arch-github-package

Convert GitHub project releases to Archlinux package, with autoupdate.

Why

A lot of packages in Archlinux's AUR are just a single PKGBUILD file that downloads the latest release from GitHub, and many of them are human-maintained, which means that they are not updated as soon as a new release is published.

This script provides an alternative. If a GitHub project has binary releases, it can automatically download a release tarball, create a PKGBUILD file, makepkg, and install it. It can also rebuild the package if a new release is found.

Installation

pipx install arch-github-package

pipx installs the package in a virtualenv, so it doesn't pollute your system.

You can also use pip:

pip install --user --break-system-packages arch-github-package

(This will install the package in your user site-packages, not really breaking system packages.)

Usage

Install a package

agp install <github-repo>

Example:

agp install cortesi/devd

How does it work:

1. It looks for the latest release on GitHub.

2. It tries to find a pre-built package for your system, by looking for keywords like "linux", "x86-64", "x86_64", "amd64", "gnu" in the release assets.

3. It downloads the tarball, extracts it, and tries to dertermine which file goes where. E.g.:

   • If a file is ELF, or its x modbit is set, it goes to /usr/bin.
   • Files like *.1.gz go to /usr/share/man.
   • README.* go to /usr/share/doc/<package-name>.
   • LICENSE goes to /usr/share/licenses/<package-name>.

4. It creates a PKGBUILD file, and runs makepkg -si to build and install it. The package name is <github-project-name>-github. E.g., ortesi/devd becomes devd-github.

List installed packages

agp list

Check for upgrades

agp upgrade

You can also use agp upgrade <package-name> to upgrade a single package.

Note: if you run this command repeatively in quick succession, it will hit GitHub's rate limit for anonymous API access.

Uninstall a package

agp uninstall <package-name>

If you uninstall an -github package with pacman, it will still be listed by agp list. So remember to use agp uninstall to remove it.

Internals

Package metadata

Metadata is stored under ~/.local/share/arch-github-package.