Discourse package fails to build through nix-shell

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1

Attempted to download and build the discourse nixpkg but it failed due to a seeming pnpm dependency error:

 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

2

The thing is, only Debian/Ubuntu are supported, not Nix. Is this for a development environment or for production?

3

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

4

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 I think

5

ah yes that is the nixpkg maintainer(s)

the actual source is in the `let in` block

line 55:

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\` 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

6

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.

7

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

8

the thread is not locked and we are enjoying the topic and learning. Thank you for your contribution and welcome to Meta :+1: