pm

pm is a wrapper for package managers. It gives you one command-line interface for all of them.

• Supports pacman, paru, yay, apt, dnf, zypper, apk, brew, and scoop.
• Selects packages interactively with fzf and shows a package information preview.
• Is a single script. Copy it to a directory in your $PATH.
• Follows the POSIX standard. It runs on most systems, including Termux.

Usage

Run pm help to print the usage:

Package manager wrapper (supports: paru yay pacman apt dnf zypper apk brew scoop)

Usage: pm <command>

Commands:
  i,  install          Interactively select packages to install.
  i,  install <pkg>... Install one or more packages.
  r,  remove           Interactively select packages to remove.
  r,  remove <pkg>...  Remove one or more packages.
  u,  upgrade          Upgrade all installed packages.
  f,  fetch            Update local package database.
  n,  info <pkg>       Print package information.
  la, list all         List all packages.
  li, list installed   List installed packages.
  sa  search all       Interactively search between all packages.
  si  search installed Interactively search between installed packages.
  w,  which            Print which package manager pm uses.
  h,  help             Print this help.

Installation

For the current user

If the ~/.local/bin directory exists and is in your $PATH, run the following commands:

curl -o ~/.local/bin/pm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jpikl/pm/refs/heads/master/pm
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/pm

For all users

sudo curl -o /usr/local/bin/pm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jpikl/pm/refs/heads/master/pm
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/pm

For Termux

curl -o /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/pm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jpikl/pm/refs/heads/master/pm
chmod +x /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/pm

Features

Interactive search

If you run the install or remove command without a package name, pm starts an interactive package search with a package information preview.

This feature needs fzf. Install it first: pm install fzf.

AUR helpers

On Arch Linux, pm can install AUR helpers.

Run pm install <helper>. <helper> is paru, yay, or their binary variant (paru-bin, yay-bin).

pm then uses this AUR helper instead of pacman.

Configuration

You configure pm with the following environment variables.

PM

Forces pm to use a specific package manager.

Options: paru, yay, pacman, apt, dnf, zypper, apk, brew, scoop.

By default, pm detects the package manager automatically. It checks for the binaries in the order listed above.

pm install "<package>"           # Auto detect package manager
PM=pacman pm install "<package>" # Use pacman
PM=yay pm install "<package>"    # Use yay

PM_SUDO

Sets the program that runs operations as root.

PM_SUDO=sudo-rs pm install "<package>" # Use alternative sudo command
PM_SUDO=doas pm install "<package>"    # Use alternative sudo command
PM_SUDO= pm install "<package>"        # Disable execution as root

The default value is sudo. If the sudo binary is not available, pm checks for alternatives (sudo-rs, doas).

Inside Termux, pm disables execution as root by default. Set PM_SUDO to change this.

PM_COLOR

Sets color output for non-interactive commands.

Options: auto, always, never.

The default value is auto. It outputs colors only when STDOUT is a TTY.

FAQ

How to select multiple packages in interactive mode?

Press TAB to select or deselect multiple packages.

See fzf docs for more keyboard shortcuts.

Is this better than my package manager?

Probably not. It can be more convenient in some cases:

1. If you switch between distros often, pm saves you from learning each package manager's command-line interface.
2. Interactive package selection helps when you search for a package and you do not know its exact name.

Can you support package manager XYZ?

Create an issue for the request. I will look into it.

License

pm is licensed under the MIT license.