diff --git a/doc/stdenv/stdenv.chapter.md b/doc/stdenv/stdenv.chapter.md
index 93351ce1bdb3c..3a50ac560b331 100644
--- a/doc/stdenv/stdenv.chapter.md
+++ b/doc/stdenv/stdenv.chapter.md
@@ -1409,3 +1409,35 @@ If the libraries lack `-fPIE`, you will get the error `recompile with -fPIE`.
 [^footnote-stdenv-sys-lib-search-path]: It clears the `sys_lib_*search_path` variables in the Libtool script to prevent Libtool from using libraries in `/usr/lib` and such.
 [^footnote-stdenv-build-time-guessing-impurity]: Eventually these will be passed building natively as well, to improve determinism: build-time guessing, as is done today, is a risk of impurity.
 [^footnote-stdenv-per-platform-wrapper]: Each wrapper targets a single platform, so if binaries for multiple platforms are needed, the underlying binaries must be wrapped multiple times. As this is a property of the wrapper itself, the multiple wrappings are needed whether or not the same underlying binaries can target multiple platforms.
+
+### CC wrapper post-wrapper-hook {#post-wrapper-hook}
+
+The post wrapper hook can be used to inject code into the [compiler wrapper](#cc-wrapper).
+If the file `${cc}/nix-support/post-wrapper-hook.sh` exists, it will be sourced by the compiler wrapper just before the unwrapped compiler is invoked.
+The post wrapper hook executes in the same environment as the compiler wrapper, so it has access to all the environment variables used by the wrapper, for example `extraBefore`, `params` and `extraAfter` which store all the command line arguments passed to the compiler.
+
+### Generating compile_commands.json files {#compile-commands-json}
+
+A `compile_commands.json` is a record of all the compiler invocations which occoured when building a C or C++ project.
+The specification can be found [here](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/JSONCompilationDatabase.html).
+A `compile_commands.json` is used by lsp servers like `clangd` to provide IDE features to editors for C and C++.
+The most popular tool for generating a `compile_commands.json` is [bear](https://github.com/rizsotto/Bear).
+In nixpkgs standard environments, [compilers are wrapped](#cc-wrapper), and bear can have trouble distinguishing between invocations of the compiler wrapper and invocations of the unwrapped compiler.
+
+The mini-compile-commands package is a nixpkgs specific tool for generating a `compile_commands.json`. The package consists of two files: `mini_compile_commands_server.py` and `mini_compile_commands_client.py`.
+The basic idea is that we inject the `mini_compile_commands_client.py` into the compiler wrapper using a [post-wrapper-hook](#post-wrapper-hook).
+Whenever the wrapper is executed, it sends the unwrapped compile command to a running `mini_compile_commands_server.py`, which collects them and when shut down, writes a `compile_commands.json`.
+The client server architecture is required to handle parallel builds.
+
+The `mini-compile-commands.wrap` function takes a nixpkgs standard environment, and returns a new standard environment with the `mini_compile_commands_client.py` insert into the compiler wrapper as a post wrapper hook and `mini_compile_commands_server.py` in scope.
+
+For example, we can use the following environment to build the linux kernel:
+
+```
+nix-shell -E "with (import <nixpkgs> {}); linux.override { stdenv = (mini-compile-commands.wrap stdenv); }"
+```
+
+Clone the linux kernel source tree, and spawn two shells with the above command.
+In the first run `mini_compile_commands_server.py compile_commands.json`.
+In the second run `make $makeFlags defconfig -j $(nproc); make $makeFlags -j $(nproc)`.
+Once the build has finished, close `mini_compile_commands_server.py` and a `compile_commands.json` will be generated.
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/cc-wrapper/cc-wrapper.sh b/pkgs/build-support/cc-wrapper/cc-wrapper.sh
index 78759f2cfbbc4..50e961e5dd5f3 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/cc-wrapper/cc-wrapper.sh
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/cc-wrapper/cc-wrapper.sh
@@ -219,6 +219,12 @@ fi
 PATH="$path_backup"
 # Old bash workaround, see above.
 
+# if a post-wrapper-hook exists, run it.
+if [[ -e @out@/nix-support/post-wrapper-hook.sh ]]; then
+    compiler=@prog@
+    source @out@/nix-support/post-wrapper-hook.sh
+fi
+
 if (( "${NIX_CC_USE_RESPONSE_FILE:-@use_response_file_by_default@}" >= 1 )); then
     exec @prog@ @<(printf "%q\n" \
        ${extraBefore+"${extraBefore[@]}"} \
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/mini-compile-commands/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/mini-compile-commands/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..690e415165a7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/mini-compile-commands/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+{ lib
+, stdenv
+, fetchFromGitHub
+, python3Minimal
+}:
+
+rec {
+  # function for wrapping a standard environment to include the
+  # compile commands generation functionality
+  wrap = env:
+    let
+      hook = "ln -s ${package}/bin/post-wrapper-hook.sh $out/nix-support/post-wrapper-hook.sh\n";
+    in
+      env.override (old: {
+        cc = old.cc.overrideAttrs (final: previous: {
+          installPhase = previous.installPhase or "" + hook;
+        });
+        extraBuildInputs = old.extraBuildInputs or [] ++ [ package ];
+        allowedRequisites = null;
+      });
+
+  # mini compile commands package. You probably don't want to use this directly.
+  # instead, wrap your standard environment: ( mini-compile-commands.wrap stdenv )
+  package = stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+    pname = "mini_compile_commands";
+    version = "0.1";
+
+    src = fetchFromGitHub {
+      owner = "danielbarter";
+      repo = "mini_compile_commands";
+      rev = "v${version}";
+      sha256 = "0yDocHY4+DsakFXDnrCa/d4ZTGxjFCW68zB8F5GsRuo=";
+    };
+
+    # specifying python environment variable so that it gets substituted
+    # during install phase
+    python = python3Minimal;
+
+    installPhase = ''
+      mkdir -p $out/bin
+      export mini_compile_commands_client=$out/bin/mini_compile_commands_client.py
+      for file in $(ls $src); do
+        substituteAll $src/$file $out/bin/$file
+        chmod +x $out/bin/$file
+      done
+    '';
+
+    meta = with lib; {
+      homepage = "https://github.com/danielbarter/mini_compile_commands";
+      description = "Generate compile_commands.json using nixpkgs infrastructure";
+      license = licenses.gpl3;
+      maintainers = with maintainers; [ danielbarter ];
+      platforms = platforms.linux;
+    };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 8e6891b07f4cd..6c24299d9b587 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -8381,6 +8381,8 @@ with pkgs;
 
   minica = callPackage ../tools/security/minica { };
 
+  mini-compile-commands = callPackage ../development/tools/mini-compile-commands { };
+
   minidlna = callPackage ../tools/networking/minidlna { };
 
   miniplayer = callPackage ../applications/audio/miniplayer { };