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Recommend nix-shell instead of nix-env for NixOS installation #14045
Description
Description
Our NixOS instructions currently recommend nix-env, which the NixOS package website discourages:
Warning: Using nix-env permanently modifies a local profile of installed packages. This must be updated and maintained by the user in the same way as with a traditional package manager, foregoing many of the benefits that make Nix uniquely powerful. Using nix-shell or a NixOS configuration is recommended instead.
Fix
We should recommend nix-shell -p gh for temporary use, then direct users to the NixOS package installation instructions for permanent installation.
Reacted by Kynan Ware
Activity
github-actions commentedon Aug 3, 2026
Thank you for your issue! We have categorized it as an enhancement (feature or improvement) request, and it has been added to our backlog. In doing so, we are not committing to implementing this feature at this time, but, we will consider it for future releases based on community feedback and our own product roadmap.
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cli-triage commentedon Aug 3, 2026
This is a clear documentation improvement request: updating the NixOS installation instructions to recommend
nix-shell(or the NixOS package page) overnix-env, which NixOS itself discourages. The rationale is well-explained and the proposed fix is specific.No duplicates found — the related issue #8353 (closed) was about initially adding Nix installation instructions, which was completed; this issue is a follow-up improvement.
The existing
enhancementlabel is appropriate. No additional labels are suggested at this time — the issue is ready for engineering/docs review as-is.babakks commentedon Aug 3, 2026
There's already a PR for this that we may want to reopen if the OP (@NyCodeGHG) updates it.
docs: recommend nix-shell over nix-env for Nix/NixOS
docs: recommend nix-shell over nix-env for Nix/NixOS