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Nix Evaluators

Implementations of the Nix language, store, and CLI. Four active lineages are documented here: the C++ reference shipped with NixOS, a compatible C++ fork, and two modular Rust efforts (TVL-side and independently hosted).

Maturity snapshot

Last checked 2026-07-31. Treat labels as a snapshot—verify before pinning production tooling to a non-default implementation. Detail lives on each leaf.

Evaluator Lineage Posture (2026-07-31)
CppNix NixOS/nix C++ Reference / NixOS-default
Lix C++ fork of CppNix Production-oriented compatible fork (not identical feature set)
Tvix TVL modular Rust (//tvix) Experimental / research
Snix Independent continuation of modular Rust stack Early / research (not a Tvix rename)

Tvix and Snix share architectural heritage but diverged in March 2025: Tvix remains the TVL monorepo project; Snix continues the modular stack on dedicated infrastructure. See Forks and governance splits.

Contents

  • CppNix — Reference C++ Nix; NixOS default
  • Lix — Production-oriented C++ fork (compatible, not identical)
  • Tvix — TVL research modular Rust (//tvix)
  • Snix — Independent modular Rust continuation (not a Tvix rename)