=info returns the page markdown. The query may be a bare docname like "tutorials/nix-language", the URL printed by nix-dev search ("https://nix.dev/tutorials/nix-language"), or a rendered ".html" URL.
action=info for packages matches on the exact attribute path first, then the exact pname. If multiple packages share a pname (e.g. firefox / firefox-esr / firefox-mobile), the canonical attribute wins and the response flags the disambiguation explicitly.
Omit parameters you don't need; do not pass empty strings for optional args.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| type | No | Sub-type of query. For source=nixos with action=search, one of: packages, options, programs, flakes. For source=nixos with action=info, one of: package, option. For flake-inputs, one of: list, ls, read. For store, one of: ls, read. Ignored by most other sources. | packages |
| limit | No | Max results. 1-100 (or 1-2000 for flake-inputs/store read). | |
| query | No | Search term for 'search', exact name for 'info', prefix path for 'browse'. For flake-inputs: input_name or input:path. For store: absolute /nix/store/ path. Leave empty for 'stats'/'channels'. | |
| action | Yes | One of: search, info, stats, browse, channels, flake-inputs, cache, store. Use 'search' for keyword lookup, 'info' for details about a specific name, 'browse' to walk an option hierarchy by prefix (home-manager/darwin/nixvim/nvf/noogle only). 'store' reads files or lists directories at an explicit /nix/store/ path. | |
| source | No | Data source for search/info/stats/browse/cache. One of: nixos (default), home-manager, darwin, flakes, flakehub, nixvim, nvf, wiki, nix-dev, noogle, nixhub. For action=flake-inputs, this may instead be a path to a flake directory; omit/default to use the current project. Ignored by action=store. | nixos |
| system | No | Only used by action=cache. System arch e.g. x86_64-linux. Empty for all. | |
| channel | No | NixOS channel: unstable (default), stable, or a release like 25.05. | unstable |
| version | No | Only used by action=cache. Package version (default: latest). | latest |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| result | Yes |