lix/doc/manual/rl-next/nix-profile-names.md

---
synopsis: "`nix profile` now allows referring to elements by human-readable name, and no longer accepts indices"
prs: 8678
cls: [978, 980]
---

[`nix profile`](@docroot@/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-profile.md) now uses names to refer to installed packages when running [`list`](@docroot@/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-profile-list.md), [`remove`](@docroot@/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-profile-remove.md) or [`upgrade`](@docroot@/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-profile-upgrade.md) as opposed to indices. Indices have been removed. Profile element names are generated when a package is installed and remain the same until the package is removed.

**Warning**: The `manifest.nix` file used to record the contents of profiles has changed. Nix will automatically upgrade profiles to the new version when you modify the profile. After that, the profile can no longer be used by older versions of Nix.
nix3-profile: allow using human-readable names to select packages These names are parsed from the URL provided for that package Based off of commit 257b768436a0e8ab7887f9b790c5b92a7fe51ef5 Upstream-PR: https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/8678 Co-authored-by: Felix Uhl <felix.uhl@outlook.com> Change-Id: I76d5f9cfb11d3d2915b3dd1db21d7bb49e91f4fb 2024-05-02 00:51:16 +00:00			`---`
nix3-profile: remove indices Based off of commit 3187bc9ac3dd193b9329ef68c73ac3cca794ed78 Upstream-PR: https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/9656 Co-authored-by: Eelco Dolstra <edolstra@gmail.com> Change-Id: I8ac4a33314cd1cf9de95404c20f58e883460acc7 2024-05-02 01:12:04 +00:00			synopsis: "`nix profile` now allows referring to elements by human-readable name, and no longer accepts indices"
nix3-profile: allow using human-readable names to select packages These names are parsed from the URL provided for that package Based off of commit 257b768436a0e8ab7887f9b790c5b92a7fe51ef5 Upstream-PR: https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/8678 Co-authored-by: Felix Uhl <felix.uhl@outlook.com> Change-Id: I76d5f9cfb11d3d2915b3dd1db21d7bb49e91f4fb 2024-05-02 00:51:16 +00:00			`prs: 8678`
nix3-profile: make element names stable Based off of commit 6268a45b650f563bae2360e0540920a2959bdd40 Upstream-PR: https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/9656 Co-authored-by: Eelco Dolstra <edolstra@gmail.com> Change-Id: I0fcf069a8537c61ad6fc4eee1f3c193a708ea1c4 2024-05-02 01:55:26 +00:00			`cls: [978, 980]`
nix3-profile: allow using human-readable names to select packages These names are parsed from the URL provided for that package Based off of commit 257b768436a0e8ab7887f9b790c5b92a7fe51ef5 Upstream-PR: https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/8678 Co-authored-by: Felix Uhl <felix.uhl@outlook.com> Change-Id: I76d5f9cfb11d3d2915b3dd1db21d7bb49e91f4fb 2024-05-02 00:51:16 +00:00			`---`

nix3-profile: make element names stable Based off of commit 6268a45b650f563bae2360e0540920a2959bdd40 Upstream-PR: https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/9656 Co-authored-by: Eelco Dolstra <edolstra@gmail.com> Change-Id: I0fcf069a8537c61ad6fc4eee1f3c193a708ea1c4 2024-05-02 01:55:26 +00:00			[`nix profile`](@docroot@/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-profile.md) now uses names to refer to installed packages when running [`list`](@docroot@/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-profile-list.md), [`remove`](@docroot@/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-profile-remove.md) or [`upgrade`](@docroot@/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-profile-upgrade.md) as opposed to indices. Indices have been removed. Profile element names are generated when a package is installed and remain the same until the package is removed.

			Warning: The `manifest.nix` file used to record the contents of profiles has changed. Nix will automatically upgrade profiles to the new version when you modify the profile. After that, the profile can no longer be used by older versions of Nix.