pkgdb search

The pkgdb search command may be used to search for packages which match a set of query filters in a set of registry inputs.

This command accepts JSON input and emits JSON output, which are described below.

Input

pkgdb search accepts either a path to a JSON file or inline JSON with the following abstract schema:

SearchQuery ::= {
  name       = null | <STRING>
  pname      = null | <STRING>
  version    = null | <STRING>
  semver     = null | <STRING>
  match      = null | <STRING>
  match-name = null | <STRING>
}
 
SearchParams ::= {
  manifest = null | <STRING> | Manifest
, global-manifest = <STRING> | GlobalManifest
, lockfile = null | <STRING> | Lockfile
, query    = SearchQuery
}

• SearchQuery
  • match-name: Partially match a package's name or pname fields as well as on a calculated column attrName.
    • May not be used with match.
    • attrName is the last attribute path element for packages and legacyPackages subtrees.
    • Exact matches cause search results to appear before ( higher ) than partial matches.
  • match: Partially match a package's name, pname, or description fields as well as on a calculated column attrName.
    • May not be used with query.match-name.
    • attrName is the last attribute path element for packages and legacyPackages subtrees.
    • Exact matches cause search results to appear before ( higher ) than partial matches.
  • semver: a node-semver range filter.
    • These use the exact syntax found in tools such as npm, yarn, pip, and many other package managers.
  • name: Exactly match the derivation's name attribute.
  • pname: Exactly match the derivation's pname attribute.
    • For derivations which lack a pname field it will be parsed from the derivation's name attribute using builtins.parseDrvName.
  • version: Exactly match a derivation's version field.
    • For derivations that lack a version field it will be parsed from the derivation's name attribute using builtins.parseDrvName.
• manifest: An optional path to a Manifest, or an inline JSON manifest.
• global-manifest: A path to a GlobalManifest or an inline JSON GlobalManifest.
  • Note that this parameter is not optional, whereas manifest and lockfile are.
• lockfile: An optional path to an existing Lockfile, or an inline JSON Lockfile.

See the corresponding documentation for global manifests, manifests, and lockfiles for details on those schemas.

Example Query

Below is an example query that searches four flakes for any package matching the string "hello" with major version 2 , usable on x86_64-linux.

{
  "global-manifest": "/path/to/global-manifest.toml"
, "query": { "match": "hello", "semver": "2" }
}

In the example above we'll make a few observations to clarify how defaults are applied to inputs by showing the explicit form of the same params:

{
  "global-manifest": "/path/to/global-manifest.toml"
, "manifest": null,
, "lockfile": null,
, "query": {
    "name": null
  , "pname": null
  , "version": null
  , "semver": "2"
  , "match": "hello"
  , "match-name": null
  }
}

• inputs.<NAME>.subtrees was applied to all inputs which didn't explicitly specify them.
• inputs.<NAME>.from flake references were parsed and locked.
• allow and semver fields were added with their default values.
• priority list added missing inputs in lexicographical order.
  • in this case lexicographical is alphabetical because there are no numbers or symbols in the names.
• Missing query.* fields were filled with null.

Output

Search results are printed as JSON objects with one result per line ordered such that high ranking results appear before low ranking results.

This single result per line format is printed in chunks as each input is processed, and is suitable for streaming across a pipe. Tools such as jq or sed may be used in combination with pkgdb search so that results are displayed to users as they are processed.

Each output line has the following format:

Result ::= {
  id           = <INT>
, input        = <INPUT-NAME>
, subtree      = "packages" | "legacyPackages"
, absPath      = [<STRING>...]
, relPath   = [<STRING>...]
, pname        = <STRING>
, version      = null | <STRING>
, description  = null | <STRING>
, license      = null | License
, broken       = true | false
, unfree       = true | false
}

Note that because the input field only prints the short-name of its input, it is strongly recommended that the caller use locked flake references.

Example Output

For the example query parameters given above, we get the following results:

{"absPath":["legacyPackages","x86_64-linux","hello"],"broken":false,"description":"A program that produces a familiar, friendly greeting","id":6095,"input":"nixpkgs","license":"GPL-3.0-or-later","pname":"hello","relPath":["hello"],"subtree":"legacyPackages","system":"x86_64-linux","unfree":false,"version":"2.12.1"}