5 files changed, 42 insertions, 10 deletions

diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.cc b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
index b67ed853e..0d9226d3b 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
@@ -402,7 +402,8 @@ static Strings parseNixPath(const std::string & s)
         }
 
         if (*p == ':') {
-            if (isUri(std::string(start2, s.end()))) {
+            auto prefix = std::string(start2, s.end());
+            if (EvalSettings::isPseudoUrl(prefix) || hasPrefix(prefix, "flake:")) {
                 ++p;
                 while (p != s.end() && *p != ':') ++p;
             }
@@ -1659,7 +1660,7 @@ void EvalState::callFunction(Value & fun, size_t nrArgs, Value * * args, Value &
                         (lambda.name
                             ? concatStrings("'", symbols[lambda.name], "'")
                             : "anonymous lambda"));
-                    addErrorTrace(e, pos, "from call site%s", "");
+                    addErrorTrace(e, pos, "while evaluating call site%s", "");
                 }
                 throw;
             }
@@ -2583,6 +2584,23 @@ Strings EvalSettings::getDefaultNixPath()
     return res;
 }
 
+bool EvalSettings::isPseudoUrl(std::string_view s)
+{
+    if (s.compare(0, 8, "channel:") == 0) return true;
+    size_t pos = s.find("://");
+    if (pos == std::string::npos) return false;
+    std::string scheme(s, 0, pos);
+    return scheme == "http" || scheme == "https" || scheme == "file" || scheme == "channel" || scheme == "git" || scheme == "s3" || scheme == "ssh";
+}
+
+std::string EvalSettings::resolvePseudoUrl(std::string_view url)
+{
+    if (hasPrefix(url, "channel:"))
+        return "https://nixos.org/channels/" + std::string(url.substr(8)) + "/nixexprs.tar.xz";
+    else
+        return std::string(url);
+}
+
 EvalSettings evalSettings;
 
 static GlobalConfig::Register rEvalSettings(&evalSettings);
diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.hh b/src/libexpr/eval.hh
index f07f15d43..cf307d820 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.hh
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.hh
@@ -590,6 +590,10 @@ struct EvalSettings : Config
 
     static Strings getDefaultNixPath();
 
+    static bool isPseudoUrl(std::string_view s);
+
+    static std::string resolvePseudoUrl(std::string_view url);
+
     Setting<bool> enableNativeCode{this, false, "allow-unsafe-native-code-during-evaluation",
         "Whether builtin functions that allow executing native code should be enabled."};
 
diff --git a/src/libexpr/flake/flake.cc b/src/libexpr/flake/flake.cc
index 6b5d6f6b3..6344fb253 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/flake/flake.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/flake/flake.cc
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ static FlakeInput parseFlakeInput(EvalState & state,
         } catch (Error & e) {
             e.addTrace(
                 state.positions[attr.pos],
-                hintfmt("in flake attribute '%s'", state.symbols[attr.name]));
+                hintfmt("while evaluating flake attribute '%s'", state.symbols[attr.name]));
             throw;
         }
     }
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ static FlakeInput parseFlakeInput(EvalState & state,
         try {
             input.ref = FlakeRef::fromAttrs(attrs);
         } catch (Error & e) {
-            e.addTrace(state.positions[pos], hintfmt("in flake input"));
+            e.addTrace(state.positions[pos], hintfmt("while evaluating flake input"));
             throw;
         }
     else {
diff --git a/src/libexpr/parser.y b/src/libexpr/parser.y
index 7c9b5a2db..fbf865719 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/parser.y
+++ b/src/libexpr/parser.y
@@ -643,6 +643,7 @@ formal
 #include "filetransfer.hh"
 #include "fetchers.hh"
 #include "store-api.hh"
+#include "flake/flake.hh"
 
 
 namespace nix {
@@ -805,17 +806,28 @@ std::pair<bool, std::string> EvalState::resolveSearchPathElem(const SearchPathEl
 
     std::pair<bool, std::string> res;
 
-    if (isUri(elem.second)) {
+    if (EvalSettings::isPseudoUrl(elem.second)) {
         try {
-            res = { true, store->toRealPath(fetchers::downloadTarball(
-                        store, resolveUri(elem.second), "source", false).first.storePath) };
+            auto storePath = fetchers::downloadTarball(
+                store, EvalSettings::resolvePseudoUrl(elem.second), "source", false).first.storePath;
+            res = { true, store->toRealPath(storePath) };
         } catch (FileTransferError & e) {
             logWarning({
                 .msg = hintfmt("Nix search path entry '%1%' cannot be downloaded, ignoring", elem.second)
             });
             res = { false, "" };
         }
-    } else {
+    }
+
+    else if (hasPrefix(elem.second, "flake:")) {
+        settings.requireExperimentalFeature(Xp::Flakes);
+        auto flakeRef = parseFlakeRef(elem.second.substr(6), {}, true, false);
+        debug("fetching flake search path element '%s''", elem.second);
+        auto storePath = flakeRef.resolve(store).fetchTree(store).first.storePath;
+        res = { true, store->toRealPath(storePath) };
+    }
+
+    else {
         auto path = absPath(elem.second);
         if (pathExists(path))
             res = { true, path };
diff --git a/src/libexpr/primops/fetchTree.cc b/src/libexpr/primops/fetchTree.cc
index 84e7f5c02..680446787 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/primops/fetchTree.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/primops/fetchTree.cc
@@ -220,8 +220,6 @@ static void fetch(EvalState & state, const PosIdx pos, Value * * args, Value & v
     } else
         url = state.forceStringNoCtx(*args[0], pos);
 
-    url = resolveUri(*url);
-
     state.checkURI(*url);
 
     if (name == "")