declpac

Declarative package manager for Arch Linux that syncs your system with a declared package list using pacman.

Features

• Declarative state management — define your desired package list in files or stdin
• Explicit package tracking — marks declared packages as explicit (with --prune)
• Smart orphan cleanup — removes packages no longer needed (with --prune)
• AUR support — builds and installs AUR packages automatically
• Machine-readable output — perfect for scripting

Installation

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/Riyyi/declpac.git
cd declpac
go build -o declpac ./cmd/declpac
sudo mv declpac /usr/local/bin/

Dependencies

• Go 1.21+
• pacman
• makepkg (for AUR support)
• git (for AUR support)
• Root privileges

Usage

# Single state file
sudo declpac --state packages.txt

# Multiple state files
sudo declpac --state base.txt --state apps.txt

# From stdin
cat packages.txt | sudo declpac

# Preview changes without applying
sudo declpac --dry-run --state packages.txt

State File Format

One package name per line, lines beginning with # are comments:

bash
vim
git
docker
# this is a comment

Implicit State File

If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/declpac (or ~/.config/declpac on fallback) exists, its contents are automatically included in the package list.

Options

Flag	Alias	Description
--state	-s	State file(s) to read package list from (can be used multiple times)
--nocheck		Skip safety check (allow significant package count reductions)
--dry-run		Preview changes without applying them
--prune		Mark packages as explicit and cleanup orphans
--verbose	-v	Enable verbose output
--help	-h	Show help message

How It Works

1. Read — Collect packages from all state files and stdin
2. Merge — Combine into single package list
3. Categorize — Check if packages are in official repos or AUR
4. Sync — Install/update packages via pacman
5. Build — Build and install AUR packages via makepkg
6. Mark (with --prune) — Mark declared packages as explicit, all others as dependencies
7. Cleanup (with --prune) — Remove orphaned packages

Database Freshness

If the pacman database is older than 24 hours, it is automatically refreshed.

Logging

Operations are logged to /var/log/declpac.log.

Troubleshooting

Permission denied

Use sudo:

sudo declpac --state packages.txt

Package not found

Check if the package exists:

pacman -Ss <package>

Database sync fails

sudo pacman -Syy

File Structure

declpac/
├── cmd/declpac/
│   └── main.go         # Entry point
├── pkg/
│   ├── input/          # State file/stdin reading
│   ├── fetch/          # Package resolution
│   │   ├── aur/        # AUR support
│   │   └── alpm/       # ALPM support
│   ├── pacman/         # Pacman operations
│   │   ├── read/       # Read packages
│   │   └── sync/       # Sync packages
│   ├── log/            # Logging
│   └── output/         # Output formatting
└── README.md

License

GPL-3.0