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+<refentry xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+      xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
+      xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
+      version="5.0"
+      xml:id="sec-nix-shell">
+
+<refmeta>
+  <refentrytitle>nix-shell</refentrytitle>
+  <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
+  <refmiscinfo class="source">Nix</refmiscinfo>
+  <refmiscinfo class="version"><xi:include href="version.txt" parse="text"/></refmiscinfo>
+</refmeta>
+
+<refnamediv>
+  <refname>nix-shell</refname>
+  <refpurpose>start an interactive shell based on a Nix expression</refpurpose>
+</refnamediv>
+
+<refsynopsisdiv>
+  <cmdsynopsis>
+    <command>nix-shell</command>
+    <arg><option>--arg</option> <replaceable>name</replaceable> <replaceable>value</replaceable></arg>
+    <arg><option>--argstr</option> <replaceable>name</replaceable> <replaceable>value</replaceable></arg>
+    <arg>
+      <group choice='req'>
+        <arg choice='plain'><option>--attr</option></arg>
+        <arg choice='plain'><option>-A</option></arg>
+      </group>
+      <replaceable>attrPath</replaceable>
+    </arg>
+    <arg><option>--command</option> <replaceable>cmd</replaceable></arg>
+    <arg><option>--exclude</option> <replaceable>regexp</replaceable></arg>
+    <arg><option>--pure</option></arg>
+    <group choice='req'>
+      <group choice='plain'>
+        <group>
+          <arg choice='plain'><option>--packages</option></arg>
+          <arg choice='plain'><option>-p</option></arg>
+        </group>
+        <replaceable>packages</replaceable>
+      </group>
+      <arg><replaceable>path</replaceable></arg>
+    </group>
+  </cmdsynopsis>
+</refsynopsisdiv>
+
+<refsection><title>Description</title>
+
+<para>The command <command>nix-shell</command> will build the
+dependencies of the specified derivation, but not the derivation
+itself.  It will then start an interactive shell in which all
+environment variables defined by the derivation
+<replaceable>path</replaceable> have been set to their corresponding
+values, and the script <literal>$stdenv/setup</literal> has been
+sourced.  This is useful for reproducing the environment of a
+derivation for development.</para>
+
+<para>If <replaceable>path</replaceable> is not given,
+<command>nix-shell</command> defaults to
+<filename>shell.nix</filename> if it exists, and
+<filename>default.nix</filename> otherwise.</para>
+
+<para>If the derivation defines the variable
+<varname>shellHook</varname>, it will be evaluated after
+<literal>$stdenv/setup</literal> has been sourced.  Since this hook is
+not executed by regular Nix builds, it allows you to perform
+initialisation specific to <command>nix-shell</command>.  For example,
+the derivation attribute
+
+<programlisting>
+shellHook =
+  ''
+    echo "Hello shell"
+  '';
+</programlisting>
+
+will cause <command>nix-shell</command> to print <literal>Hello shell</literal>.</para>
+
+</refsection>
+
+
+<refsection><title>Options</title>
+
+<para>All options not listed here are passed to <command>nix-store
+--realise</command>, except for <option>--arg</option> and
+<option>--attr</option> / <option>-A</option> which are passed to
+<command>nix-instantiate</command>.  <phrase condition="manual">See
+also <xref linkend="sec-common-options" />.</phrase></para>
+
+<variablelist>
+
+  <varlistentry><term><option>--command</option> <replaceable>cmd</replaceable></term>
+
+    <listitem><para>In the environment of the derivation, run the
+    shell command <replaceable>cmd</replaceable> instead of starting
+    an interactive shell.  However, if you end the shell command with
+    <literal>return</literal>, you still get an interactive shell.
+    This can be useful for doing any additional
+    initialisation.</para></listitem>
+
+  </varlistentry>
+
+  <varlistentry><term><option>--exclude</option> <replaceable>regexp</replaceable></term>
+
+    <listitem><para>Do not build any dependencies whose store path
+    matches the regular expression <replaceable>regexp</replaceable>.
+    This option may be specified multiple times.</para></listitem>
+
+  </varlistentry>
+
+  <varlistentry><term><option>--pure</option></term>
+
+    <listitem><para>If this flag is specified, the environment is
+    almost entirely cleared before the interactive shell is started,
+    so you get an environment that more closely corresponds to the
+    “real” Nix build.  A few variables, in particular
+    <envar>HOME</envar>, <envar>USER</envar> and
+    <envar>DISPLAY</envar>, are retained.  Note that
+    <filename>~/.bashrc</filename> and (depending on your Bash
+    installation) <filename>/etc/bashrc</filename> are still sourced,
+    so any variables set there will affect the interactive
+    shell.</para></listitem>
+
+  </varlistentry>
+
+  <varlistentry><term><option>--packages</option> / <option>-p</option></term>
+
+    <listitem><para>Set up an environment in which the specified
+    packages are present.  The command line arguments are interpreted
+    as attribute names inside the Nix Packages collection.  Thus,
+    <literal>nix-shell -p libjpeg openjdk</literal> will start a shell
+    in which the packages denoted by the attribute names
+    <varname>libjpeg</varname> and <varname>openjdk</varname> are
+    present.</para></listitem>
+
+  </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+
+<para>The following common options are supported:</para>
+
+<variablelist condition="manpage">
+  <xi:include href="opt-common.xml#xmlns(db=http://docbook.org/ns/docbook)xpointer(//db:variablelist[@xml:id='opt-common']/*)" />
+</variablelist>
+
+</refsection>
+
+
+<refsection><title>Examples</title>
+
+<para>To build the dependencies of the package Pan, and start an
+interactive shell in which to build it:
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-shell '&lt;nixpkgs>' -A pan
+[nix-shell]$ unpackPhase
+[nix-shell]$ cd pan-*
+[nix-shell]$ configurePhase
+[nix-shell]$ buildPhase
+[nix-shell]$ ./pan/gui/pan
+</screen>
+
+To clear the environment first, and do some additional automatic
+initialisation of the interactive shell:
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-shell '&lt;nixpkgs>' -A pan --pure \
+    --command 'export NIX_DEBUG=1; export NIX_CORES=8; return'
+</screen>
+
+Nix expressions can also be given on the command line.  For instance,
+the following starts a shell containing the packages
+<literal>sqlite</literal> and <literal>libX11</literal>:
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-shell -E 'with import &lt;nixpkgs> { }; runCommand "dummy" { buildInputs = [ sqlite xorg.libX11 ]; } ""'
+</screen>
+
+A shorter way to do the same is:
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-shell -p sqlite xorg.libX11
+[nix-shell]$ echo $NIX_LDFLAGS
+… -L/nix/store/j1zg5v…-sqlite-3.8.0.2/lib -L/nix/store/0gmcz9…-libX11-1.6.1/lib …
+</screen>
+
+</para>
+
+</refsection>
+
+
+<refsection condition="manpage"><title>Environment variables</title>
+
+<variablelist>
+  <xi:include href="env-common.xml#xmlns(db=http://docbook.org/ns/docbook)xpointer(//db:variablelist[@xml:id='env-common']/*)" />
+</variablelist>
+
+</refsection>
+
+
+</refentry>