pkgmap

Cross-distribution Linux package name resolution.

Different distributions often package the exact same software under different names (for example, ninja on Arch is ninja-build on Debian and Alpine; bat on Arch is rust-bat on Debian and Fedora; fd on Arch is rust-fd-find on Debian; Nixpkgs uses specific attribute paths). pkgmap provides an offline SQLite database and a companion Python library/CLI to translate package names between any pair of Linux distributions, resolve packages across all repositories, or look up native packages by upstream project name.

Data is updated daily from Repology and indexed for instant local lookups. On first run, pkgmap automatically downloads and decompresses the latest daily database snapshot (~/.cache/pkgmap/).

• PyPI: pkgmap-py
• Web Interface: levizor.github.io/pkgmap (runs 100% client-side via SQLite WebAssembly + OPFS)

CLI Usage

Translate between distributions

Use --from (-f) and --to (-t):

# What is Arch's 'bat' called in Debian?
pkgmap resolve bat --from arch --to debian
# Output: rust-bat (0.24.0)

# What is Arch's 'fd' in Nixpkgs?
pkgmap resolve fd -f arch -t nixpkgs
# Output: fd (10.5.0)

Batch resolution

Pass multiple package names to resolve them in a single query:

pkgmap resolve git gcc bat --from nix --to gnuguix

Output:

git -> git (2.54.0)
gcc -> gcc (15.2.0)
bat -> bat (0.26.1)

Resolve across all distributions

Omit --to to see equivalents across every indexed distribution:

pkgmap resolve bat --from arch

Output:

alpine_edge: bat (0.24.0)
debian_unstable: rust-bat (0.24.0)
fedora_rawhide: rust-bat (0.26.1)
nix_unstable: bat (0.26.1)
ubuntu_24_04: rust-bat (0.24.0)
...

Look up by upstream project name

Omit --from (or pass --project / -p) to resolve packages directly from an upstream project name:

pkgmap resolve ripgrep --to debian
# Output: rust-ripgrep (14.1.0)

JSON output

To output machine-readable JSON (great for automation and scripts), add --json / -j:

pkgmap resolve bat -f arch -t debian --json

[
  {
    "name": "rust-bat",
    "version": "0.24.0",
    "repo": "debian_unstable",
    "repo_family": "debuntu"
  }
]

When multiple packages are passed with --json, the output is a dictionary keyed by each input package name.

Other commands

# List available distributions and repository slugs
pkgmap repos

# Manually refresh the local database snapshot
pkgmap update

# Download the full database (all 330+ Repology repositories)
pkgmap update --full

Core vs. Full Database Variants

pkgmap publishes two database snapshots with every daily release:

• CLI behavior: Defaults to the Core database (~/.cache/pkgmap/pkgmap-core.db) unless the Full database is already downloaded locally or --full is passed. If you query a repository not present in Core, the CLI prompts you to run pkgmap update --full. You can also pass --core or --full to any CLI command (resolve, update, repos).
• Python library behavior: Defaults to the Full database (~/.cache/pkgmap/pkgmap.db). Call set_default_variant("core") (or set PKGMAP_DB_VARIANT=core) to use the Core database instead.

Python API

You can use pkgmap as a Python library:

from pkgmap import resolve, resolve_all, resolve_batch, set_default_variant

# Optional: switch library default from 'full' to 'core'
# set_default_variant("core")

# 1. Single package resolution
res = resolve("bat", from_repo="arch", to_repo="debian")
if res:
    print(res.name, res.version)
    # Output: rust-bat 0.24.0

# 2. Query all repositories for equivalents
matches = resolve_all("bat", from_repo="arch")
for r in matches:
    print(f"{r.repo}: {r.name}")

# 3. High-performance batch resolution (executed in a single SQL query)
packages = ["bat", "fd", "ripgrep"]
results = resolve_batch(packages, from_repo="arch", to_repo="nixpkgs")

for pkg, match in results.items():
    if match:
        print(f"{pkg} -> {match.name}")

API Methods

• resolve(package, from_repo=None, to_repo=None, db_path=None): Resolves a package to a single match.
• resolve_all(package, from_repo=None, to_repo=None, db_path=None): Returns all matching packages.
• resolve_batch(packages, from_repo=None, to_repo=None, db_path=None): Resolves a sequence of packages in a single batch query, returning {package: PackageResolution | None}.
• resolve_batch_all(packages, from_repo=None, to_repo=None, db_path=None): Batch resolution returning {package: list[PackageResolution]}.
• list_repositories(db_path=None): Returns all repositories with package counts and families.
• set_default_variant(variant): Sets the default database variant ("full" or "core").
• get_default_variant(): Returns the active default database variant.

Configuration

By default, databases are cached at:

• Full database: ~/.cache/pkgmap/pkgmap.db
• Core database: ~/.cache/pkgmap/pkgmap-core.db

You can customize behavior using environment variables:

• PKGMAP_DB_VARIANT: Set to core or full to override the default database variant.
• PKGMAP_DB_PATH: Override the database file path directly:

  export PKGMAP_DB_PATH="/path/to/custom/pkgmap.db"
  

• Or pass --db-path on the CLI / db_path in Python.

Attribution

Data is sourced daily from Repology. Repology's data is published under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 license.