# nix-community/comma

Comma runs software without installing it. [maintainers=@Artturin,@burke,@DavHau]

Repository: https://github.com/nix-community/comma
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/comma
Language: Rust
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: nix, nixos
Last push: 2026-06-26T18:07:30+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 89/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 89, release rhythm 83, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2318, "days_push": 68, "days_rel": 114, "gap_med": 5, "n_releases_24m": 10}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1749, forks 63 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:31.065224+00:00)

## What it is
Comma is a small Rust CLI that lets you run any command from nixpkgs without installing it, by prefixing the command with a comma (e.g. `, cowsay neato`). It wraps `nix shell -c` together with `nix-index` to locate and execute packages on demand, with optional caching of choices and paths for speed.

## Use cases
- run a command without installing it
- try out a package temporarily with nix
- run one-off tools from nixpkgs
- avoid polluting my system with rarely used packages
- quickly execute a program I don't have installed
- use nix-index to find and run commands

## When to choose
- you use Nix or NixOS and want ad-hoc execution of any nixpkgs package
- you want to try tools without adding them to your profile
- you want fast repeated runs via path caching

## When to avoid
- you don't use the Nix package manager
- you need the absolute latest package version and can't tolerate cached paths
- you're on a system without nix-index database access

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: cli, package-manager, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools
- platform: cli
- tags: nix, nixos, nix-shell, nix-index, run-without-install, rust, command-line, automation, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- nix-community/comma (main) score 89

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:31.065224+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:28:47.760958+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/nix-community/comma (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:31.065224+00:00, sha 46d3e703d4b0)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.