README.md

Python on Nix

Extensive collection of Python projects from the Python Packaging Index. That can be used with the Nix package manager.

Check out the examples at python.on-nix.com!

• Scope:
  • ✔️ All active Python releases (3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10)
  • ✔️ 1700+ projects already packaged, prioritized by their popularity according to libraries.io
• Quality:
  • ✔️ It is 100% Nix, with love ❤️
  • ✔️ Data integrity checksums are used everywhere
  • ✔️ We test projects before you use them
• Platforms:
  • ✔️ Linux x86-64
  • 🚧 MacOS x86-64
• Performance:
  • ✔️ Every project is built with a minimal closure and size
  • ✔️ A highly granular cache

Why?

To make using Nix on Python projects as simple as possible!

Just:

1. Copy and paste the examples,
2. Select the Python projects of your choice,
3. Enjoy! 🚀

Contents

• List of available projects
• Concepts
  • Applications and Libraries
• Using with Nix stable
  • Trying out single projects
  • Installing applications in your system
  • Creating Python environments with many applications and libraries
    • Compatibility with Nixpkgs
• Using with Nix unstable (Nix Flakes)
  • Trying out single projects
  • Installing applications in your system
  • Creating Python environments with many applications and libraries
    • Compatibility with Nixpkgs
• Contributing
• License

List of available projects

Checkout python.on-nix.com

Concepts

Applications and Libraries

On Python, projects can be used in two ways:

• As applications: Commands that you can run from the command line:

  • AWS CLI: $ aws
  • Bandit: $ bandit
  • PyTest: $ pytest
  • ...

• As libraries: Python modules that you can import in your project:

  • Boto3: >>> import boto3
  • Django: >>> from django import *
  • PyTest: >>> import pytest
  • ...

Some projects (like PyTest) can be used in both ways while others can only be used as an application or as a library, but not both

Using with Nix stable

Trying out single projects

You can launch an ephemeral environment where the applications and libraries provided by a project are available.

For example:

$ nix-shell \
  -A 'projects."awscli"."1.20.31".python39.dev' \
  https://github.com/on-nix/python/tarball/main

In general the format is: 'projects."<project>"."<version>".<pythonVersion>.dev'

Now enjoy!

[nix-shell] $ aws --version
              aws-cli/1.20.31 Python/3.9.6 Linux/5.10.62 botocore/1.21.31
[nix-shell] $ python -c 'import awscli; print(awscli)'
              # ...
[nix-shell] $ exit

Installing applications in your system

You can permanently install the applications of a project in your system.

For example:

$ nix-env \
  -iA 'apps."awscli"."1.20.31"' \
  -f https://github.com/on-nix/python/tarball/main

$ nix-env \
  -iA 'apps."pytest"."latest"' \
  -f https://github.com/on-nix/python/tarball/main

In general the format is: 'apps."<project>"."<version>"'

Now enjoy!

$ aws --version
  aws-cli/1.20.31 Python/3.9.6 Linux/5.10.62 botocore/1.21.31

$ pytest --version
  pytest 6.2.5

Creating Python environments with many applications and libraries

For more complex use cases where you are using many projects it's a good idea to describe a Python environment with Nix.

For example:

# /path/to/my/env.nix

let
  # Import Python on Nix
  pythonOnNix = import
    (builtins.fetchGit {
      # Use `main` branch or a commit from this list:
      # https://github.com/on-nix/python/commits/main
      # We recommend using a commit for maximum reproducibility
      ref = "main";
      url = "https://github.com/on-nix/python";
    })
    {
      # (optional) You can override `nixpkgs` here
      # nixpkgs = import <nixpkgs> { };
    };

  # Pick the Python version of your choice:
  # - `python37Env`: Python 3.7
  # - `python38Env`: Python 3.8
  # - `python39Env`: Python 3.9
  # - `python310Env`: Python 3.10
  env = pythonOnNix.python39Env {
    name = "example";
    projects = {
      awscli = "1.20.31";
      numpy = "latest";
      requests = "latest";
      torch = "1.9.0";
    };
  };

  # `env` has two attributes:
  # - `dev`: The activation script for the Python on Nix environment
  # - `out`: The raw contents fo the Python site-packages
in
# Let's use the activation script:
env.dev

You can now launch the environment!

$ nix-shell /path/to/my/env.nix

After doing this, the specified dependencies will be available in your shell ! 🚀

Also, you'll be able to use the applications and libraries provided by the projects in the environment:

$ python --version
  Python 3.9.6
$ aws --version
  aws-cli/1.20.31 Python/3.9.6 Linux/5.10.57 botocore/1.21.31
$ python -c 'import numpy; print(numpy.__version__)'
  1.21.2
$ python -c 'import requests; print(requests.__version__)'
  2.26.0
$ python -c 'import torch; print(torch.__version__)'
  1.9.0+cu102

Compatibility with Nixpkgs

You can use Python On Nix and Nixpkgs together.

