Isolation in depth¶

Each tool gets its own env. Zero dependency conflicts. Uninstall is a clean rm -rf.

ixt's core promise: every tool gets its own dependency environment under $IXT_HOME/installed/envs/<installed-id>/. Python packages, node_modules, and extracted binary archives are not shared between tools, and uninstall is a clean delete of that env plus its shim.

This is dependency isolation, not a runtime security boundary by itself. A tool still runs with your normal user permissions.

What isolation looks like¶

$IXT_HOME/installed/envs/ruff.pypi/
├── .venv/
│   ├── bin/
│   │   ├── ruff          ← the real binary
│   │   └── python        ← venv python, not the system one
│   └── lib/python3.x/site-packages/
└── ixt.json              ← metadata snapshot

$IXT_HOME/installed/envs/biome.biomejs.npm/
├── node_modules/
│   ├── .bin/biome        ← the real binary
│   └── @biomejs/biome/
└── ixt.json

$IXT_HOME/installed/envs/fd.sharkdp.github/
├── bin/
│   └── fd                ← extracted binary
├── man/fd.1
└── ixt.json

Uninstalling a tool is a clean delete of its envs/<installed-id>/ directory plus removal of its shim from $IXT_HOME/installed/bin/.

Exploring an env — ixt tool shell¶

Opens a subshell in the tool's environment directory — the environment is not activated. No PATH patch, no venv activate, no NODE_PATH injection. You get a plain shell at the env root; binaries must be called by explicit path.

ixt tool shell ruff

  Entering ruff env (/home/user/.local/share/ixt/installed/envs/ruff.pypi)
  Type exit to return
$

Useful for low-level inspection: browsing installed files, checking exact binary versions, or running a one-off command without going through a shim:

# inside the subshell — Python tool example
.venv/bin/pip list
.venv/bin/ruff check --version
exit

To get the path without launching a shell (for scripts):

cd "$(ixt tool where ruff)"

Extending an env — inject¶

Add packages into a tool's isolated environment without touching any other env or the system:

ixt tool config httpie inject rich        # add rich into httpie's venv
ixt tool config httpie uninject rich      # remove it

The injected packages are recorded in ixt.json and survive ixt tool upgrade. Declare them in ixt.toml to replay across machines:

[tools]
httpie = { inject = ["rich"] }
jc     = { inject = ["art"] }