Technical Notes

Manpages - nix3-why-depends.1

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

#+end_quote

Name

nix why-depends - show why a package has another package in its closure

Synopsis

nix why-depends [/option/…] package dependency

Examples

  • Show one path through the dependency graph leading from Hello to Glibc:
# nix why-depends nixpkgs#hello nixpkgs#glibc
/nix/store/v5sv61sszx301i0x6xysaqzla09nksnd-hello-2.10
└───bin/hello: …...................../nix/store/9l06v7fc38c1x3r2iydl15ksgz0ysb82-glibc-2.32/lib/ld-linux-x86-64.…
  → /nix/store/9l06v7fc38c1x3r2iydl15ksgz0ysb82-glibc-2.32
  • Show all files and paths in the dependency graph leading from Thunderbird to libX11:
# nix why-depends --all nixpkgs#thunderbird nixpkgs#xorg.libX11
/nix/store/qfc8729nzpdln1h0hvi1ziclsl3m84sr-thunderbird-78.5.1
├───lib/thunderbird/libxul.so: …6wrw-libxcb-1.14/lib:/nix/store/adzfjjh8w25vdr0xdx9x16ah4f5rqrw5-libX11-1.7.0/lib:/nix/store/ssf…
│   → /nix/store/adzfjjh8w25vdr0xdx9x16ah4f5rqrw5-libX11-1.7.0
├───lib/thunderbird/libxul.so: …pxyc-libXt-1.2.0/lib:/nix/store/1qj29ipxl2fyi2b13l39hdircq17gnk0-libXdamage-1.1.5/lib:/nix/store…
│   → /nix/store/1qj29ipxl2fyi2b13l39hdircq17gnk0-libXdamage-1.1.5
│   ├───lib/libXdamage.so.1.1.0: …-libXfixes-5.0.3/lib:/nix/store/adzfjjh8w25vdr0xdx9x16ah4f5rqrw5-libX11-1.7.0/lib:/nix/store/9l0…
│   │   → /nix/store/adzfjjh8w25vdr0xdx9x16ah4f5rqrw5-libX11-1.7.0
…
  • Show why Glibc depends on itself:
# nix why-depends nixpkgs#glibc nixpkgs#glibc
/nix/store/9df65igwjmf2wbw0gbrrgair6piqjgmi-glibc-2.31
└───lib/ld-2.31.so: …che       Do not use /nix/store/9df65igwjmf2wbw0gbrrgair6piqjgmi-glibc-2.31/etc/ld.so.cache.  --…
  → /nix/store/9df65igwjmf2wbw0gbrrgair6piqjgmi-glibc-2.31
  • Show why Geeqie has a build-time dependency on systemd:
# nix why-depends --derivation nixpkgs#geeqie nixpkgs#systemd
/nix/store/drrpq2fqlrbj98bmazrnww7hm1in3wgj-geeqie-1.4.drv
└───/: …atch.drv",["out"]),("/nix/store/qzh8dyq3lfbk3i1acbp7x9wh3il2imiv-gtk+3-3.24.21.drv",["dev"]),("/…
  → /nix/store/qzh8dyq3lfbk3i1acbp7x9wh3il2imiv-gtk+3-3.24.21.drv
  └───/: …16.0.drv",["dev"]),("/nix/store/8kp79fyslf3z4m3dpvlh6w46iaadz5c2-cups-2.3.3.drv",["dev"]),("/nix…
      → /nix/store/8kp79fyslf3z4m3dpvlh6w46iaadz5c2-cups-2.3.3.drv
      └───/: ….3.1.drv",["out"]),("/nix/store/yd3ihapyi5wbz1kjacq9dbkaq5v5hqjg-systemd-246.4.drv",["dev"]),("/…
          → /nix/store/yd3ihapyi5wbz1kjacq9dbkaq5v5hqjg-systemd-246.4.drv

Description

Nix automatically determines potential runtime dependencies between store paths by scanning for the hash parts of store paths. For instance, if there exists a store path /nix/store/9df65igwjmf2wbw0gbrrgair6piqjgmi-glibc-2.31, and a file inside another store path contains the string 9df65igw…, then the latter store path refers to the former, and thus might need it at runtime. Nix always maintains the existence of the transitive closure of a store path under the references relationship; it is therefore not possible to install a store path without having all of its references present.

