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Nur Nix provides a collection of utility libraries that simplify common patterns in Nix flakes and streamline cross-compilation workflows for various programming languages.

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Available Libraries

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Flake Utilities

mkFlake

Simplify multi-system flake outputs (like flake-utils)

mkChecks

Transform check definitions into flake checks

mkApps

Convert script definitions into flake apps

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Language-Specific Utilities

Go

Cross-compile Go applications to any platform

Rust

Cross-compile Rust using cargo-zigbuild

Deno

Compile TypeScript/JavaScript to standalone binaries

Gleam

Build Gleam projects for Erlang or JavaScript targets

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Protocol Buffers

Buf

Fetch and manage Buf dependencies in Nix builds

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Usage Pattern

All libraries are available through the Nur Nix flake: 
{
  inputs = {
    nixpkgs.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";
    nur.url = "github:your-org/nur-nix";
  };

  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, nur }:
    nur.lib.mkFlake { } (system:
      let
        pkgs = nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system};
        lib = nur.lib.${system};
      in
      {
        # Use any library function
        packages.my-app = lib.go.compile {
          package = pkgs.buildGoModule { ... };
          goos = "windows";
          goarch = "amd64";
        };
      }
    );
}

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Design Philosophy

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Pure Nix Functions

All utilities in the libs/ directory are pure Nix functions that don’t depend on pkgs. This makes them:
  • Reusable across different nixpkgs versions
  • Easy to test and reason about
  • Suitable for use in flake schemas

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Override-Friendly

Most functions use lib.makeOverridable so you can customize behavior: 
lib.go.compile.override {
  goos = "darwin";
} {
  package = myGoApp;
}

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Minimal Boilerplate

These libraries eliminate repetitive patterns:
  • Without mkFlake: Manually map over systems, merge attrsets
  • With mkFlake: Single function call handles all systems
  • Without mkApps: Write derivations with install phases
  • With mkApps: Just provide a script

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Next Steps

Flake Utilities

Start with mkFlake to simplify your flake structure

Cross-Compilation

Learn how to cross-compile applications

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