apt-search

Search Ubuntu packages.

Motivation

I needed a way to find the right package for missing header files. I tried apt-file, but for some reason it was constantly complaining with

E: The cache is empty. You need to run "apt-file update" first.

The alternative was to search the Ubuntu packages in the browser, but I wanted a tool for the CLI. So I had the idea to parse the HTML search result and give a nice terminal output.

Installation

Use pip or pipx for installation:

pip install --user apt-search
# or
pipx install apt-search

Usage

Just execute the apt-search command with the filename you are looking for:

apt-search --help
# Usage: main.py [OPTIONS] FILENAME
#
# Arguments:
#   FILENAME  [required]
#
# Options:
#   --suite TEXT                    [default: jammy]
#   --arch TEXT                     [default: any]
#   --help                          Show this message and exit.