The latest articles on DEV Community by Comamoca (@comamoca). https://dev.to/comamoca https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F1010501%2F002860de-7338-46be-9417-c894054697a4.png https://dev.to/comamoca en Comamoca Mon, 29 Dec 2025 17:01:33 +0000 https://dev.to/comamoca/bundle-a-gleam-project-into-an-appimage-with-nix-66a https://dev.to/comamoca/bundle-a-gleam-project-into-an-appimage-with-nix-66a <p>This article is a translation of this <a href="https://comamoca.dev/blog/2025-12-17-build-gleam-erlang-target-to-single-binary-with-nix/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Japanese article</a>.</p> <h2> nix bundle </h2> <p>Nix has a convenient, albeit unstable, command called <code>nix bundle</code>.</p> <p><a href="https://nix.dev/manual/nix/2.24/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-bundle" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://nix.dev/manual/nix/2.24/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-bundle</a></p> <p>This command packages Nix dependencies into a single binary, allowing you to generate a standalone executable.</p> <p>For example, running the following command will generate a single Python 3.14 binary:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>nix bundle nixpkgs#python314 </code></pre> </div> <h2> bundler </h2> <p>By specifying the <code>--bundler</code> option, you can change the bundling algorithm.<br> For instance, specifying <code>github:ralismark/nix-appimage</code> allows you to generate a single binary as an AppImage.</p> <p><a href="https://github.com/ralismark/nix-appimage" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/ralismark/nix-appimage</a></p> <p>To bundle the aforementioned Python 3.14 as an AppImage, you would do the following:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>nix bundle <span class="nt">--bundler</span> github:ralismark/nix-appimage nixpkgs#python314 </code></pre> </div> <p>Since AppImage works by self-extracting only the necessary files on the fly, it offers faster startup speeds compared to traditional bundling methods. Therefore, using AppImage for bundling is generally recommended.</p> <h2> Bundling Gleam </h2> <p>Previously, generating a single binary with Gleam required using tools like <a href="">garnet</a>. However, since these rely on Deno and Bun, they were limited to the JavaScript target.</p> <p>The method introduced here does not depend on the features of the runtime Gleam uses, making it possible to turn Erlang targets into single binaries as well.<br> I have a trial version available here; running <code>nix build</code> should generate a single binary.</p> <p><a href="https://github.com/Comamoca/sandbox-gleam/tree/main/appimage_build" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/Comamoca/sandbox-gleam/tree/main/appimage_build</a></p> <p>I used <code>gleam2nix</code> to build the Gleam project with Nix.<br> <a href="https://gleam2nix.foxgirl.engineering/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://gleam2nix.foxgirl.engineering/</a></p> <h2> Summary </h2> <ul> <li>Using <code>nix bundle</code> allows you to turn any package into a single binary.</li> <li>You can switch the bundling method with the <code>--bundler</code> option.</li> <li>Using AppImage provides a single binary with fast startup times.</li> <li>This also enables single binaries for Gleam projects targeting Erlang.</li> <li>It's convenient, but the binary size can become quite large (e.g., several hundred MBs).</li> </ul> nix gleam