Nix Oss Cache

Push to Juspay's OSS Nix cache

Wire a GitHub repo into the shared Attic cache at cache.nixos.asia/oss. CI builds the flake's default package on every push to the default branch and pushes the resulting closure, warming both CI and local nix builds for everyone. Reference: juspay/kolu#1731, #1733.

Three pieces are needed: the cache as a substituter (so the repo pulls from it), a workflow (so CI pushes to it), and the ATTIC_TOKEN secret (so the push authenticates). Do all three.

Initial setup questionnaire

Before touching any files, use the Ask tool (AskUserQuestion) to settle the trigger scope — which branches should trigger a build-and-push?

• Default branch only — push on the default branch (main/master) plus pull_request and workflow_dispatch. Warms the cache from merged, reviewed code. Recommended for most repos.
• All branches — push on every branch too, so feature branches warm the cache. Costs more CI minutes and can push closures from unreviewed code.

Assume the user already has an ATTIC_TOKEN push token (they obtain it from the cache admin — Juspay infra — via atticadm make-token, scoped to the oss cache). Don't block on it here; step 3 confirms it's set on the repo and loops until it is.

1. Add the cache as a substituter

In the repo's top-level flake.nix, add (or extend) nixConfig:

nixConfig = {
  extra-substituters = "https://cache.nixos.asia/oss";
  extra-trusted-public-keys = "oss:KO872wNJkCDgmGN3xy9dT89WAhvv13EiKncTtHDItVU=";
};

2. Add the workflow

Set the on: triggers to match the trigger scope answer from the questionnaire. The template below is the default-branch-only variant.

Already have a nix build workflow? Piggyback on it.

If the repo already has a workflow that runs nix build (e.g. a CI job), don't add a second one — just drop the ryanccn/attic-action step into the existing job, before the build step, so its end-of-job hook pushes whatever that job builds:

      - uses: ryanccn/attic-action@5635a15ef0c5462194ffbd05d1daeddc74625c3a # v0.5.0
        with:
          endpoint: https://cache.nixos.asia
          cache: oss
          token: ${{ secrets.ATTIC_TOKEN }}

The action pushes every store path realised during the job, so no explicit push step is needed. Only create the standalone nix-cache.yml below when there's no existing build job to hook into. (Note: if the existing job uses the DeterminateSystems installer rather than nix-quick-install-action, verify attic-action still finds a new-enough Nix for nix profile add.)

Standalone workflow

Create .github/workflows/nix-cache.yml. ryanccn/attic-action handles install, login, substituter config, and pushing every store path the job produced at job end.

# Build the default package on linux + darwin and push each closure to the
# shared Attic cache (https://cache.nixos.asia/oss).
name: nix-cache

on:
  push:
    branches: [master]   # set to the repo's default branch
  pull_request:
  workflow_dispatch:

# Least privilege — this job only needs the checkout and ATTIC_TOKEN secret.
permissions:
  contents: read

concurrency:
  group: nix-cache-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

jobs:
  build-and-push:
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        # ubuntu-latest → x86_64-linux; macos-latest → aarch64-darwin.
        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest]
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      # Pin by commit (CodeQL: unpinned third-party action). v35 → 9f63be7.
      # v35 defaults to Nix 2.34.7, new enough for attic-action's `nix profile add`.
      - uses: nixbuild/nix-quick-install-action@9f63be77f412a248c9d9a65a4c82cf066cdf8f0c # v35
        with:
          nix_conf: |
            extra-substituters = https://cache.nixos.asia/oss
            extra-trusted-public-keys = oss:KO872wNJkCDgmGN3xy9dT89WAhvv13EiKncTtHDItVU=
            accept-flake-config = true

      - uses: ryanccn/attic-action@5635a15ef0c5462194ffbd05d1daeddc74625c3a # v0.5.0
        with:
          endpoint: https://cache.nixos.asia
          cache: oss
          token: ${{ secrets.ATTIC_TOKEN }}

      - name: Build
        run: nix build -L --print-out-paths

Rules:

• For default branch only, set the push.branches filter to the repo's actual default branch (kolu uses master; many repos use main). For all branches, drop the branches: filter so push: fires everywhere.
• Keep both actions pinned by commit SHA (CodeQL flags unpinned third-party actions). The # v35 / # v0.5.0 trailing comments record the tag. Prefer the SHAs above unless a newer release is needed; do not replace them with floating tags.

3. Set the ATTIC_TOKEN secret

The token is a repo secret you can't set for the user — it's their token, entered interactively so it stays out of shell history. Give them this command and ask them to run it, then confirm:

gh secret set ATTIC_TOKEN --repo <owner>/<repo>

gh prompts for the value interactively (never paste the token into a command line that gets logged). After they say they've run it, re-check and re-ask until it's present:

gh secret list --repo <owner>/<repo>   # ATTIC_TOKEN should appear

If it's missing, tell them and ask again — loop until gh secret list shows ATTIC_TOKEN. The workflow fails loudly without this secret; there is no silent skip.

4. Open a PR

Commit the flake.nix and workflow changes on a branch and open a PR:

gh pr create --title "Push Nix builds to the OSS Attic cache" --body "..."

The workflow's pull_request trigger means the run fires on the PR itself, so you get a green/red signal before merge — no need to merge blind.

5. Monitor the run to success

Watch the run and don't declare success until it's actually green:

gh run list --workflow nix-cache.yml --limit 1     # find the run
gh run watch <run-id>                              # stream to completion

If it fails, diagnose with gh run view <run-id> --log-failed and fix. Common causes:

• ATTIC_TOKEN missing / unauthorized — the secret isn't set or lacks push scope; loop back to step 3.
• Build failure — nix build itself is broken; that's a repo problem, not a cache one. Fix the build.
• Unpinned-action / permissions warnings — check the pins and permissions: block from step 2.

A green run means the closure was pushed. To confirm the pull side, on another machine run nix build and check the log shows paths fetched from cache.nixos.asia/oss.