Getting Started

With pkgx it couldn’t be simpler to run anything from the Open Source ecosystem:

$ pkgx openai --version
openai 1.59.6

Search

Generally you don’t need to search since you already know what you want to run, so just type it! Sometimes though you want to browse.

We have a web based package listing atpkgx.dev/pkgs/. This is the most thorough resource at this time.

And from the CLI you can use query mode:

$ pkgx -Q git
# ^^ can we run git?

$ pkgx -Q | grep git-
# ^^ search for all git extensions

$ $ pkgx -Q
# ^^ list every program pkgx can run

Run Any Version

$ pkgx postgres@12 --version
postgres (PostgreSQL) 12.14

SemVer

Generally you probably want @ syntax, but if you need more specificity we fully support SemVer:

$ pkgx postgres^12 --version
postgres (PostgreSQL) 12.14

$ pkgx "postgres>=12<14" --version
postgres (PostgreSQL) 13.11

$ pkgx deno=1.35.3 --version
deno 1.35.3

Running the Latest Version

pkgx foo runs the latest “foo” that is installed.

If you want to ensure the latest version of “foo” is installed, usepkgx mash upgrade foo.

Adding Additional Packages to the Execution Environment

It can be useful to run a program with additional packages in the environment.

pkgx +openssl cargo build

Here +pkg syntax added OpenSSL to Cargo’s environment. Thus the build will see the OpenSSL headers and libraries.

Disambiguation

In some cases pkgx foo may be ambiguous because multiple packages providefoo.

In such cases pkgx will error and ask you be more specific by using fully-qualified-names:

$ pkgx yarn --version
error: multiple projects provide `yarn`. please be more specific:

    pkgx +classic.yarnpkg.com yarn --version
    pkgx +yarnpkg.com yarn --version

In general it's a good idea to specify fully qualified names in scripts, etc. since you want these to work forever.

Running System Commands

It can be useful to run system commands with a package environment injected. To do this either specify the full path of the system executable:

pkgx +llvm.org /usr/bin/make

Or separate your commands with --:

pkgx +llvm.org -- make  # finds `make` in PATH, failing if none found

If you only specified make rather than /usr/bin/make or separating with-- make then pkgx would install GNU make for you and use that.

Dumping the Environment

If you don’t specify anything to run, pkgx will install any +pkgs and then dump the environment:

$ pkgx +gum
PATH="$HOME/.pkgx/charm.sh/gum/v0.14.5/bin${PATH:+:$PATH}"

This can be useful in scripts or for adding tools to your shell:

$ eval "$(pkgx +gum)"
$ gum --version
gum version 0.14.5

For this mode we can also output JSON: pkgx +gum --json.

Quietening Output

$ pkgx --quiet gum format 'download progress is still shown'
# ^^ supresses resolving/syncing etc. messages but not download progress info
# `pkgx -q` is the same

```sh
pkgx --silent gum format 'no output at all'
# ^^ silences everything, even errors
# ^^ `pkgx -qq` is the same

Note that this only effects pkgx not the tools you run with pkgx.

Ensuring Packages

In some cases you don’t want to use a pkgx package if the user has that package already installed to their system. For these cases we provide anensure script:

$ pkgx mash ensure git --version
# ^^ runs system `git` if installed, otherwise installs the `pkgx` pkg

$ eval "$(pkgx mash ensure +git)"
# ^^ adds pkgx git to the environment *unless* it is installed to the system

“Virtual Environments”

You can set PKGX_DIR to have pkgx install packages there. This can be useful for creating “virtual environments” for various usages.

$ export PKGX_DIR="$PWD/foo"  # must be an absolute path or is ignored

$ pkgx +gum
$ find foo
foo/charm.sh/gum/v0.14.5/bin/gum

$ eval "$(pkgx +gum)"
$ echo $PATH
$PWD/foo/charm.sh/gum/v0.14.5/bin/gum:…

Other Common Needs

pkgx is not a package manager. Thus the command itself doesn’t typically offer such operations you may expect, however the way pkgx works is simple and standardized so we offer some mash scripts to help.

Longer term we will make a tool pkgq to help with these operations.

Listing Outdated Packages

pkgx mash outdated

Upgrading Packages

pkgx foo executes the latest version of foo that is downloaded. To ensure you have (any) newer versions installed use this command:

$ pkgx mash upgrade
updating: /Users/mxcl/.pkgx/python.org/v3.11.11
# snip…

You can specify args to upgrade only specific packages.

Pruning Older Versions of Packages

The pkgx download cache can get large over time. To prune older versions:

$ pkgx mash prune
pruning: ~/.pkgx/deno.land/v1.39.4
pruning: ~/.pkgx/deno.land/v1.46.3
# snip…

This may delete versions that you use—if so—this is fine. pkgx will just reinstall them next time you need them.

Listing Available Versions for a Package

ie. what versions could be run by pkgx:

$ pkgx mash inventory git
2.38.1
2.39.0
# snip…

Listing What is Downloaded

$ pkgx mash ls

  Parent Directory                │Version
  ────────────────────────────────┼──────────
  perl.org                        │5.40.0
  x.org/xcb                       │1.17.0
  # snip…