📦 Package Managers

This page defines the fundation of the package manager ecosystem.

Pacakage Manager	CLIs	Installable	Source	Global	Project	Website
Debian	apt	Package	PPA	✅	❌	Ubuntu Packages Search
Homebrew	brew	Formula / Formulae / Cask 1	Tap	✅	❌	Homebrew
Python	pip	Module	URL	✅	❌	PyPI
npm	npm	Package		✅	✅	npm
Ruby	gem, bndle	Gem	URI	✅	✅	RubyGems
Go	go	Package				Go Packages

Exploring

Dependency

List all dependencies of an installable.

In another word, find out a package depend on which other packages.

apt

apt depends _

Homebrew

brew deps _

Python

pipdeptree --packages _

npm

npm ls _ --all

Ruby

gem dependency _

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

warning

For npm, you need to install the package first before you can list its dependencies. In addition, this command is expected change in the future.

Information

Show or view the information of an installable.

apt

apt show _

Homebrew

brew info _

Python

pip show _

npm

npm info _

Ruby

gem info _

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Reverse Dependency

List all dependent installables of a installable.

In another word, find out which installables are using / depend by a installable specified.

apt

apt rdepends _

Homebrew

brew uses _

Python

pipdeptree --reverse --packages _

npm

npm explain _

Ruby

gem dependency _ --reverse-dependencies

Go

go mod why _

Search

Find an installable.

apt

apt search _

Homebrew

brew search _

Python

pip search _

npm

npm search _

Ruby

gem search _

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

caution

PyPI no longer supports 'pip search' (or XML-RPC search)

Install

Install Globally

Globally install an installable on the environment.

apt

apt install _

Homebrew

brew install _

Python

pip install _

npm

npm install -g _

Ruby

gem install _

Go

go install _

Install from List

Install installables from a list of file, file name varies by convention.

apt

xargs -a Aptfile apt install

Homebrew

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Python

pip install -r requirements.txt

npm

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Ruby

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Install Project

Install installables for a project, file name varies by convention.

apt

# N/A

Homebrew

# N/A

Python

# See Install from list

npm

npm install

Ruby

bundle install

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Upgrade

Upgrade

Upgrade an installable.

apt

apt upgrade _

Homebrew

brew upgrade _

Python

pip install --upgrade _

npm

npm update -g _@latest

Ruby

gem update _

Go

go get -u _

Upgrade All Globally

Upgrade all global installables.

apt

apt upgrade

Homebrew

brew upgrade

Python

pip list --outdated --format=json | jq '.[] | .name' | xargs -n1 pip install -U

npm

npm update -g

Ruby

gem update

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

info

The pip commands is modified from this StackOverflow answer.

Uninstall

Uninstall

Uninstall an installable.

apt

apt remove _

Homebrew

brew uninstall _

Python

pip uninstall _

npm

npm uninstall _

Ruby

gem uninstall _

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Uninstall All

Uninstall all global installables.

apt

apt remove --purge $(dpkg -l | grep '^rc' | awk '{print $2}')

Homebrew

brew uninstall --force $(brew list)

Python

pip freeze | xargs pip uninstall -y

npm

npm ls -gp --depth=0 | awk -F/ '/node_modules/ && !/\/npm$/ {print $NF}' | xargs npm -g uninstall

Ruby

gem uninstall -aIx

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

info

The credits for npm commands go to this StackOverflow answer.

Uninstall Useless

Uninstall useless packages that are not required or not used.

warning

Always manually test after running this command to ensure that your project still works as expected.

apt

apt autoremove

Homebrew

brew autoremove

Python

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

npm

npx npm-check # or npx depcheck

Ruby

gem cleanup

Go

go mod tidy

Listing

List Globally Installed

List all globally installed packages.

apt

apt list --installed

Homebrew

brew list

Python

pip list

npm

npm list -g --depth=0

Ruby

gem list

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

List Globally Undepend

List all global packages that are not dependencies of any other global package.

tip

Installable listed by this command typically are not needed anymore and can be removed.

apt

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Homebrew

brew leaves

Python

pip list --not-required

npm

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Ruby

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

List Globally Upgradable

List all global packages that have updates available.

apt

apt list --upgradable

Homebrew

brew outdated

Python

pip list --outdated

npm

npm outdated -g --depth=0

Ruby

gem outdated

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

List Installed (Project)

List all installed packages in the current project.

apt

# N/A

Homebrew

# N/A

Python

pip freeze

npm

npm list --depth=0

Ruby

bundle list

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

List Upgradable (Project)

List all upgradable packages in the current project.

apt

# N/A

Homebrew

# N/A

Python

# N/A

npm

npm outdated --depth=0

Ruby

bundle outdated

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Source

Add Source

Add sources to the package manager to install packages from the new source.

apt

add-apt-repository _

Homebrew

brew tap _

Python

pip config set global.index-url _

npm

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Ruby

gem sources --add _

Go

# N/A

List Sources

List all sources where installables can be installed from.

apt

apt policy

Homebrew

brew tap

Python

pip config get global.index-url

npm

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Ruby

gem sources --list

Go

# N/A

info

If the pip command yield ERROR: No such key, it means the source is the default index url, which is https://pypi.org/simple.

Remove Source

Remove a source from the list of sources used to resolve packages.

apt

add-apt-repository --remove _

Homebrew

brew untap _

Python

pip config unset global.index-url

npm

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Ruby

gem sources --remove _

Go

# N/A

Update

Update installable information from the sources.

apt

apt update

Homebrew

brew update

Python

# N/A

npm

# N/A

Ruby

gem sources --update

Go

# N/A

Mainenance

Cleanup All Cache

Clean up all cache. Does not remove any packages.

apt

apt clean

Homebrew

brew cleanup --prune=all

Python

pip cache purge

npm

npm cache clean

Ruby

gem sources --clear-all

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Cleanup Useless Cache

Clean up useless cache. Does not remove any packages.

apt

apt autoclean

Homebrew

brew cleanup

Python

# N/A

npm

npm prune

Ruby

# N/A

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Healthcheck

Run a healthcheck / diagnosis to verify the package manager / installation is working correctly.

apt

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Homebrew

brew doctor

Python

pip check

npm

npm doctor

Ruby

gem check

Go

# Open a PR to complete this 🫶🏻

Footnotes

1. Homebrew refers to its installables as formula/formulae, which is normally a CLI tool, and cask for everything else, like apps, fonts, and such. ↩