nixpkgs-check is a tool to make it easier to run through the usual
checklist for PRs to nixpkgs.
Usually, usage will simply be:
nixpkgs-check
In this case, nixpkgs-check will automatically check the current
commit against master.
If you have more complex needs, you can specify revisions with:
nixpkgs-check -b [base-branch] [revision-to-check]
nixpkgs-check will automatically figure out what commits need to be
tested.
Once started, just follow the prompts. Multiple-choice questions can be selected by pressing the space bar to (un)select a choice, and enter to validate the choice list.
When it finishes running, nixpkgs-check outputs a report in
GitHub-flavored markdown, that can be copy-pasted into the pull
request message.
Note that nixpkgs-check stores some state in
$XDG_DATA_HOME/nixpkgs-check/state.json, which remembers previous
interactions to improve future interactions.
The report uses emojis as color code:
- 💚 means that there was a significant improvement with this commit
- ✔ means that this test looks good
- 😢 means that this test's result should be considered by a human
- ❌ means that there was a regression with this test
You can build the current version of nixpkgs-check using nix-build
at the root of the repository.
However, for development it is often easier to just use cargo build,
as it has way better incrementality. In these circumstances, it is
possible to build using a command line like the following:
CONTRIBUTING_MD_PATH="$NIXPKGS_FULL_PATH/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md" cargo build
Note that the CONTRIBUTING.md file will be embedded directly in
nixpkgs-check, so that the user can review potential changes to it
while the repositories are still being checked out. The only drawback
of this approach is that nixpkgs-check will have to be rebuilt when
CONTRIBUTING.md changes, which should not be a problem given it can be
in the nixpkgs monorepo.