# Don't Let Flakes Pin You Down: Unlocking Better Inputs

DevFeed: [Don't Let Flakes Pin You Down: Unlocking Better Inputs](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/don-t-let-flakes-pin-you-down-unlocking-better-inputs-32432.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://nixcademy.com/posts/dont-let-flakes-pin-you-down-unlocking-better-inputs-with-nixtamal/>)

Author: toastal

Published: 2026-03-26T00:00:00Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Nixcademy Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/nixcademy-blog.md>)

Topics: [Nix](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/nix.md>), [version-control](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/version-control.md>), [Git](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/git.md>), [Tooling](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/tooling.md>)

Tags: [best-practices](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/best-practices.md>), [features](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/features.md>), [fetch](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/fetch.md>), [reproducibility](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/reproducibility.md>), [version-control](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/version-control.md>)

## AI overview

This article examines the limitations of Nix flakes' input-pinning model and introduces nixtamal as a way to work with better inputs. It explains how pinning supports reproducibility, contrasts flakes with earlier tooling such as niv and npins, and discusses limitations including restricted version-control support.

## Source excerpt

Flakes gave us input pinning, but you might be missing out on better inputs. Let's see how nixtamal unlocks them.