Skip to content

cli-tools.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
75 lines (48 loc) · 3.22 KB

cli-tools.md

File metadata and controls

75 lines (48 loc) · 3.22 KB

CLI Tools and Command Integration

This repository integrates several modern, Rust-based CLI utilities designed to improve performance and safety compared to traditional GNU coreutils.

The Comma Utility (,)

The comma tool (a wrapper for nix-index) allows for the execution of software without requiring a permanent installation in the user environment. This is ideal for one-off tasks or testing new packages.

Usage

Prepend any command with a comma to execute it via Nix:

, cowsay "Hello from Nix"

Mechanism: comma queries the Nix package index to identify the correct package for the requested binary, downloads it to the Nix store temporarily, executes the command, and ensures the environment remains uncluttered.

Core Utility Replacements

The following tools are integrated and aliased by default:

  • rip (rm-improved): A safe replacement for rm. Instead of immediate deletion, files are moved to a temporary "shredder" directory from which they can be recovered.
  • bat: A replacement for cat that provides syntax highlighting and Git integration.
  • eza: A feature-rich replacement for ls with support for icons, color formatting, and integrated Git status.
  • zoxide (z): A smart directory jumper that learns your most-used paths to enable rapid navigation.
  • btop: A graphical system monitor for real-time tracking of CPU, memory, and network usage.
  • yazi (y): A terminal-based file manager with high-performance image previews and intuitive navigation.

Nix Package Maintenance

nix-update

Automatically bumps package versions and hashes for packages defined in a flake. Works with standard callPackage packages in nix-packages.

cd ~/nix-packages

# Auto-detect latest version and update
nix-update --flake ethereal-waves

# Pin to a specific version
nix-update --flake --version=0.4.0 brush-shell

Limitations: Does not work with inline overlays (e.g., overlays/sparrow-temurin-fix.nix). Only works with packages that have a discoverable upstream (GitHub releases, PyPI, etc.).

nurl

Generates Nix fetcher calls (with hashes) from repository URLs. Useful when adding new packages or manually updating overlays.

# Generate fetchFromGitHub expression
nurl https://github.com/reubeno/brush v0.3.1

# Generate fetchurl hash for a release tarball
nurl https://github.com/sparrowwallet/sparrow/releases/download/2.5.0/sparrowwallet-2.5.0-x86_64.tar.gz

Workflow for overlay updates (e.g., Sparrow):

  1. Get the new hash: nurl https://github.com/sparrowwallet/sparrow <new-version>
  2. Update version and hash in the overlay file manually
  3. Rebuild: nh os build .

Shell Configuration Validation

The home/shell.nix file is complex and contains many embedded bash functions. To ensure changes do not introduce syntax errors that could break the login shell, use the following validation command:

nix eval ".#nixosConfigurations.$(hostname).config.home-manager.users.$USER.programs.bash.initExtra" \
  --extra-experimental-features dynamic-derivations --raw | bash -n

This command evaluates the Nix expression, extracts the raw bash content, and pipes it through bash -n to perform a syntax check without executing the code.