nix 2.33+ patch

[avidal]

In NixOS/nix#14584 mkString was changed to require an EvalMemory, part of a larger effort to centralize memory allocation.

Disclaimer: Claude wrote this patch. While I am a software developer I'm not a C++ developer, nor do I have a lot of experience with Nix (yet). I just wanted to contribute back the fix.

[avidal]

A minimal flake to reproduce (which inlines the patch) is attached.

You can test it with nix develop .#broken which will fail to build, and nix develop .#fixed which includes the patch.

{
  inputs.nixpkgs.url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";

  outputs = { nixpkgs, ... }:
    let
      forAllSystems = f: nixpkgs.lib.genAttrs
        [ "x86_64-linux" "aarch64-linux" "x86_64-darwin" "aarch64-darwin" ]
        (system: f nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system});
    in
    {
      devShells = forAllSystems (pkgs:
        let
          nix = pkgs.nixVersions.nix_2_33;
          nixComponents = pkgs.nixVersions.nixComponents_2_33;

          nix-plugins-broken = pkgs.nix-plugins.override { inherit nixComponents; };

          nix-plugins-fixed = nix-plugins-broken.overrideAttrs (old: {
            patches = (old.patches or [ ]) ++ [
              (pkgs.writeText "nix-2.33.patch" ''
                --- a/extra-builtins.cc
                +++ b/extra-builtins.cc
                @@ -72,9 +72,9 @@ static void cflags(EvalState & state, const PosIdx _pos,
                     Value ** _args, Value & v)
                 {
                     auto attrs = state.buildBindings(3);
                -    attrs.alloc("NIX_INCLUDE_DIRS").mkString(NIX_INCLUDE_DIRS);
                -    attrs.alloc("NIX_CFLAGS_OTHER").mkString(NIX_CFLAGS_OTHER);
                -    attrs.alloc("BOOST_INCLUDE_DIR").mkString(BOOST_INCLUDE_DIR);
                +    attrs.alloc("NIX_INCLUDE_DIRS").mkString(NIX_INCLUDE_DIRS, state.mem);
                +    attrs.alloc("NIX_CFLAGS_OTHER").mkString(NIX_CFLAGS_OTHER, state.mem);
                +    attrs.alloc("BOOST_INCLUDE_DIR").mkString(BOOST_INCLUDE_DIR, state.mem);
                     v.mkAttrs(attrs);
                 }
              '')
            ];
          });

          extra-builtins = pkgs.writeText "extra-builtins.nix" ''
            { ... }: { hello = "nix-plugins works!"; }
          '';

          mkShell = nix-plugins: pkgs.mkShell {
            packages = [ nix ];
            NIX_CONFIG = ''
              plugin-files = ${nix-plugins}/lib/nix/plugins
              extra-builtins-file = ${extra-builtins}
            '';
          };
        in
        {
          broken = mkShell nix-plugins-broken;
          fixed = mkShell nix-plugins-fixed;
          default = mkShell nix-plugins-fixed;
        }
      );
    };
}

[avidal]

For folks that don't want to manually patch but instead pin their devshell to nix 2.32 (latest version that nix-plugins will build in), you can do something like this:

{
    inputs.nixpkgs.url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";

    outputs = { nixpkgs, ... }:
      let
        pkgs = nixpkgs.legacyPackages.aarch64-darwin; # or your system
      in
      {
        devShells.aarch64-darwin.default = pkgs.mkShell {
          packages = [ pkgs.nixVersions.nix_2_32 ];
          NIX_CONFIG = ''
            plugin-files = ${pkgs.nix-plugins.override {
              nixComponents = pkgs.nixVersions.nixComponents_2_32;
            }}/lib/nix/plugins
          '';
        };
      };
  }

And as long as you do your work that needs the extra-builtins from your devshell, it'll work. The outer nix may be 2.33, but in the devshell it'll be 2.32.

If you're using this for things like oddlama/nix-config where you have an importEncrypted builtin, for example, you'll need to do your nixos-rebuild calls from within your devshell.

[samos667]

Thanks! That work perfectly with the latest determinate(d) nix

{inputs, ...}: {
  imports = [
    inputs.devshell.flakeModule
  ];

  perSystem = {
    pkgs,
    system,
    ...
  }: let
    # inputs.determinate-nix.url = "https://flakehub.com/f/DeterminateSystems/nix-src/3.15.2.tar.gz";
    determinate-nix = inputs.determinate-nix.packages."${system}".default;

    nix-plugins-fixed = pkgs.nix-plugins.overrideAttrs (old: {
      buildInputs = [determinate-nix pkgs.boost];
      patches =
        (old.patches or [])
        ++ [
          (pkgs.writeText "nix-2.33.patch" ''
            --- a/extra-builtins.cc
            +++ b/extra-builtins.cc
            @@ -72,9 +72,9 @@ static void cflags(EvalState & state, const PosIdx _pos,
                 Value ** _args, Value & v)
             {
                 auto attrs = state.buildBindings(3);
            -    attrs.alloc("NIX_INCLUDE_DIRS").mkString(NIX_INCLUDE_DIRS);
            -    attrs.alloc("NIX_CFLAGS_OTHER").mkString(NIX_CFLAGS_OTHER);
            -    attrs.alloc("BOOST_INCLUDE_DIR").mkString(BOOST_INCLUDE_DIR);
            +    attrs.alloc("NIX_INCLUDE_DIRS").mkString(NIX_INCLUDE_DIRS, state.mem);
            +    attrs.alloc("NIX_CFLAGS_OTHER").mkString(NIX_CFLAGS_OTHER, state.mem);
            +    attrs.alloc("BOOST_INCLUDE_DIR").mkString(BOOST_INCLUDE_DIR, state.mem);
                 v.mkAttrs(attrs);
             }
          '')
        ];
    });
  in {
    devshells.default = {
      packages = with pkgs; [
        determinate-nix
      ];
      env = [
        {
          name = "NIX_CONFIG";
          value = ''
            plugin-files = ${nix-plugins-fixed}/lib/nix/plugins
            extra-builtins-file = ${./.}/extra-builtins.nix
          '';
        }
      ];
    };
  };
}

# nix repl --expr $"builtins.getFlake \"($env.PWD)\""
Nix (Determinate Nix 3.15.2) 2.33.1
Type :? for help.
Loading installable ''...
Added 18 variables.
"@", _type, apps, checks, devShells, formatter, globals, inputs, legacyPackages, nixosConfigurations, nixosModules, nodes, outPath, outputs, overlays, pa
ckages, pkgs, sourceInfo
nix-repl> builtins.extraBuiltins.rageImportEncrypted
«lambda rageImportEncrypted @ /nix/store/klrpmwh5qnqzi3r79dcz3jm91kiq62s9-default/extra-builtins.nix:30:25»

[fasheng]

Thanks all. However, Nix 2.34 brings new broken changes for nix-plugins. I submit another PR #26 to fix it. Looks the author is not active for such patches, I also write some workaround tips for newbies. Hope helps!