diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3f81f8ef5..4711fa7fa 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,15 +12,6 @@ perl/Makefile.config
 /svn-revision
 /libtool
 
-/corepkgs/config.nix
-
-# /corepkgs/channels/
-/corepkgs/channels/unpack.sh
-
-# /corepkgs/nar/
-/corepkgs/nar/nar.sh
-/corepkgs/nar/unnar.sh
-
 # /doc/manual/
 /doc/manual/*.1
 /doc/manual/*.5
diff --git a/corepkgs/config.nix.in b/corepkgs/config.nix.in
deleted file mode 100644
index cb9945944..000000000
--- a/corepkgs/config.nix.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-# FIXME: remove this file?
-let
-  fromEnv = var: def:
-    let val = builtins.getEnv var; in
-    if val != "" then val else def;
-in rec {
-  nixBinDir = fromEnv "NIX_BIN_DIR" "@bindir@";
-  nixPrefix = "@prefix@";
-  nixLibexecDir = fromEnv "NIX_LIBEXEC_DIR" "@libexecdir@";
-  nixLocalstateDir = "@localstatedir@";
-  nixSysconfDir = "@sysconfdir@";
-  nixStoreDir = fromEnv "NIX_STORE_DIR" "@storedir@";
-}
diff --git a/corepkgs/local.mk b/corepkgs/local.mk
index 2c72d3a31..0bc91cfab 100644
--- a/corepkgs/local.mk
+++ b/corepkgs/local.mk
@@ -1,8 +1,4 @@
 corepkgs_FILES = \
-  unpack-channel.nix \
-  derivation.nix \
   fetchurl.nix
 
-$(foreach file,config.nix $(corepkgs_FILES),$(eval $(call install-data-in,$(d)/$(file),$(datadir)/nix/corepkgs)))
-
-template-files += $(d)/config.nix
+$(foreach file,$(corepkgs_FILES),$(eval $(call install-data-in,$(d)/$(file),$(datadir)/nix/corepkgs)))
diff --git a/doc/manual/generate-builtins.jq b/doc/manual/generate-builtins.jq
deleted file mode 100644
index c38799479..000000000
--- a/doc/manual/generate-builtins.jq
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-. | to_entries | sort_by(.key) | map(
-  "  - `builtins." + .key + "` "
-  + (.value.args | map("*" + . + "*") | join(" "))
-  + "  \n\n"
-  + (.value.doc | split("\n") | map("    " + . + "\n") | join("")) + "\n\n"
-) | join("")
diff --git a/doc/manual/generate-builtins.nix b/doc/manual/generate-builtins.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..416a7fdba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/generate-builtins.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+with builtins;
+with import ./utils.nix;
+
+builtins:
+
+concatStrings (map
+  (name:
+    let builtin = builtins.${name}; in
+    "  - `builtins.${name}` " + concatStringsSep " " (map (s: "*${s}*") builtin.args)
+    + "  \n\n"
+    + concatStrings (map (s: "    ${s}\n") (splitLines builtin.doc)) + "\n\n"
+  )
+  (attrNames builtins))
+
diff --git a/doc/manual/generate-manpage.jq b/doc/manual/generate-manpage.jq
deleted file mode 100644
index dd632f162..000000000
--- a/doc/manual/generate-manpage.jq
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,44 +0,0 @@
-def show_flags:
-  .flags
-  | map_values(select(.category != "config"))
-  | to_entries
-  | map(
-      "  - `--" + .key + "`"
-      + (if .value.shortName then " / `" + .value.shortName + "`" else "" end)
-      + (if .value.labels then " " + (.value.labels | map("*" + . + "*") | join(" ")) else "" end)
-      + "  \n"
-      + "    " + .value.description + "\n\n")
-  | join("")
-  ;
-
-def show_synopsis:
-  "`" + .command + "` [*flags*...] " + (.args | map("*" + .label + "*" + (if has("arity") then "" else "..." end)) | join(" ")) + "\n\n"
-  ;
-
-def show_command:
-  . as $top |
-  .section + " Name\n\n"
-  + "`" + .command + "` - " + .def.description + "\n\n"
-  + .section + " Synopsis\n\n"
-  + ({"command": .command, "args": .def.args} | show_synopsis)
-  + (if .def | has("doc")
-     then .section + " Description\n\n" + .def.doc + "\n\n"
-     else ""
-     end)
-  + (if (.def.flags | length) > 0 then
-      .section + " Flags\n\n"
-      + (.def | show_flags)
-    else "" end)
-  + (if (.def.examples | length) > 0 then
-      .section + " Examples\n\n"
-      + (.def.examples | map(.description + "\n\n```console\n" + .command + "\n```\n" ) | join("\n"))
-      + "\n"
-     else "" end)
-  + (if .def.commands then .def.commands | to_entries | map(
-      "# Subcommand `" + ($top.command + " " + .key) + "`\n\n"
-      + ({"command": ($top.command + " " + .key), "section": "##", "def": .value} | show_command)
-    ) | join("") else "" end)
-  ;
-
-"Title: nix\n\n"
-+ ({"command": "nix", "section": "#", "def": .} | show_command)
diff --git a/doc/manual/generate-manpage.nix b/doc/manual/generate-manpage.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4709c0e2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/generate-manpage.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+with builtins;
+with import ./utils.nix;
+
+let
+
+  showCommand =
+    { command, section, def }:
+    "${section} Name\n\n"
+    + "`${command}` - ${def.description}\n\n"
+    + "${section} Synopsis\n\n"
+    + showSynopsis { inherit command; args = def.args; }
+    + (if def ? doc
+       then "${section} Description\n\n" + def.doc + "\n\n"
+       else "")
+    + (let s = showFlags def.flags; in
+       if s != ""
+       then "${section} Flags\n\n${s}"
+       else "")
+    + (if def.examples or [] != []
+       then
+         "${section} Examples\n\n"
+         + concatStrings (map ({ description, command }: "${description}\n\n```console\n${command}\n```\n\n") def.examples)
+       else "")
+    + (if def.commands or [] != []
+       then concatStrings (
+         map (name:
+           "# Subcommand `${command} ${name}`\n\n"
+           + showCommand { command = command + " " + name; section = "##"; def = def.commands.${name}; })
+           (attrNames def.commands))
+       else "");
+
+  showFlags = flags:
+    concatStrings
+      (map (longName:
+        let flag = flags.${longName}; in
+        if flag.category or "" != "config"
+        then
+          "  - `--${longName}`"
+          + (if flag ? shortName then " / `${flag.shortName}`" else "")
+          + (if flag ? labels then " " + (concatStringsSep " " (map (s: "*${s}*") flag.labels)) else "")
+          + "  \n"
+          + "    " + flag.description + "\n\n"
+        else "")
+        (attrNames flags));
+
+  showSynopsis =
+    { command, args }:
+    "`${command}` [*flags*...] ${concatStringsSep " "
+      (map (arg: "*${arg.label}*" + (if arg ? arity then "" else "...")) args)}\n\n";
+
+in
+
+command:
+
+"Title: nix\n\n"
++ showCommand { command = "nix"; section = "#"; def = command; }
diff --git a/doc/manual/generate-options.jq b/doc/manual/generate-options.jq
deleted file mode 100644
index ccf62e8ed..000000000
--- a/doc/manual/generate-options.jq
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-. | to_entries | sort_by(.key) | map(
-  "  - `" + .key + "`  \n\n"
-  + (.value.description | split("\n") | map("    " + . + "\n") | join("")) + "\n\n"
-  + "    **Default:** " + (
-      if .value.value == "" or .value.value == []
-      then "*empty*"
-      elif (.value.value | type) == "array"
-      then "`" + (.value.value | join(" ")) + "`"
-      else "`" + (.value.value | tostring) + "`"
-      end)
-  + "\n\n"
-  + (if (.value.aliases | length) > 0
-     then "    **Deprecated alias:** " + (.value.aliases | map("`" + . + "`") | join(", ")) + "\n\n"
-     else ""
-     end)
-) | join("")
diff --git a/doc/manual/generate-options.nix b/doc/manual/generate-options.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7afe279c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/generate-options.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+with builtins;
+with import ./utils.nix;
+
+options:
+
+concatStrings (map
+  (name:
+    let option = options.${name}; in
+    "  - `${name}`  \n\n"
+    + concatStrings (map (s: "    ${s}\n") (splitLines option.description)) + "\n\n"
+    + "    **Default:** " + (
+      if option.value == "" || option.value == []
+      then "*empty*"
+      else if isBool option.value
+      then (if option.value then "`true`" else "`false`")
+      else "`" + toString option.value + "`") + "\n\n"
+    + (if option.aliases != []
+       then "    **Deprecated alias:** " + (concatStringsSep ", " (map (s: "`${s}`") option.aliases)) + "\n\n"
+       else "")
+    )
+  (attrNames options))
diff --git a/doc/manual/local.mk b/doc/manual/local.mk
index 297a73414..3b8e7e2df 100644
--- a/doc/manual/local.mk
+++ b/doc/manual/local.mk
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ clean-files += $(d)/*.1 $(d)/*.5 $(d)/*.8
 
 dist-files += $(man-pages)
 
+nix-eval = $(bindir)/nix eval --experimental-features nix-command -I nix/corepkgs=corepkgs --store dummy:// --impure --raw --expr
+
 $(d)/%.1: $(d)/src/command-ref/%.md
 	$(trace-gen) lowdown -sT man $^ -o $@
 
@@ -24,25 +26,31 @@ $(d)/%.8: $(d)/src/command-ref/%.md
 $(d)/nix.conf.5: $(d)/src/command-ref/conf-file.md
 	$(trace-gen) lowdown -sT man $^ -o $@
 
-$(d)/src/command-ref/nix.md: $(d)/nix.json $(d)/generate-manpage.jq
-	jq -r -f doc/manual/generate-manpage.jq $< > $@
+$(d)/src/command-ref/nix.md: $(d)/nix.json $(d)/generate-manpage.nix $(bindir)/nix
+	$(trace-gen) $(nix-eval) 'import doc/manual/generate-manpage.nix (builtins.fromJSON (builtins.readFile $<))' > $@.tmp
+	@mv $@.tmp $@
 
