In r-lib/depends: Package Dependency Resolution and Downloads

Features

• Look up package dependencies recursively.
• Visualize package dependencies.
• Download packages and their dependencies.
• Install downloaded packages.
• Includes a dependency solver to find a consistent set of dependencies.
• Supports CRAN and Bioconductor packages automatically.
• Supports packages on GitHub and GitLab.
• Supports packages in git repositories.
• Supports package bundles or files on the web.
• Supports local package file and trees.
• Supports the Remotes entry in the DESCRIPTION file.
• Caches metadata and downloaded packages via pkgcache
• Performs all downloads and HTTP queries concurrently.
• Builds and installs packages in parallel.

Install

Install the package with:

install.packages("pkgdepends")

If you need the development version, install it with

pak::pak("r-lib/pkgdepends")

Usage

library(pkgdepends)

Package references

A package reference (ref) specifies a location from which an R package can be obtained from. Examples:

devtools
cran::devtools
bioc::Biobase
r-lib/pkgdepends
https://github.com/r-lib/pkgdepends
local::~/works/shiny

See "Package references" for details.

Package dependencies

Dependencies of the development version of the cli package:

```{asciicast deps} pd <- new_pkg_deps("r-lib/pkgcache") pd$solve() pd$draw()

See the [`pkg_deps`][pkg_deps] class for details.

## Package downloads

Downloading all dependencies of a package:

```{asciicast download}
pdl <- new_pkg_download_proposal("r-lib/cli")
pdl$resolve()
pdl$download()

See the pkg_download_proposal class for details.

Package installation

Installing or updating a set of package:

{asciicast install} lib <- tempfile() dir.create(lib) pdi <- new_pkg_installation_proposal( "r-lib/cli", config = list(library = lib) ) pdi$solve() pdi$download() pdi$install()

Dependency resolution

pkg_deps, pkg_download_proposal and pkg_installation_proposal all resolve their dependencies recursively, to obtain information about all packages needed for the specified package references. See "Dependency resolution" for details.

The dependency solver

The dependency solver takes the resolution information, and works out the exact versions of each package that must be installed, such that version and other requirements are satisfied. See "The dependency solver" for details.

Installation plans

pkg_installation_proposal can create installation plans, and then also install them. It is also possible to import installation plans that were created by other tools. See "Installation plans" for details.

Configuration

The details of pkg_deps, pkg_download_proposal and pkg_installation_proposal can be tuned with a list of configuration options. See "Configuration" for details.

Related

• pak -- R package manager
• pkgcache -- Metadata and package cache
• devtools -- Tools for R package developers

Code of Conduct

Please note that the pkgdepends project is released with a Contributor Code of Conduct. By contributing to this project, you agree to abide by its terms.

License

MIT (c) RStudio

r-lib/depends documentation built on April 14, 2025, 1:59 a.m.