# Discourse package fails to build through nix-shell
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Tags:** unsupported-install
**Created:** [August 17, 2026, 10:25am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198 "2026-08-17T10:25:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@fuguesoft](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fuguesoft)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2026, 10:25am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/1 "2026-08-17T10:25:20Z")
Attempted to download and build the discourse nixpkg but it failed due to a seeming pnpm dependency error:
```sh
ERR_PNPM_INVALID_DEPENDENCY_NAME Refusing to place a dependency under /build/source/frontend/discourse-types/node_modules with the invalid alias "@types/@glimmer__component"
ERROR: pnpm failed to install dependencies
If you see ERR_PNPM_NO_OFFLINE_TARBALL above this, follow these to fix the issue:
1. Set pnpmDeps.hash to "" (empty string)
2. Build the derivation and wait for it to fail with a hash mismatch
3. Copy the 'got: sha256-' value back into the pnpmDeps.hash field
If you see ERR_PNPM_LOCKFILE_CONFIG_MISMATCH above this, try changing the pnpm version
Found 'pnpm' with version '10.34.4'
error: Cannot build '/nix/store/k90f0nxqhlyb1bym9lg5xl6pfjz4vamf-discourse-assets-2026.1.4.drv'.
Reason: builder failed with exit code 1.
Output paths:
/nix/store/biwwabb1xl58v4ywqmmc7d4vm0sl78q3-discourse-assets-2026.1.4-node_modules
/nix/store/jsbd94c63h63yq5xvrp27m5l1sg6667c-discourse-assets-2026.1.4-generated
/nix/store/n278iw1v8kzswvwm8f6n6g15gkw6wb0q-discourse-assets-2026.1.4-frontend
/nix/store/qnxglj6z2n8fn46af9rp7161634brcgk-discourse-assets-2026.1.4
Last 25 log lines:
> Progress: resolved 1909, reused 1263, downloaded 0, added 0
> Progress: resolved 1909, reused 1907, downloaded 0, added 65
> Progress: resolved 1909, reused 1909, downloaded 0, added 435
> Progress: resolved 1909, reused 1909, downloaded 0, added 530
> Progress: resolved 1909, reused 1909, downloaded 0, added 672
> Progress: resolved 1909, reused 1909, downloaded 0, added 838
> Progress: resolved 1909, reused 1909, downloaded 0, added 1036
> Progress: resolved 1909, reused 1909, downloaded 0, added 1175
> Progress: resolved 1909, reused 1909, downloaded 0, added 1464
> Progress: resolved 1909, reused 1909, downloaded 0, added 1767
> Progress: resolved 1909, reused 1909, downloaded 0, added 1907
> Progress: resolved 1909, reused 1909, downloaded 0, added 1908
> Progress: resolved 1909, reused 1909, downloaded 0, added 1909, done
> ERR_PNPM_INVALID_DEPENDENCY_NAME Refusing to place a dependency under /build/source/frontend/discourse-types/node_modules with the invalid alias "@types/@glimmer__component"
>
> ERROR: pnpm failed to install dependencies
>
> If you see ERR_PNPM_NO_OFFLINE_TARBALL above this, follow these to fix the issue:
> 1. Set pnpmDeps.hash to "" (empty string)
> 2. Build the derivation and wait for it to fail with a hash mismatch
> 3. Copy the 'got: sha256-' value back into the pnpmDeps.hash field
>
> If you see ERR_PNPM_LOCKFILE_CONFIG_MISMATCH above this, try changing the pnpm version
> Found 'pnpm' with version '10.34.4'
>
For full logs, run:
nix log /nix/store/k90f0nxqhlyb1bym9lg5xl6pfjz4vamf-discourse-assets-2026.1.4.drv
error: Cannot build '/nix/store/9n8grwvci4gd2c64i9wm5ggw5v4r63xf-discourse-2026.1.4.drv'.
Reason: 1 dependency failed.
Output paths:
/nix/store/l9xhbd5scihfln5jr9vh1c6l4xznaall-discourse-2026.1.4
error: Build failed due to failed dependency
```
Didn’t quite see this issue anywhere and thought you all might like to know
---
### Author:  [@NateDhaliwal](https://meta.discourse.org/u/NateDhaliwal)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2026, 10:55am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/2 "2026-08-17T10:55:46Z")
The thing is, only Debian/Ubuntu are supported, not Nix. Is this for a development environment or for production?
---
### Author:  [@fuguesoft](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fuguesoft)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2026, 11:04am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/3 "2026-08-17T11:04:24Z")
this is just downloading the discourse package from nixpkgs using the nix package manager. Derivations work by essentially cloning and building a package directly from the source.
I was just ephmerally installing a package like I would any other nixOS. Not specifically for dev or production, really I wanted to see if I could use discourse in a cli. My tui browser won’t display some of the UI so I thought I’d test drive the nixpkg and see if the UX was more amenable.
