NixOS/nix

repl complete: support quoted attributes

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#13,760 opened on Aug 15, 2025

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Description

Is your feature request related to a problem?

Using nix repl complete on quoted attributes doesnt work. For example if it has . (dot symbol).

For example we have an attribute nixosConfiguration."test.server.example.com"

nix-repl> nixosConfigurations.test<TAB>
nix-repl> nixosConfigurations.test.server.example<TAB>
nix-repl> nixosConfigurations.test.server.example
nix-repl> nixosConfigurations."test<TAB>
nix-repl> nixosConfigurations."test
nix-repl> nixosConfigurations."test.server.example.com".<TAB>
nix-repl> nixosConfigurations."test.server.example.com".

Proposed solution

nix-repl> nixosConfigurations.test<TAB>
nix-repl> nixosConfigurations."test.server.example.com"
nix-repl> nixosConfigurations."test<TAB>
nix-repl> nixosConfigurations."test.server.example.com"
nix-repl> nixosConfigurations."test.server.example.com".<TAB>
attr1
attr2

Checklist

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Contributor guide

Tech stack
cppshell
Domain
clideveloper experience
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of C++Understanding of nix REPLFamiliarity with tab completion logic
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
60
Research direction
The issue involves modifying the tab completion logic in the nix REPL to handle quoted attribute names containing dots. Look at the REPL source code, likely in `src/nix/repl.cc` or similar. The current behavior completes partial unquoted names but fails for quoted ones. The proposed solution suggests completing the full quoted string. Check if there is existing handling for quoted strings and extend it. The maintainers have not yet commented, so the approach should be based on the feature request.