Devbox unable to detect version

[Electrenator]

What happened?

Devbox does not start its shell and with package /nix/store/p1f8y878k8zxcqzl8ll0mkm8v0bbyrhk-devbox-0.16.0/bin/devbox as ran binary in the environment. Haven't used the devbox tool before, so there should not be any configuration to clear out.

Nix shell is running in a multi-user setup installed a few months ago using their on site mentioned installation script.

nix --extra-experimental-features ca-derivations --option experimental-features 'nix-command flakes fetch-closure' --version --debug

nix (Nix) 2.33pre20251107_479b6b73
System type: x86_64-linux
Additional system types: i686-linux, x86_64-v1-linux, x86_64-v2-linux, x86_64-v3-linux
Features: gc, signed-caches
System configuration file: /etc/nix/nix.conf
User configuration files: /home/space-dragon/.config/nix/nix.conf:/home/space-dragon/.config/kdedefaults/nix/nix.conf:/etc/xdg/nix/nix.conf:/usr/share/manjaro-kde-settings/xdg/nix/nix.conf
Store directory: /nix/store
State directory: /nix/var/nix
Data directory: /nix/store/dqnsgvw7yzz8ar5l31lyp35kglnzwf98-nix-store-2.33pre20251107_479b6b73/share

Steps to reproduce

1. mkdir test-directory
2. cd test-directory
3. devbox init
4. devbox shell

It then shows:

Error: Devbox requires nix of version >= 2.12.0. Your version is . Please upgrade nix and try again.

Command

shell

devbox.json

{
    "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jetify-com/devbox/0.16.0/.schema/devbox.schema.json",
    "packages": [],
    "shell": {
      "init_hook": [
        "echo 'Welcome to devbox!' > /dev/null"
      ],
      "scripts": {
        "test": [
          "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
        ]
      }
    }
  }

Devbox version

0.16.0

Nix version

nix (Nix) 2.33pre20251107_479b6b73

What system does this bug occur on?

Linux (x86-64)

Debug logs

time=2026-01-19T17:52:39.935+01:00 level=DEBUG source=go.jetify.com/devbox/internal/devconfig/config.go:126 msg="searching for config file (including parent directories)" path=.
time=2026-01-19T17:52:39.935+01:00 level=DEBUG source=go.jetify.com/devbox/internal/devconfig/config.go:147 msg="trying config file" path=devbox.json
time=2026-01-19T17:52:39.936+01:00 level=DEBUG source=go.jetify.com/devbox/internal/devconfig/config.go:134 msg="config file found" path=/home/space-dragon/test/devbox.json dur=221.887µs
time=2026-01-19T17:52:39.936+01:00 level=DEBUG source=go.jetify.com/devbox/internal/devconfig/config.go:126 msg="searching for config file (including parent directories)" path=.
time=2026-01-19T17:52:39.936+01:00 level=DEBUG source=go.jetify.com/devbox/internal/devconfig/config.go:147 msg="trying config file" path=devbox.json
time=2026-01-19T17:52:39.936+01:00 level=DEBUG source=go.jetify.com/devbox/internal/devconfig/config.go:134 msg="config file found" path=/home/space-dragon/test/devbox.json dur=64.254µs
time=2026-01-19T17:52:39.936+01:00 level=DEBUG source=go.jetify.com/devbox/nix/nix.go:143 msg="nix command starting" cmd.args="nix --extra-experimental-features ca-derivations --option experimental-features 'nix-command flakes fetch-closure' --version --debug"
time=2026-01-19T17:52:39.958+01:00 level=DEBUG source=go.jetify.com/devbox/nix/nix.go:143 msg="nix command exited" cmd.args="nix --extra-experimental-features ca-derivations --option experimental-features 'nix-command flakes fetch-closure' --version --debug" cmd.path=/home/space-dragon/.nix-profile/bin/nix cmd.pid=266264 cmd.code=0 cmd.dur=21.709915ms

Error: Devbox requires nix of version >= 2.12.0. Your version is . Please upgrade nix and try again.


time=2026-01-19T17:52:39.958+01:00 level=ERROR source=go.jetify.com/devbox/internal/boxcli/midcobra/debug.go:70 msg="command error" execid=4a663096655e4a33a44c1073d7625f4b stack="Devbox requires nix of version >= 2.12.0. Your version is . Please upgrade nix and try again.\n\ngo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/boxcli/usererr.New\n\tgo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/boxcli/usererr/usererr.go:30\ngo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/nix.EnsureNixInstalled.func1\n\tgo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/nix/install.go:48\ngo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/nix.EnsureNixInstalled\n\tgo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/nix/install.go:59\ngo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/boxcli.ensureNixInstalled\n\tgo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/boxcli/setup.go:56\ngithub.com/spf13/cobra.(*Command).execute\n\tgithub.com/spf13/cobra@v1.9.1/command.go:1000\ngithub.com/spf13/cobra.(*Command).ExecuteC\n\tgithub.com/spf13/cobra@v1.9.1/command.go:1148\ngithub.com/spf13/cobra.(*Command).Execute\n\tgithub.com/spf13/cobra@v1.9.1/command.go:1071\ngo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/boxcli/midcobra.(*midcobraExecutable).Execute\n\tgo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/boxcli/midcobra/midcobra.go:61\ngo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/boxcli.Execute\n\tgo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/boxcli/root.go:113\ngo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/boxcli.Main\n\tgo.jetify.com/devbox/internal/boxcli/root.go:132\nmain.main\n\tgo.jetify.com/devbox/cmd/devbox/main.go:11\nruntime.main\n\truntime/proc.go:283\nruntime.goexit\n\truntime/asm_amd64.s:1700"
time=2026-01-19T17:52:39.958+01:00 level=DEBUG source=go.jetify.com/devbox/internal/devconfig/config.go:126 msg="searching for config file (including parent directories)" path=.
time=2026-01-19T17:52:39.958+01:00 level=DEBUG source=go.jetify.com/devbox/internal/devconfig/config.go:147 msg="trying config file" path=devbox.json
time=2026-01-19T17:52:39.958+01:00 level=DEBUG source=go.jetify.com/devbox/internal/devconfig/config.go:134 msg="config file found" path=/home/space-dragon/test/devbox.json dur=178.376µs