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nix-prefetch-url has missing docs for -A/--attr option #1190

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opened 2026-04-22 13:45:21 +00:00 by jade · 1 comment
jade commented 2026-04-22 13:45:21 +00:00
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Problem

nix-prefetch-url has a -A option to take an attribute name which is then ... evaluated?! The URL parameter appears to be used as the file path and then the -A foo is used as the attr path within. https://git.lix.systems/lix-project/lix/src/f856d4fd2501a904084f923fc0a2f0f47284a7b6/lix/nix/prefetch.cc#L207-L209

Proposal

Docs should be written for this and added to the manual. Or maybe we should delete the feature, idk.

Checklist

## Problem nix-prefetch-url has a -A option to take an attribute name which is then ... evaluated?! The URL parameter appears to be used as the file path and then the -A foo is used as the attr path within. https://git.lix.systems/lix-project/lix/src/f856d4fd2501a904084f923fc0a2f0f47284a7b6/lix/nix/prefetch.cc#L207-L209 ## Proposal Docs should be written for this and added to the manual. Or maybe we should delete the feature, idk. ## Checklist <!-- make sure this issue is not redundant or obsolete --> - [x] checked [latest Lix manual] or its [source code] - [x] checked [documentation issues] and [recent documentation changes] for possible duplicates [latest Lix manual]: https://docs.lix.systems/manual/lix/nightly [source code]: https://git.lix.systems/lix-project/lix/src/main/doc/manual/src [documentation issues]: https://git.lix.systems/lix-project/lix/issues?labels=151&state=all [recent documentation changes]: https://gerrit.lix.systems/q/p:lix+path:%22%5Edoc/manual/.*%22
lix-bot commented 2026-04-22 13:52:55 +00:00
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This issue was mentioned on Gerrit on the following CLs:

  • commit message in cl/5498 ("fix: inverted null check in nix-prefetch-url")
<!-- GERRIT_LINKBOT: {"cls": [{"backlink": "https://gerrit.lix.systems/c/lix/+/5498", "number": 5498, "kind": "commit message"}], "cl_meta": {"5498": {"change_title": "fix: inverted null check in nix-prefetch-url"}}} --> This issue was mentioned on Gerrit on the following CLs: * commit message in [cl/5498](https://gerrit.lix.systems/c/lix/+/5498) ("fix: inverted null check in nix-prefetch-url")
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lix-project/lix#1190
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