nixpkgs/doc/functions/shell.xml

<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
         xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
         xml:id="sec-pkgs-mkShell">
 <title>pkgs.mkShell</title>

 <para>
  <function>pkgs.mkShell</function> is a special kind of derivation that is
  only useful when using it combined with <command>nix-shell</command>. It will
  in fact fail to instantiate when invoked with <command>nix-build</command>.
 </para>

 <section xml:id="sec-pkgs-mkShell-usage">
  <title>Usage</title>

<programlisting><![CDATA[
{ pkgs ? import <nixpkgs> {} }:
pkgs.mkShell {
  # this will make all the build inputs from hello and gnutar
  # available to the shell environment
  inputsFrom = with pkgs; [ hello gnutar ];
  buildInputs = [ pkgs.gnumake ];
}
]]></programlisting>
 </section>
</section>