Run any version of any Nix package in one command.

vx hugo-0.154.3 serve

Nix can run any package from any point in nixpkgs history — but finding the right commit for a specific version is painful. You have to search through nixpkgs history, find the commit hash, and manually construct a nix run command.

vx does this for you: give it a package name, a version, and your arguments. It resolves the version, finds the right nixpkgs commit, and runs it.

vx hugo-0.154.3 serve
 │
 ├─ 1. Parse: extract package="hugo", version="0.154.3", args=["serve"]
 │
 ├─ 2. Resolve: call Nixhub API
 │     GET https://search.devbox.sh/v2/resolve?name=hugo&version=0.154.3
 │     → rev="93dc980...", attr_path="hugo"
 │
 ├─ 3. Build command:
 │     nix run github:NixOS/nixpkgs/93dc980...#hugo -- serve
 │
 └─ 4. Execute: run the command

The version resolution uses the Nixhub API (by Jetify), which maps package names and versions to nixpkgs commits.

nix profile install github:mipmip/verynix

# Add to inputs
inputs.verynix.url = "github:mipmip/verynix";

# Add to packages
inputs.verynix.packages.${system}.default

nix run github:mipmip/verynix -- hugo-0.154.3 serve

vx [-v|--verbose] [--no-cache] <package>[-<version>] [ARGS...]

vx hugo-0.147.9 serve
vx nodejs-20.11.0 --version
vx python3-3.12.0 -c "print('hello')"

vx hugo serve           # omit version for latest
vx hugo-latest serve    # or use "latest" explicitly

# Run hugo 0.147.9 and start the dev server
vx hugo-0.147.9 serve

# See what's happening under the hood
vx --verbose hugo-0.147.9 version

# Run latest hugo without caching
vx --no-cache hugo serve

When a requested version doesn't exist, vx shows the nearest available versions:

$ vx hugo-0.149.1 version
version 0.149.1 of hugo not found

nearest available versions:
  < 0.148.2
  > 0.150.0

See CONTRIBUTING.md for how to contribute and DEVELOPMENT.md for development setup.

This project is without any hesitation made together with AI Coding agents using OpenSpec methodology.