# `mix nerves.artifact.shell`
[🔗](https://github.com/nerves-project/nerves/blob/v2.0.0-pre.2/lib/mix/tasks/nerves.artifact.shell.ex#L5)

Open an interactive container shell for building Nerves packages

This is useful when modifying or debugging the prebuilt contents of
Nerves packages. Builds are run using the container provider found
on your computer or by setting the `NERVES_CONTAINER_TOOL` environment
variable to `docker`, `podman`, or `container`.

Nerves does not specify how package artifacts get built. Buildroot, for
example, uses `make` and has commands like `make menuconfig` and
`make savedefconfig`. Source changes made in the container are copied
back to the host when the shell exits.

IMPORTANT: You can run `mix nerves.artifact.shell` in a Nerves project. Just
be aware that you're modifying a dependency and any changes may be under
the `deps` directory.

Run `mix nerves.artifact.ls` to see the containers created by the Nerves tooling
and `mix nerves.artifact.purge` to delete them.

## Examples

Building from within a Nerves package:

```shell
$ cd nerves_system_rpi0
$ mix nerves.artifact.shell

# In the container now
nerves@6a5c16134cca:/workspace/build$ make
...

# The way to make the final tarball is package-specific, but
# this works for nerves_system_br-based projects.
nerves@6a5c16134cca:/workspace/build$ make system
```

Building a Nerves-aware dependency:

```shell
$ MIX_TARGET=rpi0 mix nerves.artifact.shell nerves_system_rpi0
```

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*Consult [api-reference.md](api-reference.md) for complete listing*