Running audio.cpp on NixOS (and Nix)

Prerequisites

• The Nix package manager must be installed.
• Flakes must be enabled.

Packages

The flake provides backend-specific builds:

Package	Backend	Platform
cpu	CPU-only	All
vulkan	Vulkan	All
cuda	NVIDIA CUDA	Linux
rocm	AMD ROCm	Linux
rocm-gfx1151	AMD ROCm (single target)	Linux
metal	Apple Metal	macOS

All packages include: audiocpp_cli, audiocpp_server, audiocpp_gguf, and audiocpp_model_manager.

Build

nix build .#cpu
nix build .#vulkan
nix build .#cuda
nix build .#rocm
nix build .#rocm-gfx1151    # Single GPU target (faster)

Run

nix run .#rocm -- --backend hip --task tts --family supertonic --model ./model --text "hello"
./result/bin/audiocpp_cli --backend hip --device 0

Download Models

The python-scripts package includes the Python dependencies used by the model download tools:

nix shell .#python-scripts -c python3 tools/model_manager_v2.py install supertonic_3_orig

Development Shell

nix develop              # Default backend
nix develop .#cuda       # CUDA dev environment

Custom GPU Target

Override hipGpuTargets for a specific GPU:

nix build --impure --expr '(builtins.getFlake (toString ./.)).outputs.packages.x86_64-linux.rocm.override { rocmGpuTargets = ["gfx1151"]; }'

Model Selection

By default, Nix builds include all model backends. Pass a list of model target names via models to build only those — this automatically maps to the CMake AUDIOCPP_MODEL_SET=custom option. This works with any backend flavor. Refer to the CMake model targets (search for audiocpp_add_model) for the full, up-to-date list.

Build with a custom model list from the command line:

nix build --impure --expr '(builtins.getFlake (toString ./.)).outputs.packages.x86_64-linux.cpu.override { models = [ "chatterbox" "roformer" ]; }'

Combine with a backend (e.g. CUDA + custom models):

nix build --impure --expr '(builtins.getFlake (toString ./.)).outputs.packages.x86_64-linux.cuda.override { models = [ "chatterbox" ]; }'

NixOS Configuration

{
  inputs = {
    nixpkgs.url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";
    audiocpp.url = "github:0xShug0/audio.cpp";
    audiocpp.inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
  };

  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, audiocpp, ... }: {
    nixosConfigurations.my-machine = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      system = "x86_64-linux";
      modules = [
        ({ ... }: {
          environment.systemPackages = [
            audiocpp.packages.x86_64-linux.default

            # Or explicitly select a backend flavor:
            # audiocpp.packages.x86_64-linux.vulkan
            # audiocpp.packages.x86_64-linux.cuda
            # audiocpp.packages.x86_64-linux.rocm

            # Custom GPU target:
            # audiocpp.packages.x86_64-linux.rocm.override {
            #   rocmGpuTargets = [ "gfx1151" ];
            # }

            # Custom model list (only build specific models):
            # audiocpp.packages.x86_64-linux.cpu.override {
            #   models = [ "roformer" "miotts" ];
            # }
          ];
        })
      ];
    };
  };
}