GHPM - GitHub Package Manager (Prototype)

GHPM is a simple CLI tool written in Go that lets you install public GitHub repositories to your local machine. This repository is a prototype and learning project.

---

Quick summary: ghpm install owner/repo clones into ~/.ghpm/packages/repo-name and creates a JSON manifest in ~/.ghpm/manifests/.

Repository status: Prototype — minimal feature set, no sandboxing, and intended for local use only.

---

Requirements

• Go 1.22+ (for building from source)
• Git (for cloning repositories)

On Linux, you also need a writable install location (either /usr/local/bin or ~/.local/bin).

Installation

Using the bundled installer (Linux)

An install script is included: install.sh.

How it works:

• Builds the ghpm binary with go build.
• Installs to /usr/local/bin if writable, otherwise to $HOME/.local/bin.
• If $HOME/.local/bin is used the script will attempt to add that directory to a sensible shell profile (for example ~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc or ~/.profile) so the command is available in new shells.
• The script avoids sudo so it won't prompt for credentials; use sudo manually if you prefer installing to /usr/local/bin.

Run the installer from the project root:

./install.sh

If the script updated a profile file, open a new terminal or source the file, for example:

source ~/.zshrc

Manual build (Linux/macOS)

go build -o ghpm
sudo mv ghpm /usr/local/bin/

Windows

Use the included Windows setup scripts (setup.bat or install.ps1) as documented in the original project files.

---

Features & Behavior

• Install any public GitHub repository by owner/repo.
• If you provide only a repository name (for example btop), ghpm will perform a GitHub search and prompt you to pick one of the matching repositories.
• Installs go into ~/.ghpm/packages/.
• Manifest JSON files are written to ~/.ghpm/manifests/ and include fields: name, repo, url, installed_at, and optional commit and version.
• The tool creates ~/.ghpm, ~/.ghpm/packages, and ~/.ghpm/manifests automatically.
• the tool has integrated auto build and language detect that supports c/c++ ruby rust go python etc...

---

Usage

Install a repository (owner specified):

ghpm install owner/repo

Example:

ghpm install golang/go

Install by name (search):

If you don't know the owner you can provide only the repository name and ghpm will search GitHub and prompt you to choose:

ghpm install btop

You can automate selection in scripts by piping a number into the command:

printf '1\n' | ghpm install btop

List installed packages:

ghpm list

Remove a package:

ghpm remove repo-name

Example workflow:

ghpm install aristocratos/btop
ghpm list
ghpm remove btop

---

Troubleshooting

• If ghpm is not found after running install.sh, make sure the installer added $HOME/.local/bin to a shell profile and that profile has been sourced (or open a new terminal).
• To add $HOME/.local/bin to your current session manually:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

• If ghpm install <name> prints Invalid repo format. Use owner/repo, use the search form instead (just the repo name) — recent versions will automatically search if you provide a name without an owner.

---

Development

Build locally:

go build -o ghpm

Run with go run for iterative development:

go run main.go list

---

License

See LICENSE in this repository.