nix-update

Nix Update

This skill provides a robust way to update all flake inputs of a Nix project iteratively. Unlike a bulk nix flake update, this skill verifies each input's update independently to ensure stability. If a check fails, the specific input update is reverted while others continue. Use this when you want to safely update all flake dependencies one by one

Core Logic

For every root input in the flake.lock:

1. Backup: Create a temporary backup of flake.lock.
2. Update: Run nix flake update <input_name>.
3. Validate: Run nix flake check to ensure the flake remains in a valid state.
4. Commit/Revert:
   • If validation succeeds: Keep the change and track it as successful.
   • If validation fails: Restore flake.lock from backup and track it as failed.
5. Summary: At the end of the script, a clear summary of all successful and failed updates is printed to the terminal.

Usage

Execute the update script from the project root:

bash .agents/skills/nix-update/scripts/nix-update.sh

Dependencies

• nix: The Nix package manager with flakes enabled.
• jq: Required to parse the flake inputs.
• bash: Required to run the automation script.

Troubleshooting

• nix flake check fails due to formatting: Because nix flake check typically executes treefmt (or similar formatters) to verify repository-wide format compliance, having unformatted, modified files (even non-nix files like this shell script) in the working tree will cause the check to fail. Solution: Run nix fmt before running this script to ensure all files in your repository meet the formatting standards.