nix-shell-toolbox

name	nix-shell-toolbox
description	Run temporary/ad-hoc binaries on NixOS using nix-shell -p and patchelf. Use when a prebuilt binary won't run on NixOS, or when you need a tool ephemerally without permanent installation.

Nix Shell Toolbox

Ephemeral tools with nix-shell -p

Run any package temporarily without installing it:

nix-shell -p <pkg> --run '<command>'

The package is available only for that command — no profile pollution, no garbage to clean up.

Examples:

nix-shell -p patchelf --run 'patchelf --set-interpreter <path> ~/.local/bin/<binary>'
nix-shell -p jq --run 'jq . < file.json'
nix-shell -p ripgrep --run 'rg pattern'

This works for any package on nixpkgs.

Patching ELF interpreters for NixOS

NixOS does not follow the FHS convention — there is no /lib64/ directory. Prebuilt Linux binaries with the standard dynamic linker hardcoded (/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2) will fail with:

Could not start dynamically linked executable: <binary>
NixOS cannot run dynamically linked executables intended for generic
linux environments out of the box.

To make them work, patch the ELF interpreter with patchelf:

# Run patchelf ephemerally
nix-shell -p patchelf --run \
  'patchelf --set-interpreter /nix/store/<hash>-glibc-<version>/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 ~/.local/bin/<binary>'

Find the correct glibc store path via ldd:

ldd ~/.local/bin/<binary>
# look for the line resolving /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2

The patched path is pinned to a specific glibc derivation. If that store path is garbage collected (nix-store --gc or system upgrade), the binary breaks and must be re-patched against the current glibc.

PATH precedence for local binaries

• To ensure $HOME/.local/bin binaries take precedence over nixpkgs versions:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc