Nix

You run an MCP server tailored for the Nix ecosystem, enabling you to query and interact with Nixpkgs, NixOS, and related tooling through a lightweight MCP client. This server exposes a focused set of capabilities for discovering packages, options, modules, and more, making it easy to access Nix-related data from your preferred MCP client.

How to use

To use this MCP server, configure your MCP client to connect either via a local runtime command or via the MCP URL, then start querying the available categories and tools. You can enable default coverage for Nixpkgs and NixOS and opt in to additional categories such as Home Manager or Nixvim as needed. Use the client to search for packages, read derivations, inspect NixOS options, and read module declarations. The available tools mirror the categories you enable and let you perform focused lookups and reads without leaving your environment.

How to install

Prerequisites: make sure you have a compatible runtime installed on your system. You can run MCP server commands via the included runtimes or package runners shown in the example configurations.

Install or prepare the client configuration by adding one or more MCP server entries that point to the commands shown below. Each entry must be valid for the runtime you choose.

Option A: run with the UVX runtime using the provided MCP name mcp-nix.

Additional setup notes

Default coverage includes Nixpkgs and NixOS categories. Other categories (Home Manager, Nixvim, nix-darwin, impermanence, MicroVM.nix, NixHub, Noogle) can be enabled as needed.

Available tools

search_nixpkgs

Search for Nixpkgs packages by name or description.

show_nixpkgs_package

Get detailed information for a Nixpkgs package by exact name.

read_derivation

Read the Nix derivation source code for a package.

search_nixos_options

Search NixOS configuration options.

show_nixos_option

Get details for a NixOS option, or list children if given a prefix.

list_nixos_channels

List available NixOS release channels.

read_nixos_module

Read the Nix source for a NixOS option declaration.

search_homemanager_options

Search Home Manager options for user environment configuration.

show_homemanager_option

Get details for a Home Manager option, or list children if given a prefix.

list_homemanager_releases

List available Home Manager releases.

read_home_module

Read the Nix source for a Home Manager option declaration.

search_nixvim_options

Search NixVim configuration options.

show_nixvim_option

Get details for a NixVim option, or list children if given a prefix.

read_nixvim_declaration

Get the declaration reference for a NixVim option.

search_nix_darwin_options

Search nix-darwin configuration options for macOS.

show_nix_darwin_option

Get details for a nix-darwin option, or list children if given a prefix.

read_nix_darwin_declaration

Read the Nix source for a nix-darwin option declaration.

search_impermanence_options

Search impermanence configuration options.

show_impermanence_option

Get details for an impermanence option, or list children if given a prefix.

read_impermanence_declaration

Read the Nix source code for an impermanence option declaration.

search_microvm_options

Search MicroVM.nix configuration options.

show_microvm_option

Get details for a MicroVM.nix option, or list children if given a prefix.

read_microvm_declaration

Read the Nix source code for a MicroVM.nix option declaration.

list_package_versions

List all available versions for a Nixpkgs package.

find_nixpkgs_commit_with_package_version

Get the nixpkgs commit hash for a specific package version.

search_nix_stdlib

Search Nix standard library functions by name or type signature.

help_for_stdlib_function

Get detailed help for a Nix standard library function.