From 605c8f7789d9ef446c8f22d8c6a261b315be861d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Joachim Breitner <mail@joachim-breitner.de>
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2023 09:35:49 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Docs: Explain why `import nixpkgs` works in flakes

---
 src/libexpr/primops.cc | 11 ++++++++---
 src/nix/flake.md       |  2 ++
 2 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/libexpr/primops.cc b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
index 3641ee468..73ffe03d4 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/primops.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
@@ -254,9 +254,14 @@ static RegisterPrimOp primop_import({
     .args = {"path"},
     // TODO turn "normal path values" into link below
     .doc = R"(
-      Load, parse and return the Nix expression in the file *path*. If
-      *path* is a directory, the file ` default.nix ` in that directory
-      is loaded. Evaluation aborts if the file doesn’t exist or contains
+      Load, parse and return the Nix expression in the file *path*.
+
+      The value *path* is conveted to a string as described in `builtins.toString`.
+
+      If *path* is a directory, the file ` default.nix ` in that directory
+      is loaded.
+
+      Evaluation aborts if the file doesn’t exist or contains
       an incorrect Nix expression. `import` implements Nix’s module
       system: you can put any Nix expression (such as a set or a
       function) in a separate file, and use it from Nix expressions in
diff --git a/src/nix/flake.md b/src/nix/flake.md
index 8eaa41b96..cd9f656e3 100644
--- a/src/nix/flake.md
+++ b/src/nix/flake.md
@@ -317,6 +317,8 @@ The following attributes are supported in `flake.nix`:
   also contains some metadata about the inputs. These are:
 
   * `outPath`: The path in the Nix store of the flake's source tree.
+     This way, the attribute set can be passed to `import` as if it was a path,
+     as in the example above (`import nixpkgs`).
 
   * `rev`: The commit hash of the flake's repository, if applicable.