develop-templates

Curated Nix flake project templates — bootstrap reproducible development environments with a single command.
templates.nixcafe.org

---

Quick Start

# Register the alias (once)
nix registry add beans "github:nixcafe/develop-templates"

# Bootstrap a project
nix flake init -t beans#node
nix flake init -t beans#python
nix flake init -t beans#rust
nix flake init -t beans#java

# Enter the dev shell
nix develop

That's it — no Docker, no manual toolchain setup, no version managers. nix develop drops you into a fully provisioned environment with your language toolchain, formatters, linters, and pre-commit hooks.

Available Templates

Template	Stack	What's included
nix (default)	Nix	nixfmt, deadnix, statix — Nix dev shell with formatting & linting
node	Node.js / Bun / Deno	Node.js, Bun, Deno, ni — pick your runtime
python	Python	Python auto-configured, ruff, hatchling
rust	Rust	cargo, rustc, clippy, rustfmt, rust-analyzer
java	Java	GraalVM JDK, Maven, Gradle
kotlin	Kotlin	GraalVM JDK, Kotlin compiler, Gradle
latex	LaTeX	LaTeX with Nix formatters and pre-commit hooks
typst	Typst	Typst with Nix formatters and pre-commit hooks
nix-config	NixOS / macOS	NixOS, nix-darwin, home-manager with auto-discovered systems
colmena-config	NixOS + Colmena	NixOS with Colmena deployment & ISO/image builds
secrets	Secrets	agenix/ragenix with YubiKey support
purr	purr Framework	purr project (mkFlake, standalone)
purr-flake-parts	purr + flake-parts	purr project with flake-parts integration

Why Nix Flake Templates?

• Reproducible — identical environments across Linux, macOS, and WSL
• No Docker overhead — native Nix builds, no container runtime
• Declarative — tools, dependencies, and env vars in one flake.nix
• Zero-install bootstrap — nix flake init -t + nix develop, ready to code
• Polyglot — one toolchain for all programming languages
• CI-friendly — same environment locally and in GitHub Actions / GitLab CI

How It Works

Each template is a thin wrapper that pulls content from a dedicated repository under nixcafe-develop:

# templates/node/default.nix
{ inputs, ... }:
{
  description = "Node.js development environment";
  path = "${inputs.templates-node}";
  welcomeText = ''
    # Node.js — Nix Development Environment
    Run `nix develop` to enter the dev shell.
  '';
}

The template flake itself uses purr for auto-discovery:

flake.nix                    # inputs + mkFlake call
templates/                   # 13 templates, each a default.nix wrapper
shells/default/default.nix   # Dev shell with nixfmt, deadnix, statix
checks/git-hooks/            # pre-commit hooks

Development

git clone https://github.com/nixcafe/develop-templates.git
cd develop-templates
nix develop        # enters dev shell with nixfmt, deadnix, statix

nix flake check    # run all checks

Documentation

Full docs at templates.nixcafe.org — quick start, template details, contributing guide.

License

CC0 1.0 Universal