A set of useful Emacs modes and functions for users of Nix and Nix OS.
Emacs Lisp
250
85 commits
updated Feb 16, 2026
#+TITLE: Nix Options -- A set of useful Emacs modes and functions for users of Nix and Nix OS.
| nixos-options | helm-nixos-options | ivy-nixos-options | company-nixos-options | nix-sandbox |
| [[http://melpa.org/#/nixos-options][http://melpa.org/packages/nixos-options-badge.svg]] | [[http://melpa.org/#/helm-nixos-options][http://melpa.org/packages/helm-nixos-options-badge.svg]] | [[http://melpa.org/packages/ivy-nixos-options-badge.svg]] | [[http://melpa.org/#/company-nixos-options][http://melpa.org/packages/company-nixos-options-badge.svg]] | [[https://melpa.org/#/nix-sandbox][file:https://melpa.org/packages/nix-sandbox-badge.svg]] |
[[https://gitter.im/travisbhartwell/nix-emacs?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge][https://badges.gitter.im/Join Chat.svg]]
[[https://www.waffle.io/travisbhartwell/nix-emacs][https://badge.waffle.io/travisbhartwell/nix-emacs.svg]]
** Usage
*** helm-nixos-options
The function =helm-nixos-options= is the one that you want to bind. You are free
to choose where and if you want it global you can have this.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-S-n") 'helm-nixos-options)
#+end_src
It looks like this
[[file:img/helm-nixos-options-candidates.png]]
The description of the option is shown in the minibuffer
If you want more information, there is a detailed buffer when you press =return=
[[file:img/helm-nixos-options-doc-buffer.png]]
There are also other actions like inserting the current match into the buffer
[[file:img/helm-nixos-options.gif]]
*** ivy-nixos-options
Use this if you don't want the rather heavy =helm= dependency.
The function =ivy-nixos-options= is the one that you want to bind. You are free
to choose where and if you want it global you can have this.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-S-n") 'ivy-nixos-options)
(setq ivy-nixos-options-default 1)
; defines what function is being called when pressing return. I like to have it set to 2
; All of the actions can always be called when pressing M-o
; 1 = show the docs buffer (default)
; 2 = insert the string
; 3 = only show the description of the command
#+end_src
It looks like this
[[file:img/ivy-nixos-options-candidates.png]]
If you want more information, there is a detailed buffer when you press =return=
[[file:img/ivy-nixos-options-doc-buffer.png]]
There are also other actions like inserting the current match into the buffer.
The builtin help menu from ivy (display with =M-o=) shows all possible options. e.g. =M-o i= will insert the option
[[file:img/ivy-nixos-options-actions.png]]
*** company-nixos-options
Add company-nixos-options to allowed company-mode backends list
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(add-to-list 'company-backends 'company-nixos-options)
#+end_src
For now it shows the documentation of the option in a popup-buffer.
[[file:img/company-nixos-options.gif]]
*** nix-sandbox
Utility functions to work with nix sandboxes.
- ~nix-shell-command~ composes command that can be executed in the given sandbox
- ~nix-shell~ executes a command in the given sandbox
- ~nix-compile~ compiles a program in the given sandbox
- ~nix-find-sandbox~ searches from the given path upwards until it
finds a =shell.nix= or =default.nix= file.
- ~nix-current-sandbox~ searches for a sandbox file starting from the current working directory.
- ~nix-executable-find~ a replacement for the built-in =executable-find=. The function searches in the given sandbox for executables.
**** Flycheck
With this configuration [[http://www.flycheck.org/][flycheck]] can find executables of checkers that would be only accessible via =nix-shell=:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(setq flycheck-command-wrapper-function
(lambda (command) (apply 'nix-shell-command (nix-current-sandbox) command))
flycheck-executable-find
(lambda (cmd) (nix-executable-find (nix-current-sandbox) cmd)))
#+end_src
**** Haskell Mode
Add these lines to your configuration to allow [[https://github.com/haskell/haskell-mode][haskell-mode]] to look for =ghc= in the current sandbox.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(setq haskell-process-wrapper-function
(lambda (args) (apply 'nix-shell-command (nix-current-sandbox) args)))
#+end_src
Not written in Markdown, so it's shown here as plain text — view it formatted on GitHub.
Emacs Lisp
100.0%
A set of useful Emacs modes and functions for users of Nix and Nix OS.
Emacs Lisp
250
85 commits
updated Feb 16, 2026
#+TITLE: Nix Options -- A set of useful Emacs modes and functions for users of Nix and Nix OS.
| nixos-options | helm-nixos-options | ivy-nixos-options | company-nixos-options | nix-sandbox |
| [[http://melpa.org/#/nixos-options][http://melpa.org/packages/nixos-options-badge.svg]] | [[http://melpa.org/#/helm-nixos-options][http://melpa.org/packages/helm-nixos-options-badge.svg]] | [[http://melpa.org/packages/ivy-nixos-options-badge.svg]] | [[http://melpa.org/#/company-nixos-options][http://melpa.org/packages/company-nixos-options-badge.svg]] | [[https://melpa.org/#/nix-sandbox][file:https://melpa.org/packages/nix-sandbox-badge.svg]] |
[[https://gitter.im/travisbhartwell/nix-emacs?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge][https://badges.gitter.im/Join Chat.svg]]
[[https://www.waffle.io/travisbhartwell/nix-emacs][https://badge.waffle.io/travisbhartwell/nix-emacs.svg]]
** Usage
*** helm-nixos-options
The function =helm-nixos-options= is the one that you want to bind. You are free
to choose where and if you want it global you can have this.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-S-n") 'helm-nixos-options)
#+end_src
It looks like this
[[file:img/helm-nixos-options-candidates.png]]
The description of the option is shown in the minibuffer
If you want more information, there is a detailed buffer when you press =return=
[[file:img/helm-nixos-options-doc-buffer.png]]
There are also other actions like inserting the current match into the buffer
[[file:img/helm-nixos-options.gif]]
*** ivy-nixos-options
Use this if you don't want the rather heavy =helm= dependency.
The function =ivy-nixos-options= is the one that you want to bind. You are free
to choose where and if you want it global you can have this.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-S-n") 'ivy-nixos-options)
(setq ivy-nixos-options-default 1)
; defines what function is being called when pressing return. I like to have it set to 2
; All of the actions can always be called when pressing M-o
; 1 = show the docs buffer (default)
; 2 = insert the string
; 3 = only show the description of the command
#+end_src
It looks like this
[[file:img/ivy-nixos-options-candidates.png]]
If you want more information, there is a detailed buffer when you press =return=
[[file:img/ivy-nixos-options-doc-buffer.png]]
There are also other actions like inserting the current match into the buffer.
The builtin help menu from ivy (display with =M-o=) shows all possible options. e.g. =M-o i= will insert the option
[[file:img/ivy-nixos-options-actions.png]]
*** company-nixos-options
Add company-nixos-options to allowed company-mode backends list
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(add-to-list 'company-backends 'company-nixos-options)
#+end_src
For now it shows the documentation of the option in a popup-buffer.
[[file:img/company-nixos-options.gif]]
*** nix-sandbox
Utility functions to work with nix sandboxes.
- ~nix-shell-command~ composes command that can be executed in the given sandbox
- ~nix-shell~ executes a command in the given sandbox
- ~nix-compile~ compiles a program in the given sandbox
- ~nix-find-sandbox~ searches from the given path upwards until it
finds a =shell.nix= or =default.nix= file.
- ~nix-current-sandbox~ searches for a sandbox file starting from the current working directory.
- ~nix-executable-find~ a replacement for the built-in =executable-find=. The function searches in the given sandbox for executables.
**** Flycheck
With this configuration [[http://www.flycheck.org/][flycheck]] can find executables of checkers that would be only accessible via =nix-shell=:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(setq flycheck-command-wrapper-function
(lambda (command) (apply 'nix-shell-command (nix-current-sandbox) command))
flycheck-executable-find
(lambda (cmd) (nix-executable-find (nix-current-sandbox) cmd)))
#+end_src
**** Haskell Mode
Add these lines to your configuration to allow [[https://github.com/haskell/haskell-mode][haskell-mode]] to look for =ghc= in the current sandbox.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(setq haskell-process-wrapper-function
(lambda (args) (apply 'nix-shell-command (nix-current-sandbox) args)))
#+end_src
Not written in Markdown, so it's shown here as plain text — view it formatted on GitHub.
Emacs Lisp
100.0%