attic
A self-hostable multi-tenant Nix Binary Cache server with global deduplication and S3-compatible storage.
What is attic?
Attic is a self-hostable Nix Binary Cache server that provides multi-tenant caching with global deduplication and S3-compatible storage. It solves the problem of efficiently sharing and managing Nix packages across teams while ensuring tenant isolation and reducing storage duplication.
Nix users, DevOps engineers, and teams needing private, scalable binary caches with secure tenant separation and storage optimization.
Developers choose Attic for its built-in multi-tenancy, global deduplication to save storage, and managed signing that enhances security without requiring users to handle keys directly.
Overview
Multi-tenant Nix Binary Cache
Use Cases
Best For
- Teams needing isolated Nix caches for different projects or departments
- Reducing storage costs through global deduplication of Nix packages
- Self-hosting a secure Nix Binary Cache with S3-compatible backends
- Deploying scalable Nix caches on serverless platforms like fly.io
- Implementing garbage collection for unused Nix store paths
- Sharing private Nix packages across multiple users or organizations
Not Ideal For
- Projects requiring a stable, production-ready Nix cache solution
- Users wanting a simple file-based cache without S3 dependency
- Small teams or individuals who don't need multi-tenant isolation
- Organizations preferring fully managed services over self-hosting
Pros & Cons
Pros
Provides secure separation between users or teams, as tenants are mutually untrusting and cannot pollute other caches, ideal for collaborative environments.
Reduces storage overhead by deduplicating store paths across all tenants, as mentioned in the README, making it efficient for large-scale deployments.
Enhances security with server-side on-the-fly signing during fetches, keeping signing keys secure and reducing user risk.
Designed for easy replication and works on serverless platforms like fly.io or single machines, offering flexibility in infrastructure.
Cons
As stated in the README, Attic is an early prototype, meaning it may have bugs, incomplete features, and is not yet stable for critical use.
Requires an S3-compatible storage provider, adding complexity, cost, and setup overhead compared to simpler, file-based cache solutions.
Being a newer project, it likely has less documentation, community support, and fewer integrations than established alternatives like Cachix.
Frequently Asked Questions
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nilNIx Language server, an incremental analysis assistant for writing in Nix.
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