NixOS Package Search Scraper

Scrape NixOS package metadata directly from the official NixOS package search backend. Search packages by keyword or fetch specific packages by their Nix attribute name across multiple NixOS channels.

Features

• Search packages by keyword across NixOS channels
• Fetch specific packages by attribute name (e.g. git, nodejs_20, python3)
• Supports NixOS 25.11 (stable), NixOS 26.05, and NixOS Unstable channels
• Returns full package metadata: version, description, license, maintainers, platforms, position, and homepage
• Includes direct link to the package on search.nixos.org

Input

Field	Type	Description	Default
mode	select	searchPackages or getByAttr	searchPackages
searchQuery	string	Keyword to search for	git
channel	select	NixOS channel: 25.11, 26.05, or unstable	25.11
attrNames	array	Nix attribute names to fetch (e.g. ["git", "vim"])	[]
maxItems	integer	Maximum number of packages to return (1–500)	50

Example Input — Search Packages

{
  "mode": "searchPackages",
  "searchQuery": "git",
  "channel": "25.11",
  "maxItems": 20
}

Example Input — Get by Attribute

{
  "mode": "getByAttr",
  "attrNames": ["git", "vim", "nodejs_20"],
  "channel": "25.11"
}

Output

Each record contains:

Field	Type	Description
attrName	string	Nix attribute name (e.g. git)
packageName	string	Package pname (e.g. git)
version	string	Package version (e.g. 2.51.2)
description	string	Short description
longDescription	string	Detailed description (HTML stripped)
license	string	License name(s)
maintainers	array	List of maintainer names
platforms	array	Supported platforms
position	string	File:line in nixpkgs (e.g. pkgs/...default.nix:552)
homepage	string	Project homepage URL
channel	string	NixOS channel queried
sourceUrl	string	Link to package on search.nixos.org
recordType	string	Always "package"
scrapedAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp

Example Output Record

{
  "attrName": "git",
  "packageName": "git",
  "version": "2.51.2",
  "description": "Distributed version control system",
  "longDescription": "Git, a popular distributed version control system designed to handle very large projects with speed and efficiency.",
  "license": "GNU General Public License v2.0",
  "maintainers": ["Wout Mertens", "Robin Gloster", "Adam Dinwoodie"],
  "platforms": ["x86_64-linux", "aarch64-linux", "x86_64-darwin"],
  "position": "pkgs/applications/version-management/git/default.nix:552",
  "homepage": "https://git-scm.com/",
  "channel": "25.11",
  "sourceUrl": "https://search.nixos.org/packages?channel=25.11&show=git",
  "recordType": "package",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-01-01T12:00:00+00:00"
}

FAQs

Which NixOS channels are supported? NixOS 25.11 (current stable), NixOS 26.05, and NixOS Unstable.

What is an attribute name? In Nix, packages are identified by their attribute path in nixpkgs. For example git, nodejs_20, or python3. You can find attribute names on search.nixos.org.

How many packages can I scrape? Up to 500 packages per run. For larger datasets, run multiple times with different queries.

Are there rate limits? The NixOS search backend is a public Elasticsearch cluster. The scraper uses appropriate delays to avoid overloading it.

What does the position field contain? The file path and line number in the nixpkgs repository where the package is defined, e.g. pkgs/applications/version-management/git/default.nix:552.