For example:

# /path/to/my/expression.nix

let
  # Import Nixpkgs
  nixpkgs = import <nixpkgs> { };

  # Import Python on Nix
  pythonOnNix = import
    (builtins.fetchGit {
      # Use `main` branch or a commit from this list:
      # https://github.com/on-nix/python/commits/main
      # We recommend using a commit for maximum reproducibility
      ref = "main";
      url = "https://github.com/on-nix/python";
    })
    {
      # Make Python on Nix use the same version of `nixpkgs`
      # for maximum compatibility
      inherit nixpkgs;
    };

  # Pick the Python version of your choice:
  # - `python37Env`: Python 3.7
  # - `python38Env`: Python 3.8
  # - `python39Env`: Python 3.9
  # - `python310Env`: Python 3.10
  env = pythonOnNix.python39Env {
    name = "example";
    projects = {
      awscli = "1.20.31";
      numpy = "latest";
      requests = "latest";
      torch = "1.9.0";
    };
  };

  # `env` has two attributes:
  # - `dev`: The activation script for the Python on Nix environment
  # - `out`: The raw contents of the Python virtual environment
in
nixpkgs.stdenv.mkDerivation {
  # Let's use the activation script as build input:
  buildInputs = [ env.dev ];
  virtualEnvironment = env.out;

  builder = builtins.toFile "builder.sh" ''
    source $stdenv/setup

    set -x

    ls $virtualEnvironment
    python --version
    aws --version
    python -c 'import numpy; print(numpy.__version__)'
    python -c 'import requests; print(requests.__version__)'
    python -c 'import torch; print(torch.__version__)'

    touch $out

    set +x
  '';
  name = "example";
}

Now just $ nix-build /path/to/my/expression.nix ! 🚀

these derivations will be built:
  /nix/store/4l51x7983ggxc8z5fmb5wzhvvx8kvn01-example.drv

building '/nix/store/4l51x7983ggxc8z5fmb5wzhvvx8kvn01-example.drv'...

+ ls /nix/store/...-example-out
  awscli              colorama  numpy            requests    torch
  botocore            docutils  pyasn1           rsa         typing-extensions
  certifi             idna      python-dateutil  s3transfer  urllib3
  charset-normalizer  jmespath  pyyaml           six
+ python --version
  Python 3.9.6
+ aws --version
  aws-cli/1.20.31 Python/3.9.6 Linux/5.10.57 botocore/1.21.31
+ python -c 'import numpy; print(numpy.__version__)'
  1.21.2
+ python -c 'import requests; print(requests.__version__)'
  2.26.0
+ python -c 'import torch; print(torch.__version__)'
  1.9.0+cu102
+ touch /nix/store/9cckx5zpbiakx507g253fv08hykf8msv-example

Customization of and integration into existing development environments

Given an existing definition of a development environment using e.g. mkShell instead of mkDerivation:

let
  nixpkgs = builtins.fetchTarball {
    # nixpkgs-unstable (2021-10-28)
    url = "https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/22a500a3f87bbce73bd8d777ef920b43a636f018.tar.gz";
    sha256 = "1rqp9nf45m03mfh4x972whw2gsaz5x44l3dy6p639ib565g24rmh";
  };
in
{ pkgs ? import nixpkgs { } }:

pkgs.mkShell {
  nativeBuildInputs = with pkgs; [
    cmake
    gdb
    ninja
    qemu
  ] ++ (with llvmPackages_13; [
    clang
    clang-unwrapped
    lld
    llvm
  ]);

  hardeningDisable = [ "all" ];
}

you can integrate the Python On Nix development environment seamlessly via e.g.

let
  nixpkgs = builtins.fetchTarball {
    # nixpkgs-unstable (2021-10-28)
    url = "https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/22a500a3f87bbce73bd8d777ef920b43a636f018.tar.gz";
    sha256 = "1rqp9nf45m03mfh4x972whw2gsaz5x44l3dy6p639ib565g24rmh";
  };
in
{ pkgs ? import nixpkgs { } }:
let
  pythonOnNix = import (
    builtins.fetchGit {
      ref = "main";
      rev = "2e735762c73651cffc027ca850b2a58d87d54b49";
      url = "https://github.com/on-nix/python";
    }
  ) { nixpkgs = pkgs; };
  env = pythonOnNix.python39Env {
    name = "example";
    projects = {
      "awscli" = "latest";
      # You can add more projects here as you need
      # "a" = "1.0";
      # "b" = "2.0";
      # ...
    };
  };
in
pkgs.mkShell {
  nativeBuildInputs =
    [ env.dev ]
    ++ (with pkgs; [ cmake gdb ninja qemu ])
    ++ (with pkgs; with llvmPackages_13; [ clang clang-unwrapped lld llvm ]);
  hardeningDisable = [ "all" ];
}

Using with Nix unstable (Nix Flakes)

This project is also offered as a Nix Flake.

⚠️ This section is for advanced Nix users. You can skip its content as Nix Flakes is currently an unstable release of Nix.

