{ lib, stdenv }:

# A special kind of derivation that is only meant to be consumed by the
# nix-shell.
{
  # a list of packages to add to the shell environment
  packages ? [ ]
, # propagate all the inputs from the given derivations
  inputsFrom ? [ ]
, buildInputs ? [ ]
, nativeBuildInputs ? [ ]
, propagatedBuildInputs ? [ ]
, propagatedNativeBuildInputs ? [ ]
, ...
}@attrs:
let
  mergeInputs = name: lib.concatLists (lib.catAttrs name
    ([ attrs ] ++ inputsFrom));

  rest = builtins.removeAttrs attrs [
    "packages"
    "inputsFrom"
    "buildInputs"
    "nativeBuildInputs"
    "propagatedBuildInputs"
    "propagatedNativeBuildInputs"
    "shellHook"
  ];
in

stdenv.mkDerivation ({
  name = "nix-shell";
  phases = [ "nobuildPhase" ];

  buildInputs = mergeInputs "buildInputs";
  nativeBuildInputs = packages ++ (mergeInputs "nativeBuildInputs");
  propagatedBuildInputs = mergeInputs "propagatedBuildInputs";
  propagatedNativeBuildInputs = mergeInputs "propagatedNativeBuildInputs";

  shellHook = lib.concatStringsSep "\n" (lib.catAttrs "shellHook"
    (lib.reverseList inputsFrom ++ [ attrs ]));

  nobuildPhase = ''
    echo
    echo "This derivation is not meant to be built, aborting";
    echo
    exit 1
  '';
} // rest)