Grip - GitHub Release Installer & Package Manager

Grip is a fast, user-friendly package manager that installs packages directly from GitHub releases. It uses a registry system to map package names to GitHub repositories and automatically adds installed binaries to your PATH.

Features

• 🚀 Direct installation from GitHub releases
• 📦 Multiple registry support with priority system
• 🔄 Automatic PATH management
• 💻 Cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• 🎨 Interactive UI with progress bars
• 📋 Version selection for packages
• 🔍 Smart asset selection based on platform

Installation

From Source

git clone https://github.com/Grip-Packages/Grip
cd grip
cargo install --path .

Using Cargo

cargo install grip

Usage

Installing Packages

# Install latest version
grip install ripgrep

# Install specific version
grip install bat --version v0.22.1

# Install specific asset
grip install delta --asset delta-0.16.5-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip

Managing Registries

# List configured registries
grip registry list

# Add a custom registry
grip registry add custom github.com/user/registry --priority 200

# Remove a registry
grip registry remove custom

Registry Format

A Grip registry is a GitHub repository with the following structure:

registry/
├── README.md
├── packages/
│   ├── ripgrep.json
│   ├── bat.json
│   └── ...
└── templates/
    └── install.json

Package Definition (packages/example.json)

{
  "name": "ripgrep",
  "description": "Fast line-oriented search tool",
  "repository": "BurntSushi/ripgrep",
  "homepage": "https://github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep",
  "tags": ["search", "grep", "cli"]
}

Install.json example

{
    "name": "example-tool",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "commands": [
        {
            "platform": "windows",
            "command": "move",
            "args": ["example.exe", "%USERPROFILE%\\bin"]
        },
        {
            "platform": "unix",
            "command": "chmod",
            "args": ["+x", "example"]
        },
        {
            "platform": "unix",
            "command": "mv",
            "args": ["example", "$HOME/bin"]
        }
    ],
    "paths": [
        "$HOME/bin",
        "$HOME/.local/bin"
    ]
}

Features in Detail

Multiple Registries

• Use multiple package registries with priority ordering
• Higher priority registries are checked first
• Registry contents are cached locally
• Automatic updates on package installation

Smart PATH Management

• Windows: Automatically updates system PATH through registry
• Unix: Updates shell configuration (.bashrc, .zshrc, .profile)
• Creates necessary directories and symlinks

Version Management

• Interactive version selection from available releases
• Specific version installation via --version flag
• Platform-specific asset selection

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Creating a Registry

1. Create a new GitHub repository
2. Add package definitions in the packages directory
3. Each package should have its own JSON file
4. Optional: Add installation templates

Example Registry Structure

your-registry/
├── README.md
├── packages/
│   ├── awesome-tool.json
│   └── cool-app.json
└── templates/
    └── install.json

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built with Rust 🦀
• Uses GitHub's API for release management

Technical Details

Dependencies

• clap: Command line argument parsing
• tokio: Async runtime
• reqwest: HTTP client
• serde: JSON serialization
• colored: Terminal colors
• indicatif: Progress bars
• zip: Archive extraction

Platform Support

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux
• Other Unix-like systems (partial support)

FAQ

Q: How is this different from cargo install? A: Grip installs any binary from GitHub releases, not just Rust packages. It also manages PATH and supports multiple registries.

Q: Can I use private repositories? A: Yes, by setting up authentication through git's environment variables or configuration file.

Q: How do updates work? A: Grip checks for updates when you install packages and maintains a local cache of registry contents.