diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md
index 5f2c384473da..7b06a89c3245 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md
@@ -399,6 +399,10 @@ The pre-existing [services.ankisyncd](#opt-services.ankisyncd.enable) has been m
   upgrade NetBox by changing `services.netbox.package`. Database migrations
   will be run automatically.
 
+- `gauge` now supports installing plugins using nix. For the old imperative approach, switch to `gauge-unwrapped`.
+  You can load plugins from an existing gauge manifest file using `gauge.fromManifest ./path/to/manifest.json` or
+  specify plugins in nix using `gauge.withPlugins (p: with p; [ js html-report xml-report ])`.
+
 - `firefox-devedition`, `firefox-beta`, `firefox-esr` executable file names for now match their package names, which is consistent with the `firefox-*-bin` packages. The desktop entries are also updated so that you can have multiple editions of firefox in your app launcher.
 
 - switch-to-configuration does not directly call systemd-tmpfiles anymore.
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/gauge/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/gauge/default.nix
index efe9917a0d8a..f1cdcbe0a538 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/gauge/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/gauge/default.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ buildGoModule rec {
   pname = "gauge";
   version = "1.6.6";
 
+  patches = [
+    # adds a check which adds an error message when trying to
+    # install plugins imperatively when using the wrapper
+    ./nix-check.patch
+  ];
+
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "getgauge";
     repo = "gauge";
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/gauge/nix-check.patch b/pkgs/development/tools/gauge/nix-check.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..37aec8a51b62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/gauge/nix-check.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+diff --git a/plugin/install/install.go b/plugin/install/install.go
+index 60c61550..d7573c2d 100644
+--- a/plugin/install/install.go
++++ b/plugin/install/install.go
+@@ -151,6 +151,7 @@ func isOSCompatible(zipfile string) bool {
+ 
+ // InstallPluginFromZipFile installs plugin from given zip file
+ func InstallPluginFromZipFile(zipFile string, pluginName string) InstallResult {
++	CheckForNixStore(fmt.Sprintf("Tried to install the plugin `%s`.", pluginName))
+ 	if !isPlatformIndependent(zipFile) && !isOSCompatible(zipFile) {
+ 		err := fmt.Errorf("provided plugin is not compatible with OS %s %s", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH)
+ 		return installError(err)
+@@ -314,6 +315,7 @@ func runPlatformCommands(commands platformSpecificCommand, workingDir string) er
+ // UninstallPlugin uninstall the given plugin of the given uninstallVersion
+ // If uninstallVersion is not specified, it uninstalls all the versions of given plugin
+ func UninstallPlugin(pluginName string, uninstallVersion string) {
++	CheckForNixStore(fmt.Sprintf("Tried to uninstall the plugin `%s`.", pluginName))
+ 	pluginsHome, err := common.GetPrimaryPluginsInstallDir()
+ 	if err != nil {
+ 		logger.Fatalf(true, "Failed to uninstall plugin %s. %s", pluginName, err.Error())
+@@ -518,6 +520,7 @@ func AllPlugins(silent, languageOnly bool) {
+ 
+ // UpdatePlugins updates all the currently installed plugins to its latest version
+ func UpdatePlugins(silent bool) {
++	CheckForNixStore("Tried to update plugins")
+ 	var failedPlugin []string
+ 	pluginInfos, err := pluginInfo.GetPluginsInfo()
+ 	if err != nil {
+@@ -673,3 +676,21 @@ func AddPluginToProject(pluginName string) error {
+ 	logger.Infof(true, "Plugin %s was successfully added to the project\n", pluginName)
+ 	return nil
+ }
++
++func CheckForNixStore(message string) error {
++	installDir, err := common.GetPrimaryPluginsInstallDir()
++	if err != nil {
++		return err
++	}
++	if strings.HasPrefix(installDir, "/nix/store") {
++
++		// check if we're installing in the sandbox
++		if os.Getenv("NIX_GAUGE_IN_SANDBOX") == "true" {
++			return nil
++		}
++		logger.Errorf(true, "%s\ngauge is installed with nix.\nPlease install plugins using nix or use the `gauge-unwrapped` package.", message)
++		os.Exit(1)
++
++	}
++	return nil
++}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/gauge/wrapper.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/gauge/wrapper.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..cbc192bf12c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/gauge/wrapper.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+{ gauge-unwrapped
+, makeWrapper
+, stdenvNoCC
+, lib
+, xorg
+, gaugePlugins
+, plugins ? []
+}:
+
+stdenvNoCC.mkDerivation {
+  pname = "gauge-wrapped";
+  inherit (gauge-unwrapped) version;
+
+  dontUnpack = true;
+
+  installPhase = ''
+    mkdir -p $out{bin,/share/gauge/{plugins,config}}
+    export NIX_GAUGE_IN_SANDBOX=true
+    export GAUGE_HOME=$(mktemp -d)
+
+    # run gauge to create config files
+    cd $(mktemp -d)
+    gauge init js || true
+
+    mkdir -p "$out/share/gauge/config"
+    mv "$GAUGE_HOME"/config/{gauge,template}.properties "$out/share/gauge/config"
+
+    export GAUGE_HOME="$out/share/gauge"
+
+    ${lib.concatMapStringsSep "\n" (plugin: ''
+      for plugin in "$(ls ${plugin}/share/gauge-plugins)"; do
+        echo Installing gauge plugin $plugin
+        mkdir -p "$GAUGE_HOME/plugins/$plugin"
+        # Use lndir here
+        # gauge checks for a directory, which fails if it's a symlink
+        # It's easier to link this with lndir, than patching an upstream dependency
+        lndir "${plugin}/share/gauge-plugins/$plugin" "$GAUGE_HOME/plugins/$plugin"
+      done
+    '') plugins}
+
+    makeWrapper ${gauge-unwrapped}/bin/gauge $out/bin/gauge \
+      --set GAUGE_HOME "$GAUGE_HOME"
+  '';
+
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ gauge-unwrapped makeWrapper xorg.lndir ];
+
+  inherit (gauge-unwrapped) meta;
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index b604757b0e68..d86301632c8b 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -8326,7 +8326,8 @@ with pkgs;
 
   gau = callPackage ../tools/security/gau { };
 
-  gauge = callPackage ../development/tools/gauge { };
+  gauge-unwrapped = callPackage ../development/tools/gauge { };
+  gauge = callPackage ../development/tools/gauge/wrapper.nix { };
   gaugePlugins = recurseIntoAttrs (callPackage ../development/tools/gauge/plugins {});
 
   gawd = python3Packages.toPythonApplication python3Packages.gawd;