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nix3-flake-init(1) General Commands Manual nix3-flake-init(1)

Warning: This program is experimental and its interface is subject to change.

Name

nix flake init - create a flake in the current directory from a template

Synopsis

nix flake init [option…]

Examples

Create a flake using the default template:

# nix flake init
List available templates:

# nix flake show templates
Create a flake from a specific template:

# nix flake init -t templates#simpleContainer

Description

This command creates a flake in the current directory by copying the files of a template. It will not overwrite existing files. The default template is templates#templates.default, but this can be overridden using -t.

Template definitions

A flake can declare templates through its templates output attribute. A template has two attributes:

  • description: A one-line description of the template, in CommonMark syntax.
  • path: The path of the directory to be copied.
  • welcomeText: A block of markdown text to display when a user initializes a new flake based on this template.

Here is an example:

outputs = { self }: {

templates.rust = {
path = ./rust;
description = "A simple Rust/Cargo project";
welcomeText = ''
# Simple Rust/Cargo Template
## Intended usage
The intended usage of this flake is...
## More info
- [Rust language](https://www.rust-lang.org/)
- [Rust on the NixOS Wiki](https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Rust)
- ...
'';
};
templates.default = self.templates.rust; }

Options

--template / -t template
The template to use.

Common evaluation options:

  • --arg name expr
    Pass the value expr as the argument name to Nix functions.
  • --argstr name string
    Pass the string string as the argument name to Nix functions.
  • --eval-store store-url
    The Nix store to use for evaluations.
  • --impure
    Allow access to mutable paths and repositories.
  • --include / -I path
    Add path to the list of locations used to look up <...> file names.
  • --override-flake original-ref resolved-ref
    Override the flake registries, redirecting original-ref to resolved-ref.