nd

POC for an easy and fast nix develop workflow that works well with tmux.

usage

• nd build or nd b will build a devShell.
• nd shell or nd s or nd will start a devShell.
• nd run something or nd r something will run something inside a devShell.

By default it looks for any flake in the current folder or a parent folder, and it uses the default shell (#default).

All of the above commands can also be started with nd at flakeref ... to use a different flake. For example nd at ~/fun/project run cargo --version will use that devShell even when you are in a different folder. Only local flake references are allowed:

• ../somewhere/here
• ../somewhere/here#name
• path:../somewhere/here

Additionally, the flake reference - is allowed. It means no flake, and nd run something runs something normally, without a devShell.

Alternatively, if there is an env var nd_env, then you can also use nd env ... to use the flake reference pointed at by nd_env. This is mostly useful for tmux, see below. nd env run something just runs something normally, if there is no nd_env.

The cached devShell is in .nd. You have to explicitely rebuild. It will only build automatically if there is no cached devShell yet.

tmux

Set the default-shell of tmux to tmux-nd-shell. In tmux.conf:

run-shell -b 'tmux set-option -g default-shell `which tmux-nd-shell`'

Then run a tmux session with the env var nd_env set to the project's flake reference. Every shell inside that tmux session will now be a devShell.

tmux new-session -e nd_env=$HOME/fun/project

Note that you cannot use ~ here, it won't be expanded. That is zsh behaviour, not nd behaviour.

Or use nd tmux to start an nd-enabled session. Note that the session's folder will be the current folder, but the session's nd flake can be from a different place when using nd at ~/other/place tmux.

If you have things you run on shortcuts within tmux, and if they should (sometimes) use nd, a convenient way is to map it to nd env run something. It will work no matter if nd is enabled or not.

tmux bind-key g run-shell -b 'nd env run something --arg value'