Just to start I’m not sure that “registry update” is precisely the correct term; but what I’m talking about is updating/downloading the newest package lists every time nix search nixpkgs is invoked.
Obviously those lists need to be updated periodically; but in practice I often avoid using nix search nixpkgs foo; and might instead open up https://search.nixos.org/packages?channel=unstable simply because it’s faster.
Is there a way to make nix search “just search” without taking the time to update registries or channels ( or whatever )?
Weird mine updates almost every time I run it. If i search repeatedly it won’t, but it seems like if I wait an hour it’ll download and process packages.
looks like there is a verbose flag, maybe that will tell us something? try nix search -vvvv foo, mine starts off with
evaluating file '/nix/store/6fr58pqy02hmgw1h7b9nqmv7vlp3v346-nix-2.3.15/share/nix/corepkgs/derivation.nix'
warning: using cached results; pass '-u' to update the cache
If you are using flakes on NixOS you can search the nixpkgs that you are using to build your system. This ensures that it is already downloaded because.