NixOps4 Development and Funding Update
Published on January 30, 2026 by Robert Hensing
Hey everyone,
It's time for another update on NixOps4! ✨
Some of you may have already seen the presentation at NixCon 2025, demonstrating functionality from a Terraform plugin. We're getting closer to proper plugin support: tapping into the Terraform/OpenTofu ecosystem.
We're not quite there yet though. The unfortunate news is that Fediversity has had to restructure, and they were providing significant funding for the development of NixOps4. I had originally hoped this would be resolved in a shorter time frame, but it seems that the right thing to do is to start funding the project from this Open Collective instead. So a big thank you to all financial contributors who have made it possible to continue the project regardless of this setback!
Here's what's been achieved since NixCon:
It's time for another update on NixOps4! ✨
Some of you may have already seen the presentation at NixCon 2025, demonstrating functionality from a Terraform plugin. We're getting closer to proper plugin support: tapping into the Terraform/OpenTofu ecosystem.
We're not quite there yet though. The unfortunate news is that Fediversity has had to restructure, and they were providing significant funding for the development of NixOps4. I had originally hoped this would be resolved in a shorter time frame, but it seems that the right thing to do is to start funding the project from this Open Collective instead. So a big thank you to all financial contributors who have made it possible to continue the project regardless of this setback!
Here's what's been achieved since NixCon:
- The nix-bindings-rust code has been split out into a separate project. This is the foundation of NixOps4's evaluator component, and it's great to share the effort: it has already received code contributions thanks to usage in other projects.
- The nesting feature that was part of the "Terraform" prototype branch has been fixed, overhauled, and merged.
- Significant improvements have been made to the module system-based UX: both individual resources and groupings of multiple resources now use the same interface, making it easier to organize and refactor complex deployments.
What's next:
- Making the remaining NixOps4 improvements from the prototype branch ready for merge and production
- Implementing the update and delete operations
- Splitting the tfproto resource provider ("terraform") into its own repository
So while those items are not yet available, you can already take it for a spin locally, or, if you like a challenge, poke around a bit in the code!
If you'd like to help bring about a feature-complete NixOps4, consider contributing financially.
I'm also considering ways to make contributing code easier in the near future - perhaps a combination of onboarding docs and "office hours". Let me know if you're interested in that kind of thing!
Thanks again to everyone who has contributed.
Kind regards,
Robert Hensing
NixOps4 developer and admin for "Nix 💙 Deployments"