Tried a simple download/build via nix and got the aforementioned error
---
### Author:  [@NateDhaliwal](https://meta.discourse.org/u/NateDhaliwal)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2026, 11:08am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/4 "2026-08-17T11:08:03Z")
Interesting. I believe the package isn’t officially by Discourse. A quick glance at the Maintainers does not list any member of the Discourse team that I have heard of. Plus, no #Documentation about this AFAIK.
For reference: [this plugin](https://search.nixos.org/packages?channel=26.05&query=discourse#show=discourse) I think
---
### Author:  [@fuguesoft](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fuguesoft)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2026, 11:13am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/5 "2026-08-17T11:13:35Z")
ah yes that is the nixpkg maintainer(s)
the actual source is in the `let in` block
line 55:
```nix
let
version = "2026.1.4";
src = fetchFromGitHub {
owner = "discourse";
repo = "discourse";
rev = "v${version}";
sha256 = "sha256-kQYDKZIMsWByuCZQfUlwhoIew5QykVylRMh6xvrHIBY=";
};
in
# ...
```
so it’s sourcing from `[https://github.com/discourse/discourse\`](https://github.com/discourse/discourse%5C%60) and building version `2026.1.4`. The rest of the derivation is basically just build steps, where to put files, what to do with certain build errors …etc
that `src` parameter is kind of like a variable in that it is propagated down through the rest of the derivation
---
### Author:  [@fuguesoft](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fuguesoft)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2026, 11:16am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/6 "2026-08-17T11:16:10Z")
Also you don’t need to commit to the full nixOS to test this
the nix package manager is available for nearly any machine
`nix-shell -p discourse`
where the `nix-shell` starts a shell where whatever package(s), `-p`, are now available on the system. once the shell is closed those packages are no longer installed
I don’t have an apt analogy to describe nix as a concept but if water shapes itself to fit it’s container, nix is a container that shapes itself to fit it’s contents. The problem `nix` seeks to solve is “works on my machine” in that, if the software compiles and runs, it will compile and run via nix.
---
### Author:  [@fuguesoft](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fuguesoft)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2026, 11:29am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/7 "2026-08-17T11:29:30Z")
testing to see if this thread has been locked as I can’t see one of my most recent edits.
maybe the edit needs to be approved to display in the post
---
### Author:  [@Andrew\_Rowe](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Andrew_Rowe)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2026, 11:38am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/8 "2026-08-17T11:38:56Z")
the thread is not locked and we are enjoying the topic and learning. Thank you for your contribution and welcome to Meta 👍
---
### Author:  [@fuguesoft](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fuguesoft)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2026, 9:32pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/9 "2026-08-17T21:32:38Z")
no worries! thanks for the clarification.
The reason I suspected some approval process is because I’d made this edit and didn’t see it come up on my end:
I still see just the text on the left side
E: it just appeared
---
### Author:  [@ducks](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ducks)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2026, 10:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/10 "2026-08-17T22:30:16Z")
Thanks for the report! I took a look, and this appears to be a pnpm version mismatch in the Nix package rather than a problem with the dependency hash.
Discourse `v2026.1.4` declares `pnpm@10.28.0`, while [the Nix expression](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/nixos-26.05/pkgs/servers/web-apps/discourse/default.nix#L42) uses the moving `pnpm_10` package, which currently resolves to `10.34.4`. That newer pnpm version rejects some dependency aliases used by this Discourse release.
The likely Nixpkgs fix is to pin the derivation to an older compatible pnpm, possibly the existing `pnpm_10_29_2 package`, or exactly `10.28.0` and then update `pnpmDeps.hash` if necessary.
Since the Nix package is community-maintained, that fix would need to be made in Nixpkgs, but hopefully this points the maintainers in the right direction.
---
### Author:  [@fuguesoft](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fuguesoft)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2026, 11:40am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/11 "2026-08-18T11:40:02Z")
I may have jumped the gun on marking this solved as I haven’t actually tested that lol
Nixpkgs allows for overlays and overrides of it’s packages locally. I can try to implement those changes to the derivation myself when I get some time and report back my findings
---
### Author:  [@fuguesoft](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fuguesoft)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2026, 7:24pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/12 "2026-08-18T19:24:16Z")
This is as far as I got:
```nix
let
nixpkgs = fetchTarball "https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/tarball/nixos-26.05";
pkgs = import nixpkgs {
config = { };
overlays = with pkgs; [
(final: prev: {
discourse = prev.discourse.override (oa: {
pnpm_10 = oa.pnpm_10.overrideAttrs (_: {
src = fetchFromGitHub {
owner = "pnpm";
repo = "pnpm";
rev = "ea870c786fc74c99bf9de644c78453b4d25a7d59";
hash = "sha256-g+TjAW1SGuEXh04RnGZOQTLkJTHs/3zyCp/P+MzBn4c=";
};
});
});
})
];
};
in
pkgs.mkShellNoCC {
packages = with pkgs; [
# for debug
discourse
];
}
```
error:
```sh
Running phase: unpackPhase
unpacking source archive /nix/store/ci631zzm890b2dzsrxxxrg15qpbac6jy-source
source root is source
rm: cannot remove 'package/dist/vendor': No such file or directory
error: Cannot build '/nix/store/lq23pl8ycyf8myl9mynwzx9a2f2miywv-pnpm-10.34.0.drv'.
