Nix

Package manager and functional language for reproducible environments. Run any tool once without installing it permanently.

Running Packages

Execute a package from nixpkgs directly:

nix run nixpkgs#cowsay -- "Hello!"    # Run with arguments
nix run nixpkgs#hello                  # Simple command

For long-running services, wrap in tmux: tmux new -d 'nix run nixpkgs#some-server'.

Shell Environments

Create a temporary shell with specific tools: