devenv

declarative development environments with Nix

TLDR

Initialize a new project

$ devenv init

Enter the development shell

$ devenv shell

Start background processes (databases, servers, etc.)

$ devenv up

Start processes detached in the background

$ devenv processes up

Run a command in the environment

$ devenv shell -- [command]

Search for a package in nixpkgs

$ devenv search [package_name]

Update inputs and lockfile

$ devenv update

Run project tests

$ devenv test

devenv is a development environment management tool built on Nix. It provides declarative, reproducible development environments with automatic dependency management.Configuration is defined in devenv.nix, specifying packages, services, environment variables, and scripts. devenv simplifies Nix usage for development environments with a user-friendly API and pre-configured services like databases, language runtimes, and development tools.The tool supports running services in the background, automatic environment activation with direnv integration, and deterministic builds through Nix's reproducibility guarantees.

CONFIGURATION

devenv.nix

Main configuration file defining packages, languages, services, environment variables, scripts, and shell hooks.

devenv.yaml

Configuration for Nix inputs (nixpkgs version, additional flakes) and project imports.

devenv.lock

Lock file pinning exact input versions for reproducibility.

SUBCOMMANDS

init

Initialize a new devenv project.

shell

Enter the development shell.

Start background processes.

processes up

Start processes in the background.

processes down

Stop background processes.

update

Update devenv inputs and lockfile.

search name

Search for packages in nixpkgs.

test

Run project tests defined in devenv.nix.

container

Build, copy, or run a container.

build

Build any attribute in devenv.nix.

Garbage collect old shell generations.

info

Show environment information.

repl

Launch interactive REPL for inspecting configuration.

INSTALL

nix profile install nixpkgs#devenv

CAVEATS

Requires Nix to be installed. First-time setup may take time to download dependencies. Nix store can consume significant disk space. Some proprietary software may not be available in Nix packages.