meta-package-manager 2.2.0

Unified API to handle several package managers.

A CLI and a BitBar plugin to simplify software upgrades from several package managers.

Stable release:

Development:

Source: XKCD #1654.

Features

• Search and list all package managers on the system.

• List outdated packages.

• Sync local package infos.

• Upgrade all outdated packages.

Supported package managers

Package manager	macOS	Linux	Windows	Version
Homebrew	✅			>= 1.0.*
Homebrew Cask	✅			>= 1.0.*
Python 2 pip	✅	✅
Python 3 pip	✅	✅
Node’s npm	✅
Atom’s apm	✅
Ruby’s gem	✅
Mac AppStore via mas	✅			>= 1.3.1

If you’re bored, feel free to add support for new package manager. See the list of good candidates.

Usage

Examples of the package’s mpm CLI.

List global options and commands:

$ mpm
Usage: mpm [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

  CLI for multi-package manager upgrades.

Options:
  -v, --verbosity LEVEL           Either CRITICAL, ERROR, WARNING, INFO or
                                  DEBUG. Defaults to INFO.
  -m, --manager [npm|mas|pip3|pip2|cask|apm|brew|gem]
                                  Restrict sub-command to one package manager.
                                  Defaults to all.
  -o, --output-format [simple|plain|json|fancy]
                                  Rendering mode of the output. Defaults to
                                  fancy.
  --version                       Show the version and exit.
  --help                          Show this message and exit.

Commands:
  managers  List supported package managers and their location.
  outdated  List outdated packages.
  sync      Sync local package info.
  upgrade   Upgrade all packages.

List all supported package managers and their status on current system:

$ mpm managers
╒═══════════════════╤══════╤═════════════════════╤═════════╤══════════════╤═══════════╕
│ Package manager   │ ID   │ CLI path            │ Found   │ Executable   │ Version   │
╞═══════════════════╪══════╪═════════════════════╪═════════╪══════════════╪═══════════╡
│ Atom's apm        │ apm  │ /usr/local/bin/apm  │ ✅       │ ✅            │ ✅         │
├───────────────────┼──────┼─────────────────────┼─────────┼──────────────┼───────────┤
│ Homebrew          │ brew │ /usr/local/bin/brew │ ✅       │ ✅            │ ✅  1.1.2  │
├───────────────────┼──────┼─────────────────────┼─────────┼──────────────┼───────────┤
│ Homebrew Cask     │ cask │ /usr/local/bin/brew │ ✅       │ ✅            │ ✅  1.1.2  │
├───────────────────┼──────┼─────────────────────┼─────────┼──────────────┼───────────┤
│ Ruby Gems         │ gem  │ /usr/bin/gem        │ ✅       │ ✅            │ ✅         │
├───────────────────┼──────┼─────────────────────┼─────────┼──────────────┼───────────┤
│ Mac AppStore      │ mas  │ /usr/local/bin/mas  │ ✅       │ ✅            │ ✅  1.3.1  │
├───────────────────┼──────┼─────────────────────┼─────────┼──────────────┼───────────┤
│ Node's npm        │ npm  │ /usr/local/bin/npm  │ ✅       │ ✅            │ ✅         │
├───────────────────┼──────┼─────────────────────┼─────────┼──────────────┼───────────┤
│ Python 2's Pip    │ pip2 │ /usr/local/bin/pip2 │ ✅       │ ✅            │ ✅         │
├───────────────────┼──────┼─────────────────────┼─────────┼──────────────┼───────────┤
│ Python 3's Pip    │ pip3 │ /usr/local/bin/pip3 │ ✅       │ ✅            │ ✅         │
╘═══════════════════╧══════╧═════════════════════╧═════════╧══════════════╧═══════════╛

BitBar plugin

A copy of the latest stable version of the Meta Package Manager BitBar plugin is always available on BitBar website and plugin repository.

History

The package_manager.py script started its life in my ‘dotfile’ repository, as a rewrite from Bash to Python of the ‘brew-updates.sh’ script.

I then merged both Homebrew and Cask upgrade in the same single script as both were competing with each other when run concurrently.

I finally proposed the script for inclusion in the official BitBar plugin repository. It lived there for a couple of weeks and saw a huge amount of contributions by the community.

With its complexity increasing, it was decided to move the plugin to its own repository. For details, see the migration script.

Current status

Active development of the script is continuing here, in the exact same conditions as we were before moving the repository, like nothing happened.

Each time we reach a releaseable script, we simply tag it and push a copy to the BitBar plugin repository. Plain and simple.

At the same time we maintain a Python library on the side. The library is going to handle all idiosyncracies of supported package managers under a unified API.

Once the library is good enough, we’ll evaluate rebasing the original plugin on it, and lay out a plan for a painless transition, from the standalone script to a bare BitBar-plugin depending on the library alone.

In the mean time we have to temporarily manage duplicate code. But at least the whole project is kept in one centralized place, trying to tackle the same issues.

Contributors

• Kevin Deldycke

• Brian Hartvigsen

License

This software is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2 or later (GPLv2+).

Changes for v2.2.0 (2016-12-25)

• Rename supported property of managers to fresh.

• Allow restriction of package managers to a platform. Closes #7.

• Include supported property in mpm managers sub-command.

• Add optional submenu rendering for BitBar plugin. Closes #23.

• Move Upgrade all menu entry to the bottom of earch section in BitBar plugin.

• Allow destructive unittests in Travis CI jobs.

• Allow usage of pip2 and pip3 managers on Linux.

• Print current platform in debug messages.

• Unittest detection of managers on each platform.

Full changelog.