railwayapp/nixpacks
App source + Nix packages + Docker = Image observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
83/100
- Activity 99
- Release rhythm 53
- Longevity 100
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: 20.0
- age_days: 1620
- days_rel: 313
- days_push: 9
- n_releases_24m: 17
Adoption not part of the score
3554 stars · 318 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded
Nixpacks is a Rust CLI buildpack that turns an application source directory into an OCI-compliant container image, using Nix packages for system and language dependencies and Docker BuildKit for the build. It was created by Railway as an alternative to Cloud Native Buildpacks and is now in maintenance mode with Railpack recommended as its successor.
Use cases
- build a docker image from app source without writing a dockerfile
- auto-detect language and dependencies for container builds
- deploy apps to any platform from an OCI image
- add nix packages like ffmpeg to a container build
- generate a reproducible JSON build plan for an app
- replace heroku buildpacks for deploying thousands of apps
When to choose
- you want zero-config container image builds from source with sensible defaults
- you need reproducible system dependencies pulled from the nix ecosystem
- you want a buildpacks alternative with customizable build/start commands via nixpacks.toml
When to avoid
- you are starting a new project - the maintainers recommend Railpack instead
- you need a tool under active development with new features
- you require multi-process containers or advanced buildpack features
Facets
cli-tool · maturity maintenance
build-tool deployment container-runtime cli cloud-computing developer-tools self-hosted windows cli cross-platform buildpacks nix docker oci-images rust railway app-packaging maintenance-mode devops containers linux macos
10 sources
- readme: https://github.com/railwayapp/nixpacks · fetched 2026-08-28 · 8b4fe4f37683
- homepage: https://nixpacks.com · fetched 2026-08-29 · f9ae4882840f
- site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs · fetched 2026-08-29 · f631329e0012
- site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/install · fetched 2026-08-29 · 1d3465b02c47
- site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/how-it-works · fetched 2026-08-29 · f9a53bf026f7
- site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/guides/configuring-builds · fetched 2026-08-29 · 31beb9b023d7
- site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/configuration/file · fetched 2026-08-29 · 7f59b1a08249
- site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/configuration/environment · fetched 2026-08-29 · 5e328fb40809
- site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/configuration/procfile · fetched 2026-08-29 · 14120e7054eb
- site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/configuration/caching · fetched 2026-08-29 · e4f68d056824
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| railwayapp/nixpacks | main | 83 |
For agents
markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="railwayapp/nixpacks")
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem