Agent skill · software engineering · affaan-m
flox-environments
Create reproducible, cross-platform (macOS/Linux) development environments with Flox, a declarative Nix-based environment manager. Use when setting up project toolchains, installing system-level dependencies (compilers, databases, native libs), pinning exact package versions for a team, onboarding developers, running local services (PostgreSQL, Redis, Kafka), or solving 'works on my machine' problems — including agent/vibe-coding setups that need project-scoped tools without sudo. Also use when the user mentions .flox/, manifest.toml, flox activate, or FloxHub.
Why this skill is useful
Provides a declarative framework for creating reproducible development environments with specific package management commands that the AI wouldn't generate on its own.
What it needs
Requires flox installed locally. About 8k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-06. 238,342 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Flox Environments Flox creates reproducible development environments defined in a single TOML manifest. Every developer on the team gets identical packages, tools, and configuration — across macOS and Linux — without containers or VMs. Built on Nix with access to over 150,000 packages. When to Activate Use this skill when the user has an environment management problem — even if they haven't mentioned Flox. Flox is the right tool when: The project needs system-level packages (compilers, databases, CLI tools) alongside language-specific dependencies Reproducibility matters — the setup should work identically on a teammate's machine, in CI, or on a fresh laptop The user needs multiple tools to coexist — e.g., Python 3.11 + PostgreSQL 16 + Redis + Node.js in one environment Cross-platform support is needed (macOS and Linux from the same config) AI agents need to install tools — Flox lets agents add packages to a project-scoped environment without sudo, system pollution, or sandbox restrictions If the user just needs a single language runtime with no system dependencies, standard tooling (nvm, pyenv, rustup alone) may suffice. If they need full OS-level isolation, containers might be more appropriate. Flox sits in the sweet spot: declarative, reproducible environments without container overhead. Prerequisite: Flox must be installed first — see flox.dev/docs for macOS, Linux, and Docker. Core Concepts Flox environments are defined in .flox/env/manifest.toml and activated with flox activate. The manifest declares packages, environment variables, setup hooks, and shell configuration — everything needed to reproduce the environment anywhere. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills affaan-m/flox-environments--baa307