nixos/nix.dev

★ 3,772NixAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5Setup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((nix.dev))
    What it covers
      Nix tutorials
      Practical guides
      Cookbooks
    Ecosystem
      Nix package manager
      NixOS Linux distro
      Nixpkgs package set
    How to contribute
      Write in MyST
      Follow style guide
      Submit pull request
    Audience
      Nix beginners
      Documentation contributors

mindmap root((nix.dev)) What it covers Nix tutorials Practical guides Cookbooks Ecosystem Nix package manager NixOS Linux distro Nixpkgs package set How to contribute Write in MyST Follow style guide Submit pull request Audience Nix beginners Documentation contributors

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Follow official Nix tutorials to install packages, set up a development environment, or build software reproducibly on Linux or macOS.

USE CASE 2

Contribute a new guide or fix an error in the official Nix documentation by editing MyST source files and submitting a pull request.

USE CASE 3

Use the nix.dev cookbooks as step-by-step recipes to accomplish specific tasks with Nix without starting from scratch.

USE CASE 4

Learn how NixOS and Nixpkgs fit together as an ecosystem by reading the conceptual explanations on nix.dev.

Tech stack

NixMySTMarkdown

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min

Learning Nix itself has a steep initial curve, the tutorials assume you have already installed Nix on your system.

In plain English

nix.dev is the official documentation site for Nix. The repository contains the source files for that documentation, written in MyST format, an extended version of CommonMark, which is a standardized form of Markdown. The site builds and deploys automatically through a continuous integration workflow connected to the repository. The readme itself is brief and does not explain what Nix is in detail. Based on the repository description and its associated topics, nix.dev targets anyone who wants to get practical things done with Nix: a package management and build system used on Linux and macOS. The broader ecosystem referenced in the topics includes NixOS, a Linux distribution built entirely around Nix, and Nixpkgs, a large collection of packages that can be installed through it. Contributors who want to add or improve content write in MyST syntax. MyST is built on top of CommonMark and adds structured directives, cross-references, and other features useful for technical documentation. A separate contribution guide in the repository covers what kinds of content belong on the site and what style expectations new material should follow. The repository sits under the NixOS GitHub organization, giving the documentation official standing within the NixOS project community. The topics tagged on the repo, including tutorials, learning, and cookbooks, signal that the site is a learning hub rather than a software tool itself. For someone entirely new to Nix, this repository is where the official tutorials and guides live. For someone already using Nix who wants to improve the documentation, the contribution guide explains how to get involved.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I am new to Nix. Walk me through the nix.dev first tutorial to install Nix on macOS and create a basic development shell with a specific package.

Prompt 2

How do I write a Nix shell expression that sets up a Python 3.11 development environment with numpy and requests available?

Prompt 3

What is the difference between nix-env, nix-shell, and the newer nix develop and nix run commands in modern Nix?

Prompt 4

I want to contribute a new recipe to nix.dev. What does the MyST syntax look like and what does the contribution guide say about style?

Prompt 5

How does NixOS use Nix under the hood to manage the entire operating system configuration in a reproducible way?

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