# railwayapp/nixpacks

App source + Nix packages + Docker = Image

Repository: https://github.com/railwayapp/nixpacks
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/nixpacks
Homepage: https://nixpacks.com
Language: Rust
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: buildpacks, cli, docker, nix, nixpkgs, rust
Last push: 2026-08-25T00:10:40+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 83/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 53, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1620, "days_push": 9, "days_rel": 313, "gap_med": 20.0, "n_releases_24m": 17}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3554, forks 318 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:09.620454+00:00)

## What it is
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
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: build-tool, deployment, container-runtime, cli
- domain: cloud-computing, developer-tools, self-hosted
- platform: windows, cli, cross-platform
- tags: buildpacks, nix, docker, oci-images, rust, railway, app-packaging, maintenance-mode, devops, containers, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- railwayapp/nixpacks (main) score 83

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:09.620454+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 2026-08-29T18:34:18.197641+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/railwayapp/nixpacks (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:09.620454+00:00, sha 8b4fe4f37683)
  - homepage: https://nixpacks.com (fetched 2026-08-29T09:28:20.004166+00:00, sha f9ae4882840f)
  - site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T09:28:20.013059+00:00, sha f631329e0012)
  - site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/install (fetched 2026-08-29T09:28:20.014959+00:00, sha 1d3465b02c47)
  - site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/how-it-works (fetched 2026-08-29T09:28:20.017037+00:00, sha f9a53bf026f7)
  - site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/guides/configuring-builds (fetched 2026-08-29T09:28:20.018963+00:00, sha 31beb9b023d7)
  - site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/configuration/file (fetched 2026-08-29T09:28:20.020621+00:00, sha 7f59b1a08249)
  - site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/configuration/environment (fetched 2026-08-29T09:28:20.022458+00:00, sha 5e328fb40809)
  - site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/configuration/procfile (fetched 2026-08-29T09:28:20.023996+00:00, sha 14120e7054eb)
  - site_page: https://nixpacks.com/docs/configuration/caching (fetched 2026-08-29T09:28:20.025498+00:00, sha e4f68d056824)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.