interactive-nix-search

Interactive fuzzy finder for Nix packages. Searches any flake (defaults to nixpkgs) and supports multi-token, out-of-order matching against package name, version, package set, and description. Search results are cached to ~/.cache/interactive-nix-search/; a cache older than 1 hour is still shown instantly while a fresh index is fetched in the background. Press Ctrl-r to force a refresh.

Built with ratatui and nucleo.

Quick Start

Installation

nix profile

Try without installing:

nix run github:omarjatoi/interactive-nix-search

Add to your nix profile:

nix profile add github:omarjatoi/interactive-nix-search

nix flake

# flake.nix
{
  inputs.interactive-nix-search.url = "github:omarjatoi/interactive-nix-search";
}

# NixOS
environment.systemPackages = [
  inputs.interactive-nix-search.packages.${system}.default
];

# home-manager
home.packages = [
  inputs.interactive-nix-search.packages.${system}.default
];

Build from source:

nix build

or

cargo build --release

Usage

interactive-nix-search [OPTIONS]

Option	Description
--height <N>	Height of the inline viewport in rows (default: 36)
-f, --full	Fullscreen mode (uses alternate screen buffer)
--flake <FLAKE>	Flake to search (default: nixpkgs)
-a, --add	Install the selected package via nix profile add

The selected package name is printed to stdout on enter, making it composable:

nix shell nixpkgs#$(interactive-nix-search)

Keybindings

Key	Action
Enter	Select package
Esc / Ctrl-c	Quit
Ctrl-n / Ctrl-p	Navigate results down / up
Ctrl-a / Ctrl-e	Move cursor to start / end of input
Ctrl-b / Ctrl-f	Move cursor back / forward one character
Ctrl-u / Ctrl-k	Delete to start / end of input
Ctrl-d	Delete character at cursor
Ctrl-r	Force refresh the package index

License

Copyright © 2026 Omar Jatoi

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.