go-package-manager

pkgmgr is a Go library that abstracts system package managers behind a single Manager interface. One code path can install, upgrade, search, and manage repositories on Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, Arch, Alpine, macOS, and more, without each caller hard-coding apt/dnf/pacman invocations.

API documentation is available on pkg.go.dev.

Supported managers

Manager	Type	Format	Notes
zypper	root	rpm	openSUSE
dnf	root	rpm	Fedora / RHEL
yum	root	rpm	Legacy RHEL
apt	root	deb	Debian / Ubuntu
apt-get	root	deb	Debian / Ubuntu
pacman	root	pacman	Arch
apk	root	apk	Alpine
brew	unpriv.	bottle	Homebrew; refuses to run as root
yay	unpriv.	pacman	AUR helper; pacman drop-in
paru	unpriv.	pacman	AUR helper; pacman drop-in

Root-type managers escalate privileged commands through a configurable wrapper (sudo by default). Homebrew and the AUR helpers must not run as root, so they bypass the wrapper and instead drop to an unprivileged user via sudo -u when the process is running as root.

Installation

go get github.com/grmrgecko/go-package-manager

Usage

Resolve the active system manager, then drive it through the interface. The example below installs a package, escalating with sudo when not already root.

package main

import (
	"context"
	"log"

	pkgmgr "github.com/grmrgecko/go-package-manager"
)

func main() {
	m := pkgmgr.GetSystemManager()
	if m == nil {
		log.Fatal("no supported package manager found")
	}

	// Wrap privileged commands with sudo when not running as root.
	m.UseSudoWhenNeeded()

	ctx := context.Background()
	if err := m.Sync(ctx, nil); err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}
	if err := m.Install(ctx, nil, "htop"); err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}

	results, err := m.Search(ctx, nil, "editor")
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}
	for _, r := range results {
		log.Printf("%s %s - %s", r.Name, r.Version, r.Summary)
	}
}

Selecting a manager explicitly

GetSystemManager auto-detects in priority order. To target a specific manager, construct it directly:

m := &pkgmgr.Apt{}
m.UseSudoWhenNeeded()

AUR helpers must be constructed through their constructors so the helper binary name is set:

yay := pkgmgr.NewYay()
paru := pkgmgr.NewParu()

Interface

The Manager interface covers the full package lifecycle. Methods that perform I/O take a context.Context for cancellation and timeouts.

• Identity: Name, Format, Path
• Privilege: SetCmdWrapper, UseSudoWhenNeeded
• Prompts: AssumeYes (answer confirmation prompts automatically)
• I/O: SetIO (override stdin/stdout/stderr of spawned commands), SetEnv (add environment variables to spawned commands only)
• Repos: AddRepo, AddRepoURL, RemoveRepo, GetRepo, ListRepos
• Keys: AddRepoKey, AddRepoKeyFile, AddRepoKeyURL
• Packages: Sync, Install, Remove, Upgrade, InstallFile, UpgradeAll, Clean
• Queries: Search, Info, ListInstalled, ListUpgradable

Search returns structured SearchResult values; Info returns the underlying tool's native text output; ListInstalled and ListUpgradable return name -> version maps. ListRepos returns every configured repo as a name -> configuration map, where each value matches what GetRepo returns for that name.

Privilege handling

Two mechanisms cover opposite requirements:

• Root managers (apt, dnf, pacman, ...) need root for mutating operations. UseSudoWhenNeeded sets the wrapper to sudo when the process is not already root.
• Non-root managers (brew, yay, paru) refuse to run as root. They use an embedded dropPrivilege to run their command as an unprivileged user, dropping via sudo -u only when the process is root. The drop user defaults to SUDO_USER and can be set explicitly with SetDropUser.

A custom command wrapper (for example []string{"sudo", "-n"}) can be supplied through SetCmdWrapper.

Unattended operation

By default the managers run their tools interactively, so a mutating operation prompts for confirmation and aborts when no terminal is attached. AssumeYes enables unattended mode: each manager injects its own non-interactive confirmation flag (-y for dnf/yum/apt, --noconfirm for pacman/AUR helpers, --non-interactive for zypper) into Install, Remove, Upgrade, InstallFile, and UpgradeAll. A flag supplied explicitly through a method's args is not duplicated.

A package whose install scripts read a value from the environment, such as a license token, can be given it with SetEnv instead of os.Setenv, so it reaches only this manager's commands and not the rest of the process. Commands wrapped with sudo see it only where sudo's policy keeps the environment.

Testing

go test ./...

The suite verifies that every manager satisfies the Manager interface and exercises the command wrapper, I/O overrides, privilege drop logic, and the output parsers.