-$(d)/src/command-ref/conf-file.md: $(d)/conf-file.json $(d)/generate-options.jq $(d)/src/command-ref/conf-file-prefix.md
-	cat doc/manual/src/command-ref/conf-file-prefix.md > $@
-	jq -r -f doc/manual/generate-options.jq $< >> $@
+$(d)/src/command-ref/conf-file.md: $(d)/conf-file.json $(d)/generate-options.nix $(d)/src/command-ref/conf-file-prefix.md $(bindir)/nix
+	@cat doc/manual/src/command-ref/conf-file-prefix.md > $@.tmp
+	$(trace-gen) $(nix-eval) 'import doc/manual/generate-options.nix (builtins.fromJSON (builtins.readFile $<))' >> $@.tmp
+	@mv $@.tmp $@
 
 $(d)/nix.json: $(bindir)/nix
-	$(trace-gen) $(bindir)/nix __dump-args > $@
+	$(trace-gen) $(bindir)/nix __dump-args > $@.tmp
+	@mv $@.tmp $@
 
 $(d)/conf-file.json: $(bindir)/nix
-	$(trace-gen) env -i NIX_CONF_DIR=/dummy HOME=/dummy $(bindir)/nix show-config --json --experimental-features nix-command > $@
+	$(trace-gen) env -i NIX_CONF_DIR=/dummy HOME=/dummy $(bindir)/nix show-config --json --experimental-features nix-command > $@.tmp
+	@mv $@.tmp $@
 
-$(d)/src/expressions/builtins.md: $(d)/builtins.json $(d)/generate-builtins.jq $(d)/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md
-	cat doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md > $@
-	jq -r -f doc/manual/generate-builtins.jq $< >> $@
+$(d)/src/expressions/builtins.md: $(d)/builtins.json $(d)/generate-builtins.nix $(d)/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md $(bindir)/nix
+	@cat doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md > $@.tmp
+	$(trace-gen) $(nix-eval) 'import doc/manual/generate-builtins.nix (builtins.fromJSON (builtins.readFile $<))' >> $@.tmp
+	@mv $@.tmp $@
 
 $(d)/builtins.json: $(bindir)/nix
-	$(trace-gen) $(bindir)/nix __dump-builtins > $@
+	$(trace-gen) NIX_PATH=nix/corepkgs=corepkgs $(bindir)/nix __dump-builtins > $@.tmp
+	mv $@.tmp $@
 
 # Generate the HTML manual.
 install: $(docdir)/manual/index.html
diff --git a/doc/manual/utils.nix b/doc/manual/utils.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..50150bf3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/utils.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+with builtins;
+
+{
+  splitLines = s: filter (x: !isList x) (split "\n" s);
+
+  concatStrings = concatStringsSep "";
+}
diff --git a/perl/configure.ac b/perl/configure.ac
index c3769e142..255744afd 100644
--- a/perl/configure.ac
+++ b/perl/configure.ac
@@ -70,19 +70,6 @@ PKG_CHECK_MODULES([NIX], [nix-store])
 
 NEED_PROG([NIX], [nix])
 
-# Get nix configure values
-export NIX_REMOTE=daemon
-nixbindir=$("$NIX" --experimental-features nix-command eval --raw -f '<nix/config.nix>' nixBinDir)
-nixlibexecdir=$("$NIX" --experimental-features nix-command eval --raw -f '<nix/config.nix>' nixLibexecDir)
-nixlocalstatedir=$("$NIX" --experimental-features nix-command eval --raw -f '<nix/config.nix>' nixLocalstateDir)
-nixsysconfdir=$("$NIX" --experimental-features nix-command eval --raw -f '<nix/config.nix>' nixSysconfDir)
-nixstoredir=$("$NIX" --experimental-features nix-command eval --raw -f '<nix/config.nix>' nixStoreDir)
-AC_SUBST(nixbindir)
-AC_SUBST(nixlibexecdir)
-AC_SUBST(nixlocalstatedir)
-AC_SUBST(nixsysconfdir)
-AC_SUBST(nixstoredir)
-
 # Expand all variables in config.status.
 test "$prefix" = NONE && prefix=$ac_default_prefix
 test "$exec_prefix" = NONE && exec_prefix='${prefix}'
diff --git a/perl/lib/Nix/Config.pm.in b/perl/lib/Nix/Config.pm.in
index bc1749e60..f7c6f2484 100644
--- a/perl/lib/Nix/Config.pm.in
+++ b/perl/lib/Nix/Config.pm.in
@@ -4,14 +4,8 @@ use MIME::Base64;
 
 $version = "@PACKAGE_VERSION@";
 
-$binDir = $ENV{"NIX_BIN_DIR"} || "@nixbindir@";
-$libexecDir = $ENV{"NIX_LIBEXEC_DIR"} || "@nixlibexecdir@";
-$stateDir = $ENV{"NIX_STATE_DIR"} || "@nixlocalstatedir@/nix";
-$logDir = $ENV{"NIX_LOG_DIR"} || "@nixlocalstatedir@/log/nix";
-$confDir = $ENV{"NIX_CONF_DIR"} || "@nixsysconfdir@/nix";
-$storeDir = $ENV{"NIX_STORE_DIR"} || "@nixstoredir@";
-
-$useBindings = 1;
+$binDir = Nix::Store::getBinDir;
+$storeDir = Nix::Store::getStoreDir;
 
 %config = ();
 
diff --git a/perl/lib/Nix/Store.pm b/perl/lib/Nix/Store.pm
index d226264d4..179f1dc90 100644
--- a/perl/lib/Nix/Store.pm
+++ b/perl/lib/Nix/Store.pm
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package Nix::Store;
 
 use strict;
 use warnings;
-use Nix::Config;
 
 require Exporter;
 
@@ -22,6 +21,7 @@ our @EXPORT = qw(
     addToStore makeFixedOutputPath
     derivationFromPath
     addTempRoot
+    getBinDir getStoreDir
 );
 
 our $VERSION = '0.15';
@@ -34,62 +34,8 @@ sub backtick {
     return $res;
 }
 
-if ($Nix::Config::useBindings) {
-    require XSLoader;
-    XSLoader::load('Nix::Store', $VERSION);
-} else {
-
-    # Provide slow fallbacks of some functions on platforms that don't
-    # support the Perl bindings.
-
-    use File::Temp;
-    use Fcntl qw/F_SETFD/;
-
-    *hashFile = sub {
-        my ($algo, $base32, $path) = @_;
-        my $res = backtick("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-hash", "--flat", $path, "--type", $algo, $base32 ? "--base32" : ());
-        chomp $res;
-        return $res;
-    };
-
-    *hashPath = sub {
-        my ($algo, $base32, $path) = @_;
-        my $res = backtick("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-hash", $path, "--type", $algo, $base32 ? "--base32" : ());
-        chomp $res;
-        return $res;
-    };
-
-    *hashString = sub {
-        my ($algo, $base32, $s) = @_;
-        my $fh = File::Temp->new();
-        print $fh $s;
-        my $res = backtick("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-hash", $fh->filename, "--type", $algo, $base32 ? "--base32" : ());
-        chomp $res;
-        return $res;
-    };
-
-    *addToStore = sub {
-        my ($srcPath, $recursive, $algo) = @_;
-        die "not implemented" if $recursive || $algo ne "sha256";
-        my $res = backtick("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-store", "--add", $srcPath);
-        chomp $res;
-        return $res;
-    };
-
-    *isValidPath = sub {
-        my ($path) = @_;
-        my $res = backtick("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-store", "--check-validity", "--print-invalid", $path);
-        chomp $res;
-        return $res ne $path;
-    };
-
-    *queryPathHash = sub {
-        my ($path) = @_;
-        my $res = backtick("$Nix::Config::binDir/nix-store", "--query", "--hash", $path);
-        chomp $res;
-        return $res;
-    };
-}
+require XSLoader;
+XSLoader::load('Nix::Store', $VERSION);
 
 1;
 __END__
diff --git a/perl/lib/Nix/Store.xs b/perl/lib/Nix/Store.xs
index 8546f6307..599921151 100644
--- a/perl/lib/Nix/Store.xs
+++ b/perl/lib/Nix/Store.xs
@@ -351,3 +351,13 @@ void addTempRoot(char * storePath)
         } catch (Error & e) {
             croak("%s", e.what());
         }
+
+
+SV * getBinDir()
+    PPCODE:
+        XPUSHs(sv_2mortal(newSVpv(settings.nixBinDir.c_str(), 0)));
+
+
+SV * getStoreDir()
+    PPCODE:
+        XPUSHs(sv_2mortal(newSVpv(settings.nixStore.c_str(), 0)));
diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.cc b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
index d678231c6..139067f20 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
@@ -370,7 +370,11 @@ EvalState::EvalState(const Strings & _searchPath, ref<Store> store)
         for (auto & i : _searchPath) addToSearchPath(i);
         for (auto & i : evalSettings.nixPath.get()) addToSearchPath(i);
     }
-    addToSearchPath("nix=" + canonPath(settings.nixDataDir + "/nix/corepkgs", true));
+
+    try {
+        addToSearchPath("nix=" + canonPath(settings.nixDataDir + "/nix/corepkgs", true));
+    } catch (Error &) {
+    }
 
     if (evalSettings.restrictEval || evalSettings.pureEval) {
         allowedPaths = PathSet();
diff --git a/src/libexpr/flake/lockfile.hh b/src/libexpr/flake/lockfile.hh
index 5e7cfda3e..9ec8b39c3 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/flake/lockfile.hh
+++ b/src/libexpr/flake/lockfile.hh
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 class Store;
-struct StorePath;
+class StorePath;
 }
 
 namespace nix::flake {
diff --git a/src/libexpr/local.mk b/src/libexpr/local.mk
index d84b150e0..687a8ccda 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/local.mk
+++ b/src/libexpr/local.mk
@@ -42,6 +42,6 @@ $(eval $(call install-file-in, $(d)/nix-expr.pc, $(prefix)/lib/pkgconfig, 0644))
 $(foreach i, $(wildcard src/libexpr/flake/*.hh), \
   $(eval $(call install-file-in, $(i), $(includedir)/nix/flake, 0644)))
 
-$(d)/primops.cc: $(d)/imported-drv-to-derivation.nix.gen.hh
+$(d)/primops.cc: $(d)/imported-drv-to-derivation.nix.gen.hh $(d)/primops/derivation.nix.gen.hh
 
 $(d)/flake/flake.cc: $(d)/flake/call-flake.nix.gen.hh
diff --git a/src/libexpr/primops.cc b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
index 4a0dd5544..7e8526ea1 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/primops.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
@@ -1704,7 +1704,7 @@ static RegisterPrimOp primop_toFile({
         ...
         cp ${configFile} $out/etc/foo.conf
       ";
-    ```
+      ```
 
       Note that `${configFile}` is an
       [antiquotation](language-values.md), so the result of the
@@ -3565,9 +3565,10 @@ void EvalState::createBaseEnv()
 
     /* Add a wrapper around the derivation primop that computes the
        `drvPath' and `outPath' attributes lazily. */
-    string path = canonPath(settings.nixDataDir + "/nix/corepkgs/derivation.nix", true);
-    sDerivationNix = symbols.create(path);
-    evalFile(path, v);
+    sDerivationNix = symbols.create("//builtin/derivation.nix");
+    eval(parse(
+        #include "primops/derivation.nix.gen.hh"
+        , foFile, sDerivationNix, "/", staticBaseEnv), v);
     addConstant("derivation", v);
 
     /* Now that we've added all primops, sort the `builtins' set,
diff --git a/corepkgs/derivation.nix b/src/libexpr/primops/derivation.nix
similarity index 100%
rename from corepkgs/derivation.nix
rename to src/libexpr/primops/derivation.nix
diff --git a/src/libfetchers/fetchers.hh b/src/libfetchers/fetchers.hh
index be71b786b..89b1e6e7d 100644
--- a/src/libfetchers/fetchers.hh
+++ b/src/libfetchers/fetchers.hh
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ struct InputScheme;
 
 struct Input
 {
-    friend class InputScheme;
+    friend struct InputScheme;
 
     std::shared_ptr<InputScheme> scheme; // note: can be null
     Attrs attrs;
diff --git a/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc b/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc
index 5433fe50d..34f844a18 100644
--- a/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@
 namespace nix {
 
 BinaryCacheStore::BinaryCacheStore(const Params & params)
-    : Store(params)
+    : BinaryCacheStoreConfig(params)
+    , Store(params)
 {
     if (secretKeyFile != "")
         secretKey = std::unique_ptr<SecretKey>(new SecretKey(readFile(secretKeyFile)));
diff --git a/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.hh b/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.hh
index 9bcdf5901..4b779cdd4 100644
--- a/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/binary-cache-store.hh
@@ -11,17 +11,21 @@ namespace nix {
 
 struct NarInfo;
 
-class BinaryCacheStore : public Store
+struct BinaryCacheStoreConfig : virtual StoreConfig
 {
-public:
+    using StoreConfig::StoreConfig;
 
-    const Setting<std::string> compression{this, "xz", "compression", "NAR compression method ('xz', 'bzip2', or 'none')"};
-    const Setting<bool> writeNARListing{this, false, "write-nar-listing", "whether to write a JSON file listing the files in each NAR"};
-    const Setting<bool> writeDebugInfo{this, false, "index-debug-info", "whether to index DWARF debug info files by build ID"};
-    const Setting<Path> secretKeyFile{this, "", "secret-key", "path to secret key used to sign the binary cache"};
-    const Setting<Path> localNarCache{this, "", "local-nar-cache", "path to a local cache of NARs"};
-    const Setting<bool> parallelCompression{this, false, "parallel-compression",
+    const Setting<std::string> compression{(StoreConfig*) this, "xz", "compression", "NAR compression method ('xz', 'bzip2', or 'none')"};
+    const Setting<bool> writeNARListing{(StoreConfig*) this, false, "write-nar-listing", "whether to write a JSON file listing the files in each NAR"};
+    const Setting<bool> writeDebugInfo{(StoreConfig*) this, false, "index-debug-info", "whether to index DWARF debug info files by build ID"};
+    const Setting<Path> secretKeyFile{(StoreConfig*) this, "", "secret-key", "path to secret key used to sign the binary cache"};
+    const Setting<Path> localNarCache{(StoreConfig*) this, "", "local-nar-cache", "path to a local cache of NARs"};
+    const Setting<bool> parallelCompression{(StoreConfig*) this, false, "parallel-compression",
         "enable multi-threading compression, available for xz only currently"};
+};
+
+class BinaryCacheStore : public Store, public virtual BinaryCacheStoreConfig
+{
 
 private:
 
@@ -58,7 +62,7 @@ public:
 
 public:
 
-    virtual void init();
+    virtual void init() override;
 
 private:
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/build.cc b/src/libstore/build.cc
index 87c50f0e6..bff8a8327 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/build.cc
@@ -2910,18 +2910,23 @@ void DerivationGoal::writeStructuredAttrs()
     chownToBuilder(tmpDir + "/.attrs.sh");
 }
 
+struct RestrictedStoreConfig : LocalFSStoreConfig
+{
+    using LocalFSStoreConfig::LocalFSStoreConfig;
+    const std::string name() { return "Restricted Store"; }
+};
 
 /* A wrapper around LocalStore that only allows building/querying of
    paths that are in the input closures of the build or were added via
    recursive Nix calls. */
-struct RestrictedStore : public LocalFSStore
+struct RestrictedStore : public LocalFSStore, public virtual RestrictedStoreConfig
 {
     ref<LocalStore> next;
 
     DerivationGoal & goal;
 
     RestrictedStore(const Params & params, ref<LocalStore> next, DerivationGoal & goal)
-        : Store(params), LocalFSStore(params), next(next), goal(goal)
+        : StoreConfig(params), Store(params), LocalFSStore(params), next(next), goal(goal)
     { }
 
     Path getRealStoreDir() override
diff --git a/src/libstore/dummy-store.cc b/src/libstore/dummy-store.cc
index 7a5744bc1..128832e60 100644
--- a/src/libstore/dummy-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/dummy-store.cc
@@ -2,17 +2,27 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 
-static std::string uriScheme = "dummy://";
+struct DummyStoreConfig : virtual StoreConfig {
+    using StoreConfig::StoreConfig;
 
-struct DummyStore : public Store
+    const std::string name() override { return "Dummy Store"; }
+};
+
+struct DummyStore : public Store, public virtual DummyStoreConfig
 {
-    DummyStore(const Params & params)
-        : Store(params)
+    DummyStore(const std::string scheme, const std::string uri, const Params & params)
+        : DummyStore(params)
     { }
 
+    DummyStore(const Params & params)
+        : StoreConfig(params)
+        , Store(params)
+    {
+    }
+
     string getUri() override
     {
-        return uriScheme;
+        return *uriSchemes().begin();
     }
 
     void queryPathInfoUncached(const StorePath & path,
@@ -21,6 +31,10 @@ struct DummyStore : public Store
         callback(nullptr);
     }
 
+    static std::set<std::string> uriSchemes() {
+        return {"dummy"};
+    }
+
     std::optional<StorePath> queryPathFromHashPart(const std::string & hashPart) override
     { unsupported("queryPathFromHashPart"); }
 
@@ -48,12 +62,6 @@ struct DummyStore : public Store
     { unsupported("buildDerivation"); }
 };
 
-static RegisterStoreImplementation regStore([](
-    const std::string & uri, const Store::Params & params)
-    -> std::shared_ptr<Store>
-{
-    if (uri != uriScheme) return nullptr;
-    return std::make_shared<DummyStore>(params);
-});
+static RegisterStoreImplementation<DummyStore, DummyStoreConfig> regStore;
 
 }
diff --git a/src/libstore/gc.cc b/src/libstore/gc.cc
index e6cbc525d..08b53c702 100644
--- a/src/libstore/gc.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/gc.cc
@@ -574,9 +574,12 @@ bool LocalStore::canReachRoot(GCState & state, StorePathSet & visited, const Sto
     /* If keep-derivations is set and this is a derivation, then
        don't delete the derivation if any of the outputs are alive. */
     if (state.gcKeepDerivations && path.isDerivation()) {
-        for (auto & i : queryDerivationOutputs(path))
-            if (isValidPath(i) && queryPathInfo(i)->deriver == path)
-                incoming.insert(i);
+        for (auto & [name, maybeOutPath] : queryPartialDerivationOutputMap(path))
+            if (maybeOutPath &&
+                isValidPath(*maybeOutPath) &&
+                queryPathInfo(*maybeOutPath)->deriver == path
+                )
+                incoming.insert(*maybeOutPath);
     }
 
     /* If keep-outputs is set, then don't delete this path if there
diff --git a/src/libstore/globals.cc b/src/libstore/globals.cc
index 4a5971c3f..491c664db 100644
--- a/src/libstore/globals.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/globals.cc
@@ -162,11 +162,6 @@ template<> std::string BaseSetting<SandboxMode>::to_string() const
     else abort();
 }
 
-template<> nlohmann::json BaseSetting<SandboxMode>::toJSON()
-{
-    return AbstractSetting::toJSON();
-}
-
 template<> void BaseSetting<SandboxMode>::convertToArg(Args & args, const std::string & category)
 {
     args.addFlag({
diff --git a/src/libstore/globals.hh b/src/libstore/globals.hh
index 8a2d3ff75..02721285a 100644
--- a/src/libstore/globals.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/globals.hh
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 #include "types.hh"
 #include "config.hh"
+#include "abstractsettingtojson.hh"
 #include "util.hh"
 
 #include <map>
diff --git a/src/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc b/src/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc
index 1733239fb..f4ab15a10 100644
--- a/src/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -7,7 +7,14 @@ namespace nix {
 
 MakeError(UploadToHTTP, Error);
 
-class HttpBinaryCacheStore : public BinaryCacheStore
+struct HttpBinaryCacheStoreConfig : virtual BinaryCacheStoreConfig
+{
+    using BinaryCacheStoreConfig::BinaryCacheStoreConfig;
+
+    const std::string name() override { return "Http Binary Cache Store"; }
+};
+
+class HttpBinaryCacheStore : public BinaryCacheStore, public HttpBinaryCacheStoreConfig
 {
 private:
 
@@ -24,9 +31,12 @@ private:
 public:
 
     HttpBinaryCacheStore(
-        const Params & params, const Path & _cacheUri)
-        : BinaryCacheStore(params)
-        , cacheUri(_cacheUri)
+        const std::string & scheme,
+        const Path & _cacheUri,
+        const Params & params)
+        : StoreConfig(params)
+        , BinaryCacheStore(params)
+        , cacheUri(scheme + "://" + _cacheUri)
     {
         if (cacheUri.back() == '/')
             cacheUri.pop_back();
@@ -55,6 +65,13 @@ public:
         }
     }
 
+    static std::set<std::string> uriSchemes()
+    {
+        static bool forceHttp = getEnv("_NIX_FORCE_HTTP") == "1";
+        auto ret = std::set<std::string>({"http", "https"});
+        if (forceHttp) ret.insert("file");
+        return ret;
+    }
 protected:
 
     void maybeDisable()
@@ -162,18 +179,6 @@ protected:
 
 };
 
-static RegisterStoreImplementation regStore([](
-    const std::string & uri, const Store::Params & params)
-    -> std::shared_ptr<Store>
-{
-    static bool forceHttp = getEnv("_NIX_FORCE_HTTP") == "1";
-    if (std::string(uri, 0, 7) != "http://" &&
-        std::string(uri, 0, 8) != "https://" &&
-        (!forceHttp || std::string(uri, 0, 7) != "file://"))
-        return 0;
-    auto store = std::make_shared<HttpBinaryCacheStore>(params, uri);
-    store->init();
-    return store;
-});
+static RegisterStoreImplementation<HttpBinaryCacheStore, HttpBinaryCacheStoreConfig> regStore;
 
 }
diff --git a/src/libstore/legacy-ssh-store.cc b/src/libstore/legacy-ssh-store.cc
index dc03313f0..e9478c1d5 100644
--- a/src/libstore/legacy-ssh-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/legacy-ssh-store.cc
@@ -9,18 +9,24 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 
-static std::string uriScheme = "ssh://";
-
-struct LegacySSHStore : public Store
+struct LegacySSHStoreConfig : virtual StoreConfig
 {
-    const Setting<int> maxConnections{this, 1, "max-connections", "maximum number of concurrent SSH connections"};
-    const Setting<Path> sshKey{this, "", "ssh-key", "path to an SSH private key"};
-    const Setting<bool> compress{this, false, "compress", "whether to compress the connection"};
-    const Setting<Path> remoteProgram{this, "nix-store", "remote-program", "path to the nix-store executable on the remote system"};
-    const Setting<std::string> remoteStore{this, "", "remote-store", "URI of the store on the remote system"};
+    using StoreConfig::StoreConfig;
+    const Setting<int> maxConnections{(StoreConfig*) this, 1, "max-connections", "maximum number of concurrent SSH connections"};
+    const Setting<Path> sshKey{(StoreConfig*) this, "", "ssh-key", "path to an SSH private key"};
+    const Setting<bool> compress{(StoreConfig*) this, false, "compress", "whether to compress the connection"};
+    const Setting<Path> remoteProgram{(StoreConfig*) this, "nix-store", "remote-program", "path to the nix-store executable on the remote system"};
+    const Setting<std::string> remoteStore{(StoreConfig*) this, "", "remote-store", "URI of the store on the remote system"};
 
+    const std::string name() override { return "Legacy SSH Store"; }
+};
+
+struct LegacySSHStore : public Store, public virtual LegacySSHStoreConfig
+{
     // Hack for getting remote build log output.
-    const Setting<int> logFD{this, -1, "log-fd", "file descriptor to which SSH's stderr is connected"};
+    // Intentionally not in `LegacySSHStoreConfig` so that it doesn't appear in
+    // the documentation
+    const Setting<int> logFD{(StoreConfig*) this, -1, "log-fd", "file descriptor to which SSH's stderr is connected"};
 
     struct Connection
     {
@@ -37,8 +43,11 @@ struct LegacySSHStore : public Store
 
     SSHMaster master;
 
-    LegacySSHStore(const string & host, const Params & params)
-        : Store(params)
+    static std::set<std::string> uriSchemes() { return {"ssh"}; }
+
+    LegacySSHStore(const string & scheme, const string & host, const Params & params)
+        : StoreConfig(params)
+        , Store(params)
         , host(host)
         , connections(make_ref<Pool<Connection>>(
             std::max(1, (int) maxConnections),
@@ -84,7 +93,7 @@ struct LegacySSHStore : public Store
 
     string getUri() override
     {
-        return uriScheme + host;
+        return *uriSchemes().begin() + "://" + host;
     }
 
     void queryPathInfoUncached(const StorePath & path,
@@ -325,12 +334,6 @@ public:
     }
 };
 
-static RegisterStoreImplementation regStore([](
-    const std::string & uri, const Store::Params & params)
-    -> std::shared_ptr<Store>
-{
-    if (std::string(uri, 0, uriScheme.size()) != uriScheme) return 0;
-    return std::make_shared<LegacySSHStore>(std::string(uri, uriScheme.size()), params);
-});
+static RegisterStoreImplementation<LegacySSHStore, LegacySSHStoreConfig> regStore;
 
 }
diff --git a/src/libstore/local-binary-cache-store.cc b/src/libstore/local-binary-cache-store.cc
index 87d8334d7..b5744448e 100644
--- a/src/libstore/local-binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/local-binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -4,7 +4,14 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 
-class LocalBinaryCacheStore : public BinaryCacheStore
+struct LocalBinaryCacheStoreConfig : virtual BinaryCacheStoreConfig
+{
+    using BinaryCacheStoreConfig::BinaryCacheStoreConfig;
+
+    const std::string name() override { return "Local Binary Cache Store"; }
+};
+
+class LocalBinaryCacheStore : public BinaryCacheStore, public virtual LocalBinaryCacheStoreConfig
 {
 private:
 
@@ -13,8 +20,11 @@ private:
 public:
 
     LocalBinaryCacheStore(
-        const Params & params, const Path & binaryCacheDir)
-        : BinaryCacheStore(params)
+        const std::string scheme,
+        const Path & binaryCacheDir,
+        const Params & params)
+        : StoreConfig(params)
+        , BinaryCacheStore(params)
         , binaryCacheDir(binaryCacheDir)
     {
     }
@@ -26,6 +36,8 @@ public:
         return "file://" + binaryCacheDir;
     }
 
+    static std::set<std::string> uriSchemes();
+
 protected:
 
     bool fileExists(const std::string & path) override;
@@ -85,16 +97,14 @@ bool LocalBinaryCacheStore::fileExists(const std::string & path)
     return pathExists(binaryCacheDir + "/" + path);
 }
 
-static RegisterStoreImplementation regStore([](
-    const std::string & uri, const Store::Params & params)
-    -> std::shared_ptr<Store>
+std::set<std::string> LocalBinaryCacheStore::uriSchemes()
 {
-    if (getEnv("_NIX_FORCE_HTTP_BINARY_CACHE_STORE") == "1" ||
-        std::string(uri, 0, 7) != "file://")
-        return 0;
-    auto store = std::make_shared<LocalBinaryCacheStore>(params, std::string(uri, 7));
-    store->init();
-    return store;
-});
+    if (getEnv("_NIX_FORCE_HTTP_BINARY_CACHE_STORE") == "1")
+        return {};
+    else
+        return {"file"};
+}
+
+static RegisterStoreImplementation<LocalBinaryCacheStore, LocalBinaryCacheStoreConfig> regStore;
 
 }
diff --git a/src/libstore/local-store.cc b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
index 0755cfa91..8d9a202ce 100644
--- a/src/libstore/local-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ namespace nix {
 
 
 LocalStore::LocalStore(const Params & params)
-    : Store(params)
+    : StoreConfig(params)
+    , Store(params)
     , LocalFSStore(params)
     , realStoreDir_{this, false, rootDir != "" ? rootDir + "/nix/store" : storeDir, "real",
         "physical path to the Nix store"}
diff --git a/src/libstore/local-store.hh b/src/libstore/local-store.hh
index d5e6d68ef..e7c9d1605 100644
--- a/src/libstore/local-store.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/local-store.hh
@@ -30,8 +30,19 @@ struct OptimiseStats
     uint64_t blocksFreed = 0;
 };
 
+struct LocalStoreConfig : virtual LocalFSStoreConfig
+{
+    using LocalFSStoreConfig::LocalFSStoreConfig;
 
-class LocalStore : public LocalFSStore
+    Setting<bool> requireSigs{(StoreConfig*) this,
+        settings.requireSigs,
+        "require-sigs", "whether store paths should have a trusted signature on import"};
+
+    const std::string name() override { return "Local Store"; }
+};
+
+
+class LocalStore : public LocalFSStore, public virtual LocalStoreConfig
 {
 private:
 
@@ -95,10 +106,6 @@ public:
 
 private:
 
-    Setting<bool> requireSigs{(Store*) this,
-        settings.requireSigs,
-        "require-sigs", "whether store paths should have a trusted signature on import"};
-
     const PublicKeys & getPublicKeys();
 
 public:
diff --git a/src/libstore/remote-store.cc b/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
index dc61951d3..e92b94975 100644
--- a/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
@@ -94,9 +94,19 @@ void write(const Store & store, Sink & out, const std::optional<StorePath> & sto
 /* TODO: Separate these store impls into different files, give them better names */
 RemoteStore::RemoteStore(const Params & params)
     : Store(params)
+    , RemoteStoreConfig(params)
     , connections(make_ref<Pool<Connection>>(
             std::max(1, (int) maxConnections),
-            [this]() { return openConnectionWrapper(); },
+            [this]() {
+                auto conn = openConnectionWrapper();
+                try {
+                    initConnection(*conn);
+                } catch (...) {
+                    failed = true;
+                    throw;
+                }
+                return conn;
+            },
             [this](const ref<Connection> & r) {
                 return
                     r->to.good()
@@ -123,19 +133,21 @@ ref<RemoteStore::Connection> RemoteStore::openConnectionWrapper()
 
 
 UDSRemoteStore::UDSRemoteStore(const Params & params)
-    : Store(params)
+    : StoreConfig(params)
+    , Store(params)
     , LocalFSStore(params)
     , RemoteStore(params)
 {
 }
 
 
-UDSRemoteStore::UDSRemoteStore(std::string socket_path, const Params & params)
-    : Store(params)
-    , LocalFSStore(params)
-    , RemoteStore(params)
-    , path(socket_path)
+UDSRemoteStore::UDSRemoteStore(
+        const std::string scheme,
+        std::string socket_path,
+        const Params & params)
+    : UDSRemoteStore(params)
 {
+    path.emplace(socket_path);
 }
 
 
@@ -179,8 +191,6 @@ ref<RemoteStore::Connection> UDSRemoteStore::openConnection()
 
     conn->startTime = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
 
-    initConnection(*conn);
-
     return conn;
 }
 
@@ -982,14 +992,6 @@ std::exception_ptr RemoteStore::Connection::processStderr(Sink * sink, Source *
     return nullptr;
 }
 
-static std::string uriScheme = "unix://";
-
-static RegisterStoreImplementation regStore([](
-    const std::string & uri, const Store::Params & params)
-    -> std::shared_ptr<Store>
-{
-    if (std::string(uri, 0, uriScheme.size()) != uriScheme) return 0;
-    return std::make_shared<UDSRemoteStore>(std::string(uri, uriScheme.size()), params);
-});
+static RegisterStoreImplementation<UDSRemoteStore, UDSRemoteStoreConfig> regStore;
 
 }
diff --git a/src/libstore/remote-store.hh b/src/libstore/remote-store.hh
index 6f05f2197..91c748006 100644
--- a/src/libstore/remote-store.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/remote-store.hh
@@ -16,19 +16,23 @@ struct FdSource;
 template<typename T> class Pool;
 struct ConnectionHandle;
 
+struct RemoteStoreConfig : virtual StoreConfig
+{
+    using StoreConfig::StoreConfig;
+
+    const Setting<int> maxConnections{(StoreConfig*) this, 1,
+            "max-connections", "maximum number of concurrent connections to the Nix daemon"};
+
+    const Setting<unsigned int> maxConnectionAge{(StoreConfig*) this, std::numeric_limits<unsigned int>::max(),
+            "max-connection-age", "number of seconds to reuse a connection"};
+};
 
 /* FIXME: RemoteStore is a misnomer - should be something like
    DaemonStore. */
-class RemoteStore : public virtual Store
+class RemoteStore : public virtual Store, public virtual RemoteStoreConfig
 {
 public:
 
-    const Setting<int> maxConnections{(Store*) this, 1,
-            "max-connections", "maximum number of concurrent connections to the Nix daemon"};
-
-    const Setting<unsigned int> maxConnectionAge{(Store*) this, std::numeric_limits<unsigned int>::max(),
-            "max-connection-age", "number of seconds to reuse a connection"};
-
     virtual bool sameMachine() = 0;
 
     RemoteStore(const Params & params);
@@ -102,8 +106,6 @@ public:
 
     void flushBadConnections();
 
-protected:
-
     struct Connection
     {
         AutoCloseFD fd;
@@ -119,6 +121,8 @@ protected:
 
     ref<Connection> openConnectionWrapper();
 
+protected:
+
     virtual ref<Connection> openConnection() = 0;
 
     void initConnection(Connection & conn);
@@ -141,15 +145,35 @@ private:
 
 };
 
-class UDSRemoteStore : public LocalFSStore, public RemoteStore
+struct UDSRemoteStoreConfig : virtual LocalFSStoreConfig, virtual RemoteStoreConfig
+{
+    UDSRemoteStoreConfig(const Store::Params & params)
+        : StoreConfig(params)
+        , LocalFSStoreConfig(params)
+        , RemoteStoreConfig(params)
+    {
+    }
+
+    UDSRemoteStoreConfig()
+        : UDSRemoteStoreConfig(Store::Params({}))
+    {
+    }
+
+    const std::string name() override { return "Local Daemon Store"; }
+};
+
+class UDSRemoteStore : public LocalFSStore, public RemoteStore, public virtual UDSRemoteStoreConfig
 {
 public:
 
     UDSRemoteStore(const Params & params);
-    UDSRemoteStore(std::string path, const Params & params);
+    UDSRemoteStore(const std::string scheme, std::string path, const Params & params);
 
     std::string getUri() override;
 
+    static std::set<std::string> uriSchemes()
+    { return {"unix"}; }
+
     bool sameMachine() override
     { return true; }
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/s3-binary-cache-store.cc b/src/libstore/s3-binary-cache-store.cc
index a0a446bd3..d43f267e0 100644
--- a/src/libstore/s3-binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/s3-binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -172,20 +172,26 @@ S3Helper::FileTransferResult S3Helper::getObject(
     return res;
 }
 
-struct S3BinaryCacheStoreImpl : public S3BinaryCacheStore
+struct S3BinaryCacheStoreConfig : virtual BinaryCacheStoreConfig
 {
-    const Setting<std::string> profile{this, "", "profile", "The name of the AWS configuration profile to use."};
-    const Setting<std::string> region{this, Aws::Region::US_EAST_1, "region", {"aws-region"}};
-    const Setting<std::string> scheme{this, "", "scheme", "The scheme to use for S3 requests, https by default."};
-    const Setting<std::string> endpoint{this, "", "endpoint", "An optional override of the endpoint to use when talking to S3."};
-    const Setting<std::string> narinfoCompression{this, "", "narinfo-compression", "compression method for .narinfo files"};
-    const Setting<std::string> lsCompression{this, "", "ls-compression", "compression method for .ls files"};
-    const Setting<std::string> logCompression{this, "", "log-compression", "compression method for log/* files"};
+    using BinaryCacheStoreConfig::BinaryCacheStoreConfig;
+    const Setting<std::string> profile{(StoreConfig*) this, "", "profile", "The name of the AWS configuration profile to use."};
+    const Setting<std::string> region{(StoreConfig*) this, Aws::Region::US_EAST_1, "region", {"aws-region"}};
+    const Setting<std::string> scheme{(StoreConfig*) this, "", "scheme", "The scheme to use for S3 requests, https by default."};
+    const Setting<std::string> endpoint{(StoreConfig*) this, "", "endpoint", "An optional override of the endpoint to use when talking to S3."};
+    const Setting<std::string> narinfoCompression{(StoreConfig*) this, "", "narinfo-compression", "compression method for .narinfo files"};
+    const Setting<std::string> lsCompression{(StoreConfig*) this, "", "ls-compression", "compression method for .ls files"};
+    const Setting<std::string> logCompression{(StoreConfig*) this, "", "log-compression", "compression method for log/* files"};
     const Setting<bool> multipartUpload{
-        this, false, "multipart-upload", "whether to use multi-part uploads"};
+        (StoreConfig*) this, false, "multipart-upload", "whether to use multi-part uploads"};
     const Setting<uint64_t> bufferSize{
-        this, 5 * 1024 * 1024, "buffer-size", "size (in bytes) of each part in multi-part uploads"};
+        (StoreConfig*) this, 5 * 1024 * 1024, "buffer-size", "size (in bytes) of each part in multi-part uploads"};
 
+    const std::string name() override { return "S3 Binary Cache Store"; }
+};
+
+struct S3BinaryCacheStoreImpl : public S3BinaryCacheStore, virtual S3BinaryCacheStoreConfig
+{
     std::string bucketName;
 
     Stats stats;
@@ -193,8 +199,11 @@ struct S3BinaryCacheStoreImpl : public S3BinaryCacheStore
     S3Helper s3Helper;
 
     S3BinaryCacheStoreImpl(
-        const Params & params, const std::string & bucketName)
-        : S3BinaryCacheStore(params)
+        const std::string & scheme,
+        const std::string & bucketName,
+        const Params & params)
+        : StoreConfig(params)
+        , S3BinaryCacheStore(params)
         , bucketName(bucketName)
         , s3Helper(profile, region, scheme, endpoint)
     {
@@ -426,17 +435,11 @@ struct S3BinaryCacheStoreImpl : public S3BinaryCacheStore
         return paths;
     }
 
+    static std::set<std::string> uriSchemes() { return {"s3"}; }
+
 };
 
-static RegisterStoreImplementation regStore([](
-    const std::string & uri, const Store::Params & params)
-    -> std::shared_ptr<Store>
-{
-    if (std::string(uri, 0, 5) != "s3://") return 0;
-    auto store = std::make_shared<S3BinaryCacheStoreImpl>(params, std::string(uri, 5));
-    store->init();
-    return store;
-});
+static RegisterStoreImplementation<S3BinaryCacheStoreImpl, S3BinaryCacheStoreConfig> regStore;
 
 }
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/ssh-store.cc b/src/libstore/ssh-store.cc
index 6cb97c1f1..6d6eca98d 100644
--- a/src/libstore/ssh-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/ssh-store.cc
@@ -8,19 +8,25 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 
-static std::string uriScheme = "ssh-ng://";
+struct SSHStoreConfig : virtual RemoteStoreConfig
+{
+    using RemoteStoreConfig::RemoteStoreConfig;
 
-class SSHStore : public RemoteStore
+    const Setting<Path> sshKey{(StoreConfig*) this, "", "ssh-key", "path to an SSH private key"};
+    const Setting<bool> compress{(StoreConfig*) this, false, "compress", "whether to compress the connection"};
+    const Setting<Path> remoteProgram{(StoreConfig*) this, "nix-daemon", "remote-program", "path to the nix-daemon executable on the remote system"};
+    const Setting<std::string> remoteStore{(StoreConfig*) this, "", "remote-store", "URI of the store on the remote system"};
+
+    const std::string name() override { return "SSH Store"; }
+};
+
+class SSHStore : public virtual RemoteStore, public virtual SSHStoreConfig
 {
 public:
 
-    const Setting<Path> sshKey{(Store*) this, "", "ssh-key", "path to an SSH private key"};
-    const Setting<bool> compress{(Store*) this, false, "compress", "whether to compress the connection"};
-    const Setting<Path> remoteProgram{(Store*) this, "nix-daemon", "remote-program", "path to the nix-daemon executable on the remote system"};
-    const Setting<std::string> remoteStore{(Store*) this, "", "remote-store", "URI of the store on the remote system"};
-
-    SSHStore(const std::string & host, const Params & params)
-        : Store(params)
+    SSHStore(const std::string & scheme, const std::string & host, const Params & params)
+        : StoreConfig(params)
+        , Store(params)
         , RemoteStore(params)
         , host(host)
         , master(
@@ -32,9 +38,11 @@ public:
     {
     }
 
+    static std::set<std::string> uriSchemes() { return {"ssh-ng"}; }
+
     std::string getUri() override
     {
-        return uriScheme + host;
+        return *uriSchemes().begin() + "://" + host;
     }
 
     bool sameMachine() override
@@ -72,16 +80,9 @@ ref<RemoteStore::Connection> SSHStore::openConnection()
         + (remoteStore.get() == "" ? "" : " --store " + shellEscape(remoteStore.get())));
     conn->to = FdSink(conn->sshConn->in.get());
     conn->from = FdSource(conn->sshConn->out.get());
-    initConnection(*conn);
     return conn;
 }
 
-static RegisterStoreImplementation regStore([](
-    const std::string & uri, const Store::Params & params)
-    -> std::shared_ptr<Store>
-{
-    if (std::string(uri, 0, uriScheme.size()) != uriScheme) return 0;
-    return std::make_shared<SSHStore>(std::string(uri, uriScheme.size()), params);
-});
+static RegisterStoreImplementation<SSHStore, SSHStoreConfig> regStore;
 
 }
diff --git a/src/libstore/store-api.cc b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
index b3877487c..2d5077ed0 100644
--- a/src/libstore/store-api.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ ValidPathInfo Store::addToStoreSlow(std::string_view name, const Path & srcPath,
 
 
 Store::Store(const Params & params)
-    : Config(params)
+    : StoreConfig(params)
     , state({(size_t) pathInfoCacheSize})
 {
 }
@@ -1009,7 +1009,6 @@ Derivation Store::readDerivation(const StorePath & drvPath)
     }
 }
 
-
 }
 
 
@@ -1019,9 +1018,6 @@ Derivation Store::readDerivation(const StorePath & drvPath)
 
 namespace nix {
 
-
-RegisterStoreImplementation::Implementations * RegisterStoreImplementation::implementations = 0;
-
 /* Split URI into protocol+hierarchy part and its parameter set. */
 std::pair<std::string, Store::Params> splitUriAndParams(const std::string & uri_)
 {
@@ -1035,24 +1031,6 @@ std::pair<std::string, Store::Params> splitUriAndParams(const std::string & uri_
     return {uri, params};
 }
 
-ref<Store> openStore(const std::string & uri_,
-    const Store::Params & extraParams)
-{
-    auto [uri, uriParams] = splitUriAndParams(uri_);
-    auto params = extraParams;
-    params.insert(uriParams.begin(), uriParams.end());
-
-    for (auto fun : *RegisterStoreImplementation::implementations) {
-        auto store = fun(uri, params);
-        if (store) {
-            store->warnUnknownSettings();
-            return ref<Store>(store);
-        }
-    }
-
-    throw Error("don't know how to open Nix store '%s'", uri);
-}
-
 static bool isNonUriPath(const std::string & spec) {
     return
         // is not a URL
@@ -1062,44 +1040,62 @@ static bool isNonUriPath(const std::string & spec) {
         && spec.find("/") != std::string::npos;
 }
 
-StoreType getStoreType(const std::string & uri, const std::string & stateDir)
+std::shared_ptr<Store> openFromNonUri(const std::string & uri, const Store::Params & params)
 {
-    if (uri == "daemon") {
-        return tDaemon;
-    } else if (uri == "local" || isNonUriPath(uri)) {
-        return tLocal;
-    } else if (uri == "" || uri == "auto") {
+    if (uri == "" || uri == "auto") {
+        auto stateDir = get(params, "state").value_or(settings.nixStateDir);
         if (access(stateDir.c_str(), R_OK | W_OK) == 0)
-            return tLocal;
+            return std::make_shared<LocalStore>(params);
         else if (pathExists(settings.nixDaemonSocketFile))
-            return tDaemon;
+            return std::make_shared<UDSRemoteStore>(params);
         else
-            return tLocal;
+            return std::make_shared<LocalStore>(params);
+    } else if (uri == "daemon") {
+        return std::make_shared<UDSRemoteStore>(params);
+    } else if (uri == "local") {
+        return std::make_shared<LocalStore>(params);
+    } else if (isNonUriPath(uri)) {
+        Store::Params params2 = params;
+        params2["root"] = absPath(uri);
+        return std::make_shared<LocalStore>(params2);
     } else {
-        return tOther;
+        return nullptr;
     }
 }
 
-
-static RegisterStoreImplementation regStore([](
-    const std::string & uri, const Store::Params & params)
-    -> std::shared_ptr<Store>
+ref<Store> openStore(const std::string & uri_,
+    const Store::Params & extraParams)
 {
-    switch (getStoreType(uri, get(params, "state").value_or(settings.nixStateDir))) {
-        case tDaemon:
-            return std::shared_ptr<Store>(std::make_shared<UDSRemoteStore>(params));
-        case tLocal: {
-            Store::Params params2 = params;
-            if (isNonUriPath(uri)) {
-                params2["root"] = absPath(uri);
-            }
-            return std::shared_ptr<Store>(std::make_shared<LocalStore>(params2));
-        }
-        default:
-            return nullptr;
-    }
-});
+    auto params = extraParams;
+    try {
+        auto parsedUri = parseURL(uri_);
+        params.insert(parsedUri.query.begin(), parsedUri.query.end());
 
+        auto baseURI = parsedUri.authority.value_or("") + parsedUri.path;
+
+        for (auto implem : *Implementations::registered) {
+            if (implem.uriSchemes.count(parsedUri.scheme)) {
+                auto store = implem.create(parsedUri.scheme, baseURI, params);
+                if (store) {
+                    store->init();
+                    store->warnUnknownSettings();
+                    return ref<Store>(store);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    catch (BadURL &) {
+        auto [uri, uriParams] = splitUriAndParams(uri_);
+        params.insert(uriParams.begin(), uriParams.end());
+
+        if (auto store = openFromNonUri(uri, params)) {
+            store->warnUnknownSettings();
+            return ref<Store>(store);
+        }
+    }
+
+    throw Error("don't know how to open Nix store '%s'", uri_);
+}
 
 std::list<ref<Store>> getDefaultSubstituters()
 {
@@ -1133,5 +1129,6 @@ std::list<ref<Store>> getDefaultSubstituters()
     return stores;
 }
 
+std::vector<StoreFactory> * Implementations::registered = 0;
 
 }
diff --git a/src/libstore/store-api.hh b/src/libstore/store-api.hh
index 8b42aa6d2..4d3f07dfc 100644
--- a/src/libstore/store-api.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/store-api.hh
@@ -24,6 +24,31 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 
+/**
+ * About the class hierarchy of the store implementations:
+ *
+ * Each store type `Foo` consists of two classes:
+ *
+ * 1. A class `FooConfig : virtual StoreConfig` that contains the configuration
+ *   for the store
+ *
+ *   It should only contain members of type `const Setting<T>` (or subclasses
+ *   of it) and inherit the constructors of `StoreConfig`
+ *   (`using StoreConfig::StoreConfig`).
+ *
+ * 2. A class `Foo : virtual Store, virtual FooConfig` that contains the
+ *   implementation of the store.
+ *
+ *   This class is expected to have a constructor `Foo(const Params & params)`
+ *   that calls `StoreConfig(params)` (otherwise you're gonna encounter an
+ *   `assertion failure` when trying to instantiate it).
+ *
+ * You can then register the new store using:
+ *
+ * ```
+ * cpp static RegisterStoreImplementation<Foo, FooConfig> regStore;
+ * ```
+ */
 
 MakeError(SubstError, Error);
 MakeError(BuildError, Error); // denotes a permanent build failure
@@ -33,6 +58,7 @@ MakeError(SubstituteGone, Error);
 MakeError(SubstituterDisabled, Error);
 MakeError(BadStorePath, Error);
 
+MakeError(InvalidStoreURI, Error);
 
 class FSAccessor;
 class NarInfoDiskCache;
@@ -144,12 +170,31 @@ struct BuildResult
     }
 };
 
-
-class Store : public std::enable_shared_from_this<Store>, public Config
+struct StoreConfig : public Config
 {
-public:
+    using Config::Config;
 
-    typedef std::map<std::string, std::string> Params;
+    /**
+     * When constructing a store implementation, we pass in a map `params` of
+     * parameters that's supposed to initialize the associated config.
+     * To do that, we must use the `StoreConfig(StringMap & params)`
+     * constructor, so we'd like to `delete` its default constructor to enforce
+     * it.
+     *
+     * However, actually deleting it means that all the subclasses of
+     * `StoreConfig` will have their default constructor deleted (because it's
+     * supposed to call the deleted default constructor of `StoreConfig`). But
+     * because we're always using virtual inheritance, the constructors of
+     * child classes will never implicitely call this one, so deleting it will
+     * be more painful than anything else.
+     *
+     * So we `assert(false)` here to ensure at runtime that the right
+     * constructor is always called without having to redefine a custom
+     * constructor for each `*Config` class.
+     */
+    StoreConfig() { assert(false); }
+
+    virtual const std::string name() = 0;
 
     const PathSetting storeDir_{this, false, settings.nixStore,
         "store", "path to the Nix store"};
@@ -167,6 +212,14 @@ public:
         "system-features",
         "Optional features that the system this store builds on implements (like \"kvm\")."};
 
+};
+
+class Store : public std::enable_shared_from_this<Store>, public virtual StoreConfig
+{
+public:
+
+    typedef std::map<std::string, std::string> Params;
+
 protected:
 
     struct PathInfoCacheValue {
@@ -200,6 +253,11 @@ protected:
     Store(const Params & params);
 
 public:
+    /**
+     * Perform any necessary effectful operation to make the store up and
+     * running
+     */
+    virtual void init() {};
 
     virtual ~Store() { }
 
@@ -626,22 +684,25 @@ protected:
 
 };
 
-
-class LocalFSStore : public virtual Store
+struct LocalFSStoreConfig : virtual StoreConfig
 {
-public:
-
-    // FIXME: the (Store*) cast works around a bug in gcc that causes
+    using StoreConfig::StoreConfig;
+    // FIXME: the (StoreConfig*) cast works around a bug in gcc that causes
     // it to omit the call to the Setting constructor. Clang works fine
     // either way.
-    const PathSetting rootDir{(Store*) this, true, "",
+    const PathSetting rootDir{(StoreConfig*) this, true, "",
         "root", "directory prefixed to all other paths"};
-    const PathSetting stateDir{(Store*) this, false,
+    const PathSetting stateDir{(StoreConfig*) this, false,
         rootDir != "" ? rootDir + "/nix/var/nix" : settings.nixStateDir,
         "state", "directory where Nix will store state"};
-    const PathSetting logDir{(Store*) this, false,
+    const PathSetting logDir{(StoreConfig*) this, false,
         rootDir != "" ? rootDir + "/nix/var/log/nix" : settings.nixLogDir,
         "log", "directory where Nix will store state"};
+};
+
+class LocalFSStore : public virtual Store, public virtual LocalFSStoreConfig
+{
+public:
 
     const static string drvsLogDir;
 
@@ -730,37 +791,47 @@ ref<Store> openStore(const std::string & uri = settings.storeUri.get(),
     const Store::Params & extraParams = Store::Params());
 
 
-enum StoreType {
-    tDaemon,
-    tLocal,
-    tOther
-};
-
-
-StoreType getStoreType(const std::string & uri = settings.storeUri.get(),
-    const std::string & stateDir = settings.nixStateDir);
-
 /* Return the default substituter stores, defined by the
    ‘substituters’ option and various legacy options. */
 std::list<ref<Store>> getDefaultSubstituters();
 
-
-/* Store implementation registration. */
-typedef std::function<std::shared_ptr<Store>(
-    const std::string & uri, const Store::Params & params)> OpenStore;
-
-struct RegisterStoreImplementation
+struct StoreFactory
 {
-    typedef std::vector<OpenStore> Implementations;
-    static Implementations * implementations;
+    std::set<std::string> uriSchemes;
+    std::function<std::shared_ptr<Store> (const std::string & scheme, const std::string & uri, const Store::Params & params)> create;
+    std::function<std::shared_ptr<StoreConfig> ()> getConfig;
+};
+struct Implementations
+{
+    static std::vector<StoreFactory> * registered;
 
-    RegisterStoreImplementation(OpenStore fun)
+    template<typename T, typename TConfig>
+    static void add()
     {
-        if (!implementations) implementations = new Implementations;
-        implementations->push_back(fun);
+        if (!registered) registered = new std::vector<StoreFactory>();
+        StoreFactory factory{
+            .uriSchemes = T::uriSchemes(),
+            .create =
+                ([](const std::string & scheme, const std::string & uri, const Store::Params & params)
+                 -> std::shared_ptr<Store>
+                 { return std::make_shared<T>(scheme, uri, params); }),
+            .getConfig =
+                ([]()
+                 -> std::shared_ptr<StoreConfig>
+                 { return std::make_shared<TConfig>(StringMap({})); })
+        };
+        registered->push_back(factory);
     }
 };
 
+template<typename T, typename TConfig>
+struct RegisterStoreImplementation
+{
+    RegisterStoreImplementation()
+    {
+        Implementations::add<T, TConfig>();
+    }
+};
 
 
 /* Display a set of paths in human-readable form (i.e., between quotes
diff --git a/src/libutil/abstractsettingtojson.hh b/src/libutil/abstractsettingtojson.hh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b3fbc84f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/libutil/abstractsettingtojson.hh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
+#include "config.hh"
+
+namespace nix {
+template<typename T>
+std::map<std::string, nlohmann::json> BaseSetting<T>::toJSONObject()
+{
+    auto obj = AbstractSetting::toJSONObject();
+    obj.emplace("value", value);
+    obj.emplace("defaultValue", defaultValue);
+    return obj;
+}
+}
diff --git a/src/libutil/config.cc b/src/libutil/config.cc
index 3cf720bce..309d23b40 100644
--- a/src/libutil/config.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/config.cc
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "config.hh"
 #include "args.hh"
+#include "abstractsettingtojson.hh"
 
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 
@@ -137,11 +138,7 @@ nlohmann::json Config::toJSON()
     auto res = nlohmann::json::object();
     for (auto & s : _settings)
         if (!s.second.isAlias) {
-            auto obj = nlohmann::json::object();
-            obj.emplace("description", s.second.setting->description);
-            obj.emplace("aliases", s.second.setting->aliases);
-            obj.emplace("value", s.second.setting->toJSON());
-            res.emplace(s.first, obj);
+            res.emplace(s.first, s.second.setting->toJSON());
         }
     return res;
 }
@@ -168,19 +165,21 @@ void AbstractSetting::setDefault(const std::string & str)
 
 nlohmann::json AbstractSetting::toJSON()
 {
-    return to_string();
+    return nlohmann::json(toJSONObject());
+}
+
+std::map<std::string, nlohmann::json> AbstractSetting::toJSONObject()
+{
+    std::map<std::string, nlohmann::json> obj;
+    obj.emplace("description", description);
+    obj.emplace("aliases", aliases);
+    return obj;
 }
 
 void AbstractSetting::convertToArg(Args & args, const std::string & category)
 {
 }
 
-template<typename T>
-nlohmann::json BaseSetting<T>::toJSON()
-{
-    return value;
-}
-
 template<typename T>
 void BaseSetting<T>::convertToArg(Args & args, const std::string & category)
 {
@@ -259,11 +258,6 @@ template<> std::string BaseSetting<Strings>::to_string() const
     return concatStringsSep(" ", value);
 }
 
-template<> nlohmann::json BaseSetting<Strings>::toJSON()
-{
-    return value;
-}
-
 template<> void BaseSetting<StringSet>::set(const std::string & str)
 {
     value = tokenizeString<StringSet>(str);
@@ -274,11 +268,6 @@ template<> std::string BaseSetting<StringSet>::to_string() const
     return concatStringsSep(" ", value);
 }
 
-template<> nlohmann::json BaseSetting<StringSet>::toJSON()
-{
-    return value;
-}
-
 template class BaseSetting<int>;
 template class BaseSetting<unsigned int>;
 template class BaseSetting<long>;
diff --git a/src/libutil/config.hh b/src/libutil/config.hh
index 2b4265806..1f5f4e7b9 100644
--- a/src/libutil/config.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/config.hh
@@ -206,7 +206,9 @@ protected:
 
     virtual std::string to_string() const = 0;
 
-    virtual nlohmann::json toJSON();
+    nlohmann::json toJSON();
+
+    virtual std::map<std::string, nlohmann::json> toJSONObject();
 
     virtual void convertToArg(Args & args, const std::string & category);
 
@@ -220,6 +222,7 @@ class BaseSetting : public AbstractSetting
 protected:
 
     T value;
+    const T defaultValue;
 
 public:
 
@@ -229,6 +232,7 @@ public:
         const std::set<std::string> & aliases = {})
         : AbstractSetting(name, description, aliases)
         , value(def)
+        , defaultValue(def)
     { }
 
     operator const T &() const { return value; }
@@ -251,7 +255,7 @@ public:
 
     void convertToArg(Args & args, const std::string & category) override;
 
-    nlohmann::json toJSON() override;
+    std::map<std::string, nlohmann::json> toJSONObject() override;
 };
 
 template<typename T>
diff --git a/src/libutil/tests/config.cc b/src/libutil/tests/config.cc
index c5abefe11..c7777a21f 100644
--- a/src/libutil/tests/config.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/tests/config.cc
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ namespace nix {
         Setting<std::string> setting{&config, "", "name-of-the-setting", "description"};
         setting.assign("value");
 
-        ASSERT_EQ(config.toJSON().dump(), R"#({"name-of-the-setting":{"aliases":[],"description":"description\n","value":"value"}})#");
+        ASSERT_EQ(config.toJSON().dump(), R"#({"name-of-the-setting":{"aliases":[],"defaultValue":"","description":"description\n","value":"value"}})#");
     }
 
     TEST(Config, setSettingAlias) {
diff --git a/src/libutil/url.hh b/src/libutil/url.hh
index 2ef88ef2a..1f716ba10 100644
--- a/src/libutil/url.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/url.hh
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ ParsedURL parseURL(const std::string & url);
 
 // URI stuff.
 const static std::string pctEncoded = "(?:%[0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F])";
-const static std::string schemeRegex = "(?:[a-z+]+)";
+const static std::string schemeRegex = "(?:[a-z+.-]+)";
 const static std::string ipv6AddressRegex = "(?:\\[[0-9a-fA-F:]+\\])";
 const static std::string unreservedRegex = "(?:[a-zA-Z0-9-._~])";
 const static std::string subdelimsRegex = "(?:[!$&'\"()*+,;=])";
diff --git a/src/nix-channel/nix-channel.cc b/src/nix-channel/nix-channel.cc
index 3ccf620c9..e48f7af9a 100755
--- a/src/nix-channel/nix-channel.cc
+++ b/src/nix-channel/nix-channel.cc
@@ -76,6 +76,13 @@ static void update(const StringSet & channelNames)
 
     auto store = openStore();
 
+    auto [fd, unpackChannelPath] = createTempFile();
+    writeFull(fd.get(),
+        #include "unpack-channel.nix.gen.hh"
+        );
+    fd = -1;
+    AutoDelete del(unpackChannelPath, false);
+
     // Download each channel.
     Strings exprs;
     for (const auto & channel : channels) {
@@ -104,7 +111,7 @@ static void update(const StringSet & channelNames)
 
         bool unpacked = false;
         if (std::regex_search(filename, std::regex("\\.tar\\.(gz|bz2|xz)$"))) {
-            runProgram(settings.nixBinDir + "/nix-build", false, { "--no-out-link", "--expr", "import <nix/unpack-channel.nix> "
+            runProgram(settings.nixBinDir + "/nix-build", false, { "--no-out-link", "--expr", "import " + unpackChannelPath +
                         "{ name = \"" + cname + "\"; channelName = \"" + name + "\"; src = builtins.storePath \"" + filename + "\"; }" });
             unpacked = true;
         }
@@ -125,7 +132,7 @@ static void update(const StringSet & channelNames)
     // Unpack the channel tarballs into the Nix store and install them
     // into the channels profile.
     std::cerr << "unpacking channels...\n";
-    Strings envArgs{ "--profile", profile, "--file", "<nix/unpack-channel.nix>", "--install", "--from-expression" };
+    Strings envArgs{ "--profile", profile, "--file", unpackChannelPath, "--install", "--from-expression" };
     for (auto & expr : exprs)
         envArgs.push_back(std::move(expr));
     envArgs.push_back("--quiet");
diff --git a/corepkgs/unpack-channel.nix b/src/nix-channel/unpack-channel.nix
similarity index 100%
rename from corepkgs/unpack-channel.nix
rename to src/nix-channel/unpack-channel.nix
diff --git a/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc b/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc
index cfa634a44..6e652ccbf 100644
--- a/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc
+++ b/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "shared.hh"
 #include "local-store.hh"
+#include "remote-store.hh"
 #include "util.hh"
 #include "serialise.hh"
 #include "archive.hh"
@@ -285,44 +286,28 @@ static int _main(int argc, char * * argv)
         initPlugins();
 
         if (stdio) {
-            if (getStoreType() == tDaemon) {
-                //  Forward on this connection to the real daemon
-                auto socketPath = settings.nixDaemonSocketFile;
-                auto s = socket(PF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
-                if (s == -1)
-                    throw SysError("creating Unix domain socket");
+            if (auto store = openUncachedStore().dynamic_pointer_cast<RemoteStore>()) {
+                auto conn = store->openConnectionWrapper();
+                int from = conn->from.fd;
+                int to = conn->to.fd;
 
-                auto socketDir = dirOf(socketPath);
-                if (chdir(socketDir.c_str()) == -1)
-                    throw SysError("changing to socket directory '%1%'", socketDir);
-
-                auto socketName = std::string(baseNameOf(socketPath));
-                auto addr = sockaddr_un{};
-                addr.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
-                if (socketName.size() + 1 >= sizeof(addr.sun_path))
-                    throw Error("socket name %1% is too long", socketName);
-                strcpy(addr.sun_path, socketName.c_str());
-
-                if (connect(s, (struct sockaddr *) &addr, sizeof(addr)) == -1)
-                    throw SysError("cannot connect to daemon at %1%", socketPath);
-
-                auto nfds = (s > STDIN_FILENO ? s : STDIN_FILENO) + 1;
+                auto nfds = std::max(from, STDIN_FILENO) + 1;
                 while (true) {
                     fd_set fds;
                     FD_ZERO(&fds);
-                    FD_SET(s, &fds);
+                    FD_SET(from, &fds);
                     FD_SET(STDIN_FILENO, &fds);
                     if (select(nfds, &fds, nullptr, nullptr, nullptr) == -1)
                         throw SysError("waiting for data from client or server");
-                    if (FD_ISSET(s, &fds)) {
-                        auto res = splice(s, nullptr, STDOUT_FILENO, nullptr, SSIZE_MAX, SPLICE_F_MOVE);
+                    if (FD_ISSET(from, &fds)) {
+                        auto res = splice(from, nullptr, STDOUT_FILENO, nullptr, SSIZE_MAX, SPLICE_F_MOVE);
                         if (res == -1)
                             throw SysError("splicing data from daemon socket to stdout");
                         else if (res == 0)
                             throw EndOfFile("unexpected EOF from daemon socket");
                     }
                     if (FD_ISSET(STDIN_FILENO, &fds)) {
-                        auto res = splice(STDIN_FILENO, nullptr, s, nullptr, SSIZE_MAX, SPLICE_F_MOVE);
+                        auto res = splice(STDIN_FILENO, nullptr, to, nullptr, SSIZE_MAX, SPLICE_F_MOVE);
                         if (res == -1)
                             throw SysError("splicing data from stdin to daemon socket");
                         else if (res == 0)
diff --git a/src/nix/describe-stores.cc b/src/nix/describe-stores.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0cc2d9337
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/nix/describe-stores.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#include "command.hh"
+#include "common-args.hh"
+#include "shared.hh"
+#include "store-api.hh"
+
+#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
+
+using namespace nix;
+
+struct CmdDescribeStores : Command, MixJSON
+{
+    std::string description() override
+    {
+        return "show registered store types and their available options";
+    }
+
+    Category category() override { return catUtility; }
+
+    void run() override
+    {
+        auto res = nlohmann::json::object();
+        for (auto & implem : *Implementations::registered) {
+            auto storeConfig = implem.getConfig();
+            auto storeName = storeConfig->name();
+            res[storeName] = storeConfig->toJSON();
+        }
+        if (json) {
+            std::cout << res;
+        } else {
+            for (auto & [storeName, storeConfig] : res.items()) {
+                std::cout << "## " << storeName << std::endl << std::endl;
+                for (auto & [optionName, optionDesc] : storeConfig.items()) {
+                    std::cout << "### " << optionName << std::endl << std::endl;
+                    std::cout << optionDesc["description"].get<std::string>() << std::endl;
+                    std::cout << "default: " << optionDesc["defaultValue"] << std::endl <<std::endl;
+                    if (!optionDesc["aliases"].empty())
+                        std::cout << "aliases: " << optionDesc["aliases"] << std::endl << std::endl;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+};
+
+static auto r1 = registerCommand<CmdDescribeStores>("describe-stores");
diff --git a/src/nix/develop.cc b/src/nix/develop.cc
index a2ce9c8c1..f29fa71d2 100644
--- a/src/nix/develop.cc
+++ b/src/nix/develop.cc
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ struct CmdDevelop : Common, MixEnvironment
 
             auto bashInstallable = std::make_shared<InstallableFlake>(
                 state,
-                std::move(installable->nixpkgsFlakeRef()),
+                installable->nixpkgsFlakeRef(),
                 Strings{"bashInteractive"},
                 Strings{"legacyPackages." + settings.thisSystem.get() + "."},
                 lockFlags);
diff --git a/src/nix/diff-closures.cc b/src/nix/diff-closures.cc
index 4199dae0f..0dc99d05e 100644
--- a/src/nix/diff-closures.cc
+++ b/src/nix/diff-closures.cc
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ void printClosureDiff(
         auto beforeSize = totalSize(beforeVersions);
         auto afterSize = totalSize(afterVersions);
         auto sizeDelta = (int64_t) afterSize - (int64_t) beforeSize;
-        auto showDelta = abs(sizeDelta) >= 8 * 1024;
+        auto showDelta = std::abs(sizeDelta) >= 8 * 1024;
 
         std::set<std::string> removed, unchanged;
         for (auto & [version, _] : beforeVersions)
diff --git a/src/nix/doctor.cc b/src/nix/doctor.cc
index 82e92cdd0..683e91446 100644
--- a/src/nix/doctor.cc
+++ b/src/nix/doctor.cc
@@ -49,9 +49,7 @@ struct CmdDoctor : StoreCommand
     {
         logger->log("Running checks against store uri: " + store->getUri());
 
-        auto type = getStoreType();
-
-        if (type < tOther) {
+        if (store.dynamic_pointer_cast<LocalFSStore>()) {
             success &= checkNixInPath();
             success &= checkProfileRoots(store);
         }
diff --git a/src/nix/installables.hh b/src/nix/installables.hh
index 41c75a4ed..c7c2f8981 100644
--- a/src/nix/installables.hh
+++ b/src/nix/installables.hh
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ struct Installable
 
     virtual FlakeRef nixpkgsFlakeRef() const
     {
-        return std::move(FlakeRef::fromAttrs({{"type","indirect"}, {"id", "nixpkgs"}}));
+        return FlakeRef::fromAttrs({{"type","indirect"}, {"id", "nixpkgs"}});
     }
 };
 
diff --git a/src/nix/local.mk b/src/nix/local.mk
index e96200685..ab4e9121b 100644
--- a/src/nix/local.mk
+++ b/src/nix/local.mk
@@ -29,3 +29,5 @@ $(eval $(call install-symlink, $(bindir)/nix, $(libexecdir)/nix/build-remote))
 src/nix-env/user-env.cc: src/nix-env/buildenv.nix.gen.hh
 
 src/nix/develop.cc: src/nix/get-env.sh.gen.hh
+
+src/nix-channel/nix-channel.cc: src/nix-channel/unpack-channel.nix.gen.hh
diff --git a/src/nix/main.cc b/src/nix/main.cc
index e9479f564..1e9e07bc0 100644
--- a/src/nix/main.cc
+++ b/src/nix/main.cc
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ void mainWrapped(int argc, char * * argv)
     }
 
     if (argc == 2 && std::string(argv[1]) == "__dump-builtins") {
+        evalSettings.pureEval = false;
         EvalState state({}, openStore("dummy://"));
         auto res = nlohmann::json::object();
         auto builtins = state.baseEnv.values[0]->attrs;
diff --git a/tests/content-addressed.sh b/tests/content-addressed.sh
index 34334b22d..61ec03fe3 100644
--- a/tests/content-addressed.sh
+++ b/tests/content-addressed.sh
@@ -22,3 +22,6 @@ secondSeedArgs=(-j0)
 # dependent derivations always being already built.
 #testDerivation dependentCA
 testDerivation transitivelyDependentCA
+
+nix-instantiate --experimental-features ca-derivations ./content-addressed.nix -A rootCA --arg seed 5
+nix-collect-garbage --experimental-features ca-derivations --option keep-derivations true
diff --git a/tests/describe-stores.sh b/tests/describe-stores.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3fea61483
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/describe-stores.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+source common.sh
+
+# Query an arbitrary value in `nix describe-stores --json`'s output just to
+# check that it has the right structure
+[[ $(nix --experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' describe-stores --json | jq '.["SSH Store"]["compress"]["defaultValue"]') == false ]]
+
+# Ensure that the output of `nix describe-stores` isn't empty
+[[ -n $(nix --experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' describe-stores) ]]
diff --git a/tests/local.mk b/tests/local.mk
index 5d25de019..a1929f96d 100644
--- a/tests/local.mk
+++ b/tests/local.mk
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ nix_tests = \
   linux-sandbox.sh \
   build-dry.sh \
   build-remote-input-addressed.sh \
+  ssh-relay.sh \
   nar-access.sh \
   structured-attrs.sh \
   fetchGit.sh \
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ nix_tests = \
   post-hook.sh \
   function-trace.sh \
   recursive.sh \
+  describe-stores.sh \
   flakes.sh \
   content-addressed.sh
   # parallel.sh
diff --git a/tests/recursive.sh b/tests/recursive.sh
index cf10d55bf..80a178cc7 100644
--- a/tests/recursive.sh
+++ b/tests/recursive.sh
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ rm -f $TEST_ROOT/result
 
 export unreachable=$(nix add-to-store ./recursive.sh)
 
-nix --experimental-features 'nix-command recursive-nix' build -o $TEST_ROOT/result -L --impure --expr '
+NIX_BIN_DIR=$(dirname $(type -p nix)) nix --experimental-features 'nix-command recursive-nix' build -o $TEST_ROOT/result -L --impure --expr '
   with import ./config.nix;
-  with import <nix/config.nix>;
   mkDerivation {
     name = "recursive";
     dummy = builtins.toFile "dummy" "bla bla";
@@ -24,9 +23,10 @@ nix --experimental-features 'nix-command recursive-nix' build -o $TEST_ROOT/resu
 
     buildCommand = '\'\''
       mkdir $out
-      PATH=${nixBinDir}:$PATH
       opts="--experimental-features nix-command"
 
+      PATH=${builtins.getEnv "NIX_BIN_DIR"}:$PATH
+
       # Check that we can query/build paths in our input closure.
       nix $opts path-info $dummy
       nix $opts build $dummy
diff --git a/tests/ssh-relay.sh b/tests/ssh-relay.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dce50974b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ssh-relay.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+source common.sh
+
+echo foo > $TEST_ROOT/hello.sh
+
+ssh_localhost=ssh://localhost
+remote_store=?remote-store=$ssh_localhost
+
+store=$ssh_localhost
+
+store+=$remote_store
+store+=$remote_store
+store+=$remote_store
+
+out=$(nix add-to-store --store "$store" $TEST_ROOT/hello.sh)
+
+[ foo = $(< $out) ]