remi-dupre/pinix

---

remi-dupre/pinix.json

{
  "createdAt": "2024-02-04T20:33:57Z",
  "defaultBranch": "main",
  "description": "Progress In Nix - Pacman inspired frontend for Nix",
  "fullName": "remi-dupre/pinix",
  "homepage": "",
  "language": "Rust",
  "name": "pinix",
  "pushedAt": "2026-02-28T22:19:18Z",
  "stargazersCount": 61,
  "topics": [],
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-09T10:01:08Z",
  "url": "https://github.com/remi-dupre/pinix"
}

Progress In Nix

Pinix is a Pacman inspired frontend for Nix. It wraps a regular Nix command and replaces the output with a more modern and informative interface.

[![asciicast][demo-gif]][demo-ascii]

It should work transparently for most commands, including when an interactive shell is spawned.

Installation

Using Nix

The repository defines a flake, so you can get the pinix package available by adding it to your flake.nix:

inputs = {
  pinix.url = github:remi-dupre/pinix;
};

{ config, pkgs, lib, inputs, ... }:

{
  environment.systemPackages = [
    inputs.pinix.packages.${system}.default
  ];
}

Using Cargo

You can also install pinix from sources by using [cargo][cargo] !:

cargo install pinix

# This will only install the main binary so you might want to add aliases for
# common nix commands.
alias pix="pinix --command nix"
alias pix-shell="pinix --command nix-shell"
alias pixos-rebuild="pinix --command nixos-rebuild"

Usage

The nix package provides you with drop-in replacements for common nix commands:

$ pix-shell -p htop
$ pixos-rebuild switch --flake .

Pinix has its how set of parameters, all prefixed with --pix-, they must be specified before any regular parameter. You can get list supported parameters through the help message:

$ pinix --pix-help
Wrap a Nix command to display rich logs while it is running

Usage: pinix [OPTIONS] [EXT]...

Arguments:
  [EXT]...  Arguments forwared to actual Nix command

Options:
      --pix-help               Display this help message
      --pix-command <COMMAND>  Specify the nix command that must be run
      --pix-debug              Display a debug bar
      --pix-log-downloads      Display a log line when a download is finished
      --pix-record <RECORD>    Save timestamped logs to a file

If you want to run a command for which you don’t have an alias available you can call pinix followed by your regular command:

$ pinix nix-shell -p htop

Similar Tools

I’m not the first one who tried to improve nix output. Here are the tools that I know of:

• [nix-output-monitor][tool-nom]: Pipe your nix-build output through the nix-output-monitor a.k.a nom to get additional information while building.
• [nvd][tool-nvd]: Nix/NixOS package version diff tool.
• [#4296][tool-native]: Some old suggestion for a more riche native progress indicator in nix.

[cargo] !: https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/ [demo-ascii] !: https://asciinema.org/a/641197 [demo-gif] !: https://github.com/remi-dupre/pinix/assets/1173464/6ab7ceb4-2ab3-41b8-84d0-78c6278d6d55 [tool-nom] !: https://github.com/maralorn/nix-output-monitor [tool-nvd] !: https://gitlab.com/khumba/nvd [tool-native] !: https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/4296