Sometimes Nix packages end up with unexpected runtime dependencies; for instance, a reference to a compiler might accidentally end up in a binary, causing the former to be in the latter's closure. This kind of closure size bloat is undesirable.

nix why-depends allows you to diagnose the cause of such issues. It shows why the store path package depends on the store path dependency, by showing a shortest sequence in the references graph from the former to the latter. Also, for each node along this path, it shows a file fragment containing a reference to the next store path in the sequence.

To show why derivation package has a build-time rather than runtime dependency on derivation dependency, use --derivation.

Options

  • --all / -a Show all edges in the dependency graph leading from package to dependency, rather than just a shortest path.
  • --precise For each edge in the dependency graph, show the files in the parent that cause the dependency.

Common evaluation options

  • --arg name expr Pass the value expr as the argument name to Nix functions.
  • --arg-from-file name path Pass the contents of file path as the argument name to Nix functions.
  • --arg-from-stdin name Pass the contents of stdin as the argument name to Nix functions.
  • --argstr name string Pass the string string as the argument name to Nix functions.
  • --debugger Start an interactive environment if evaluation fails.
  • --eval-store store-url The URL of the Nix store to use for evaluation, i.e. to store derivations (.drv files) and inputs referenced by them.
  • --impure Allow access to mutable paths and repositories.
  • --include / -I path Add path to search path entries used to resolve lookup paths This option may be given multiple times. Paths added through -I take precedence over the nix-path configuration setting and the NIX_PATH environment variable.
  • --override-flake original-ref resolved-ref Override the flake registries, redirecting original-ref to resolved-ref.

Common flake-related options

  • --commit-lock-file Commit changes to the flake's lock file.
  • --inputs-from flake-url Use the inputs of the specified flake as registry entries.

  • --no-registries

    Don't allow lookups in the flake registries.

    DEPRECATED

    Use --no-use-registries instead.

  • --no-update-lock-file Do not allow any updates to the flake's lock file.
  • --no-write-lock-file Do not write the flake's newly generated lock file.
  • --output-lock-file flake-lock-path Write the given lock file instead of flake.lock within the top-level flake.
  • --override-input input-path flake-url Override a specific flake input (e.g. dwarffs/nixpkgs). This implies --no-write-lock-file.

  • --recreate-lock-file

    Recreate the flake's lock file from scratch.

    DEPRECATED

    Use nix flake update instead.

  • --reference-lock-file flake-lock-path Read the given lock file instead of flake.lock within the top-level flake.

  • --update-input input-path

    Update a specific flake input (ignoring its previous entry in the lock file).

    DEPRECATED

    Use nix flake update instead.

Logging-related options

  • --debug Set the logging verbosity level to ‘debug'.
  • --log-format format Set the format of log output; one of raw, internal-json, bar or bar-with-logs.
  • --print-build-logs / -L Print full build logs on standard error.
  • --quiet Decrease the logging verbosity level.
  • --verbose / -v Increase the logging verbosity level.

Miscellaneous global options

  • --help Show usage information.
  • --offline Disable substituters and consider all previously downloaded files up-to-date.
  • --option name value Set the Nix configuration setting name to value (overriding nix.conf).
  • --refresh Consider all previously downloaded files out-of-date.
  • --repair During evaluation, rewrite missing or corrupted files in the Nix store. During building, rebuild missing or corrupted store paths.
  • --version Show version information.

Options that change the interpretation of installables

  • --derivation Operate on the store derivation rather than its outputs.
  • --expr expr Interpret installables as attribute paths relative to the Nix expression expr.
  • --file / -f file Interpret installables as attribute paths relative to the Nix expression stored in file. If file is the character -, then a Nix expression will be read from standard input. Implies --impure. Note See man nix.conf for overriding configuration settings with command line flags.