$ nix flake show github:on-nix/python

Trying out single projects

• $ nix develop 'github:on-nix/python#"awscli-1.20.31-python39"'
• $ nix develop 'github:on-nix/python#"pytest-latest-python37"'

Installing applications in your system

• $ nix profile install 'github:on-nix/python#"awscli-1.20.31-python39-bin"'
• $ nix profile install 'github:on-nix/python#"pytest-latest-python37-bin"'

Creating Python environments with many applications and libraries

# /path/to/my/project/flake.nix

{
  inputs = {
    flakeUtils.url = "github:numtide/flake-utils";
    nixpkgs.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs";
    pythonOnNix.url = "github:on-nix/python";
    pythonOnNix.inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
  };
  outputs = { self, ... } @ inputs:
    inputs.flakeUtils.lib.eachSystem [ "x86_64-linux" ] (system:
      let
        nixpkgs = inputs.nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system};
        pythonOnNix = inputs.pythonOnNix.lib.${system};

        # Pick the Python version of your choice:
        # - `python37Env`: Python 3.7
        # - `python38Env`: Python 3.8
        # - `python39Env`: Python 3.9
        # - `python310Env`: Python 3.10
        env = pythonOnNix.python39Env {
          name = "example";
          projects = {
            awscli = "1.20.31";
            numpy = "latest";
            requests = "latest";
            torch = "1.9.0";
          };
        };
        # `env` has two attributes:
        # - `dev`: The activation script for the Python on Nix environment
        # - `out`: The raw contents fo the Python site-packages
      in
      {
        devShells = {

          # The activation script can be used as dev-shell
          example = env.dev;

        };
      }
    );
}

You can now launch the environment!

$ nix develop '.#example'

After doing this, the specified dependencies will be available in your shell ! 🚀

Also, you'll be able to use the applications and libraries provided by the projects in the environment:

$ python --version
  Python 3.9.6
$ aws --version
  aws-cli/1.20.31 Python/3.9.6 Linux/5.10.57 botocore/1.21.31
$ python -c 'import numpy; print(numpy.__version__)'
  1.21.2
$ python -c 'import requests; print(requests.__version__)'
  2.26.0
$ python -c 'import torch; print(torch.__version__)'
  1.9.0+cu102

Compatibility with Nixpkgs

You can use Python on Nix and Nixpkgs together.

For example:

# /path/to/my/project/flake.nix

{
  inputs = {
    flakeUtils.url = "github:numtide/flake-utils";
    nixpkgs.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs";
    pythonOnNix.url = "github:on-nix/python";
    pythonOnNix.inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
  };
  outputs = { self, ... } @ inputs:
    inputs.flakeUtils.lib.eachSystem [ "x86_64-linux" ] (system:
      let
        nixpkgs = inputs.nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system};
        pythonOnNix = inputs.pythonOnNix.lib.${system};

        # Pick the Python version of your choice:
        # - `python37Env`: Python 3.7
        # - `python38Env`: Python 3.8
        # - `python39Env`: Python 3.9
        # - `python310Env`: Python 3.10
        env = pythonOnNix.python39Env {
          name = "example";
          projects = {
            awscli = "1.20.31";
            numpy = "latest";
            requests = "latest";
            torch = "1.9.0";
          };
        };
        # `env` has two attributes:
        # - `dev`: The activation script for the Python on Nix environment
        # - `out`: The raw contents fo the Python site-packages
      in
      {
        packages = rec {

          something = nixpkgs.stdenv.mkDerivation {
            buildInputs = [ env.dev ];
            virtualEnvironment = env.out;

            builder = builtins.toFile "builder.sh" ''
              source $stdenv/setup

              set -x

              ls $virtualEnvironment
              python --version
              aws --version
              python -c 'import numpy; print(numpy.__version__)'
              python -c 'import requests; print(requests.__version__)'
              python -c 'import torch; print(torch.__version__)'

              touch $out

              set +x
            '';
            name = "something";
          };

        };
      }
    );
}

Now just $ nix -L build .#something ! 🚀

+ ls /nix/store/...-example-out
  awscli              colorama  numpy            requests    torch
  botocore            docutils  pyasn1           rsa         typing-extensions
  certifi             idna      python-dateutil  s3transfer  urllib3
  charset-normalizer  jmespath  pyyaml           six
+ python --version
  Python 3.9.6
+ aws --version
  aws-cli/1.20.31 Python/3.9.6 Linux/5.10.62 botocore/1.21.31
+ python -c 'import numpy; print(numpy.__version__)'
  1.21.2
+ python -c 'import requests; print(requests.__version__)'
  2.26.0
+ python -c 'import torch; print(torch.__version__)'
  1.9.0+cu102

+ touch /nix/store/dcccmxjllgwb9c9j6irp68f1qp4ssxyg-example

Contributing

Anything you can think of will be appreciated!

License

Code on this branch is dedicated to the public domain via The Unlicense license.

In other words you can do anything you want with it.

Please enjoy! 🚀

---