Nix Derivation

A nix derivation is a set of instructions used in order to realise a nix package.

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Benefits

• Fully declarative and pure configuration of packages
• Simple architecture for wrapping/building binaries that can scale to apps of any scale
• Pure Development Shells

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Example

Here is a captured version of the derivation I use to apply my starship config:

{
  pkgs,
  name,
  version,
  ...
}:
pkgs.stdenv.mkDerivation {
  name = name;
  version = version;
 
  src = ./starship.toml;
 
  unpackPhase = ":";
 
  # Inputs for wrapping program
  nativeBuildInputs = with pkgs; [
    makeWrapper
  ];
 
  buildPhase = ''
    mkdir -p $out/bin
 
    makeWrapper "${pkgs.starship}/bin/starship" $out/bin/${name} \
      --set STARSHIP_CONFIG $src
    '';
}