User:Svito/AUR helpers

Comment: This is draft for AUR helpers started from Talk:AUR helpers#Native pacman revisited.

Legend

The columns have the following meaning:

• File review: does not source the PKGBUILD at all by default; or, alerts the user and offers the opportunity to inspect the PKGBUILD manually before it is sourced. Some helpers are known to source PKGBUILDs before the user can inspect them, allowing malicious code to be executed. Optional means that there is a command line flag or configuration option to prevent the automatic sourcing before viewing.
• Diff view: ability to view package differences on inspection. Besides the PKGBUILD, this includes changes to files such as .install or .patch files.
• Git clone: uses git-clone(1) by default to retrieve build files from the AUR.
• Reliable parser: ability to handle complex packages by using the provided metadata (RPC/.SRCINFO) instead of PKGBUILD parsing, such as aws-cli-git^AUR.
• Reliable solver: ability to correctly solve and build complex dependency chains, such as ros-lunar-desktop^AUR.
• Split packages: ability to correctly build and install:

– Multiple packages from the same package base, without rebuilding or reinstalling multiple times, such as clion^AUR

– Split packages which depend on a package from the same package base, such as libc++^AUR and libc++abi^AUR.

– Split packages independently, such as python-pyalsaaudio^AUR and python2-pyalsaaudio^AUR.

• Clean build: does not export new variables that can prevent a successful build process.
• Batch interaction: ability to prompt in direct succession beforehand, in particular for:

1. Inspection of package files or their differences;
2. Summary of package upgrades;
3. Resolution of package conflicts and installations.

An asterisk denotes functionality specifically enabled by the user.

• Shell completion: tab completion is available for the listed shells.

Note:

• Table rows are sorted by column values, where Yes or N/A take precedence over Partial or Optional and No, or alphabetically if values are equal.
• Optional means that a feature is available, but only through a command-line argument or configuration option. Partial means that a feature is not fully implemented, or that it partially deviates from the given criteria.

Search and download only

Name	Written in	File review	Git clone	Reliable parser	Reliable solver	Shell completion	Specificity
pbgetAUR	Python	Yes	Yes	Yes	–	–	–
yaahAUR	Bash	Yes	Optional	Yes	–	bash	–
auracle-gitAUR	C++	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	–	print build order
cowerAUR	C	Yes	No	Yes	–	bash, zsh	regex support, sort by votes/popularity
package-queryAUR	C	Yes	–	No	–	–	–
repoctlAUR	Go	Yes	No	Yes	–	zsh	local repository support
aurelAUR (discontinued)	Emacs Lisp	Yes	No	Yes	–	–	Emacs integration

AUR only

Name	Written in	File review	Diff view	Git clone	Reliable parser	Reliable solver	Split packages	Clean build	Batch interaction	Shell completion	Specificity
aurutilsAUR	Bash/C	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	1	zsh	vifm, local repository, package signing, clean chroot support, sort by votes/popularity
bauerbillAUR	Python	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	1	bash, zsh	trust management, ABS support, extends powerpill, bb-wrapper for pacman wrapping
PKGBUILDerAUR	Python	Optional	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	1*	–	automatic builds by default, use -F to disable; multilingual, pb-wrapper for pacman wrapping
naamanAUR	Python	Optional	No	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial	Yes	1*	bash	automatic builds by default, use --fetch to disable; use -d to enable the solver
repofishAUR	Bash	Optional	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	1*	–	automatic builds by default, use check or update to disable; local repository support
aurgetAUR	Bash	Optional	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	–	bash, zsh	sort by votes
spinachAUR (discontinued)	Bash	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	–	–	–
burgaurAUR (discontinued)	Python/C	Optional	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	–	–	wrapper for cower

pacman wrappers

Warning: pacman(8) wrappers abstract the work of the package manager and may introduce (optionally or by default) unsafe flags, or other unexpected behavior leading to a defective system.

Name	Written in	File review	Diff view	Git clone	Reliable parser	Reliable solver	Split packages	Clean build	Unsafe flags	Batch interaction	Shell completion	Specificity
yayAUR	Go	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	-Sy, --ask	1, 2*, 3*	bash, fish, zsh	fetch PGP keys, sort by votes/popularity, prompt architecture
pakkuAUR	Nim	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	-Sy	1	bash, zsh	ABS support, AUR comments, fetch PGP keys
pikaurAUR	Python	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	-Sy	1, 2, 3	bash, fish, zsh	dynamic users, multilingual, sort by votes/popularity, print news, ignore errors
trizenAUR	Perl	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	-Ud	1*	bash, fish, zsh	automatic builds by default, use -G to disable; AUR comments
auraAUR	Haskell	Optional	Partial	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	–	1*	bash, zsh	automatic builds by default, use --dryrun to disable; downgrade support, multilingual
yaourtAUR	Bash/C	No [1] [2]	Optional	Optional	No	No	No	No	-Sy	2	bash, fish, zsh	db backup – not a replacement for system backup! ABS support, print AUR comments, multilingual
aurmanAUR (no user support)	Python	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	-Sy, --ask	1, 2*, 3*	bash, fish	fetch PGP keys, sort by votes/popularity, print news
pacaurAUR (discontinued)	Bash/C	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	-Ud, --ask	1, 3	bash, zsh	multilingual, sort by votes/popularity
wrapaurAUR (discontinued)	Bash	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	–	–	–	mirror updates, print news and AUR comments
packer-aurAUR (discontinued)	Bash	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	–	–	–	–