Reason: builder failed with exit code 1.
Output paths:
/nix/store/kf62vww5jdfpr32qgxhz4qv9dkfdb0pf-pnpm-10.34.0
Last 5 log lines:
> structuredAttrs is enabled
> Running phase: unpackPhase
> unpacking source archive /nix/store/ci631zzm890b2dzsrxxxrg15qpbac6jy-source
> source root is source
> rm: cannot remove 'package/dist/vendor': No such file or directory
For full logs, run:
nix log /nix/store/lq23pl8ycyf8myl9mynwzx9a2f2miywv-pnpm-10.34.0.drv
error: Cannot build '/nix/store/1hi18g4r0gmmlnj059irx91grry7ymv7-discourse-assets-2026.1.4.drv'.
Reason: 1 dependency failed.
Output paths:
/nix/store/bw2pzh74fbp0wkn9f4b2bf2p6lwcva3d-discourse-assets-2026.1.4
/nix/store/kqnrdh18f4pn87rpzk2af0d18xcvbj7k-discourse-assets-2026.1.4-generated
/nix/store/mcbvqw0y8r3as9zrjmrq7pc32n64bj2r-discourse-assets-2026.1.4-frontend
/nix/store/my9x48zhzzqi2w8rriww6qm4v9iaxxhx-discourse-assets-2026.1.4-node_modules
error: Cannot build '/nix/store/05ffysx25hfzw34km225d2krpnifwj75-discourse-2026.1.4.drv'.
Reason: 1 dependency failed.
Output paths:
/nix/store/2b1pvnvln95dx7rxr88kc5b9g24x45dr-discourse-2026.1.4
```
Apparently the logs will just show the wrong build as if I didn’t overwrite it which is super helpful. It’s complaining about some `package/dist/vendor` file not being created.
yeah this is probably a thing best left to the maintainers
---
### Author:  [@ducks](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ducks)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2026, 3:37am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/13 "2026-08-20T03:37:36Z")
nixpkgs had a pretty outdated version of Discourse from January so I opened a PR to update it. I’ve never contributed to nixpkgs so we’ll see how it goes.
>
>
> Backport of https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/548675 to \`release-26.05\`.
>
> Th…is updates Discourse from the outdated \`2026.1.4\` ESR release to \`2026.7.1\`.
>
> Changes: \[official Discourse changelog\](https://releases.discourse.org/changelog/custom?end=v2026.7.1&start=v2026.1.4)
>
> The backport conflict in \`default.nix\` was resolved by retaining \`icu78\` from \`release-26.05\`. The release branch's \`nodejs-slim\_22.libv8\` links against ICU 78; using the generic \`icu\` package causes \`mini\_racer\_extension.so\` to fail with an undefined ICU symbol.
>
> Automation disclosure: OpenAI Codex (GPT-5) assisted with the backport conflict resolution, testing, and drafting this pull request description.
>
> \## Things done
>
>
>
> \- Built on platform:
> - \[x\] x86\_64-linux
> - \[\] aarch64-linux
> - \[\] aarch64-darwin
> \- Tested, as applicable:
> - \[x\] \[NixOS tests\] in \[nixos/tests\].
> - \[x\] \[Package tests\] at \`passthru.tests\`.
> - \[\] Tests in \[lib/tests\] or \[pkgs/test\] for functions and "core" functionality.
> \- \[\] Ran \`nixpkgs-review\` on this PR. See \[nixpkgs-review usage\].
> \- \[\] Tested basic functionality of all binary files, usually in \`./result/bin/\`.
> \- Nixpkgs Release Notes
> - \[\] Package update: when the change is major or breaking.
> \- NixOS Release Notes
> - \[\] Module addition: when adding a new NixOS module.
> - \[\] Module update: when the change is significant.
> \- \[x\] Fits \[CONTRIBUTING.md\], \[pkgs/README.md\], \[maintainers/README.md\] and other READMEs.
> \- \[x\] Follows the \[automation/AI policy\].
>
> \[NixOS tests\]: https://nixos.org/manual/nixos/unstable/index.html#sec-nixos-tests
> \[Package tests\]: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/README.md#package-tests
> \[nixpkgs-review usage\]: https://github.com/Mic92/nixpkgs-review#usage
>
> \[CONTRIBUTING.md\]: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md
> \[automation/AI policy\]: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#automationai-policy
> \[lib/tests\]: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/lib/tests
> \[maintainers/README.md\]: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/maintainers/README.md
> \[nixos/tests\]: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/nixos/tests
> \[pkgs/README.md\]: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/README.md
> \[pkgs/test\]: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/test
---
### Author:  [@ducks](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ducks)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2026, 10:52pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/14 "2026-08-21T22:52:51Z")
@fuguesoft looks like they merged in the updated Discourse nixpkg if you want to try that
---
### Author:  [@system](https://meta.discourse.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2026, 10:53pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-package-fails-to-build-through-nix-shell/410198/15 "2026-09-20T22:53:45Z")
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