psc-package

psc-package is an executable which helps manage PureScript dependencies via Git. It can be used directly, but it is also designed to be used by external tools.

See the FAQ section below for common troubleshooting questions.

Installation

• Download the binary for your platform from the releases page, and copy it somewhere on your PATH, or
• Build from source, using stack install.

Usage

# install or update the dependencies listed in psc-package.json
$ psc-package install

# install or update the package and add it to psc-package.json if not listed
$ psc-package install <package>

# list available commands
$ psc-package --help

Design Goals

• psc-package should enable simple package management without the need to run Node (compare with Bower).
• psc-package should enable reproducible builds, at least as far as reproducing PureScript dependencies.
• psc-package should have a good out-of-the-box user experience (compare with Stack in Haskell), while still supporting custom package sets for advanced use cases.
• psc-package should only depend on tools which are available on all systems (for example, the Git client)

Concepts

Package Sets

A package set is a mapping from package names to:

• the Git repository URL for the package
• the Git ref which should be passed to git clone to clone the appropriate version (usually a tag name, but a SHA is also valid)
• the package's transitive dependencies

A package set repository contains a packages.json file which contains all mapping information. psc-package uses this information to decide which repos need to be cloned.

The default package set is purescript/package-sets, but it is possible to create custom package sets by forking an existing package set or creating a new one from scratch. One benefit of using the default package set is that it is verified by a continuous integration process.

The psc-package.json format

Here is a simple project configuration:

{
    "name": "my-project",
    "set": "psc-0.10.2",
    "source": "https://github.com/purescript/package-sets.git",
    "depends": [
        "prelude"
    ]
}

It defines:

• The project name
• The package set to use to resolve dependencies (this corresponds to a branch or tag of the package set source repository)
• The package set source repository Git URL (change this if you want to host your own package sets)
• Any dependencies of the project, as a list of names of packages from the package set

How To

Create a project

A new package can be created using psc-package init. This will:

• Create a simple psc-package.json file based on the current compiler version
• Add the Prelude as a dependency (this can be removed later)
• Sync the local package database (under the .psc-package/ directory) by cloning any necessary repositories.

Add dependencies

To add a dependency, either:

• Use the install <package name> command, which will update the project configuration automatically, or
• Modify the psc-package.json file, and sync manually by running the install command (previously update).

Build a project

Active project dependencies and project source files under src can be compiled using the build command.

This command is provided as a convenience until external tools add support for psc-package. It might be removed in future.

Query the local package database

The local package database can be queried using the following commands:

• sources - list source directories for active package versions. This can be useful when building a command for, say, running PSCi.
• dependencies - list all transitive dependencies

Add a package to the package set

Adding your package to the package set means that others can easily install it as a dependency.

Please note that your package will be removed from the set if it is not kept up to date. It can be easily re-added later if this happens.

Adding a package is a manual process right now. We would like to add commands to make this process simpler, but for now, please follow these steps:

• go to the package-sets repository and fork the repository.
• open the packages.json file and make a new entry to add your package, copying the format used for existing packages. The key will be the package name without the preceding purescript- as in Bower packages. It should have three fields defined:

• dependencies - a list of the dependencies used for this package
• repo - a git url for the package. We most often use the format https://github.com/{user}/purescript-{project-name}.git
• version - the git tag that will be used, using the format v{Major}.{Minor}.{Patch}

• when you have added your package, you will want to test this.

First, you will need to create an empty psc-package.json to test the package set in use.

echo '{ "name": "", "set": "testing", "source": "", "depends": [] }' > psc-package.json

Make the required directory structure for the package sets:

mkdir -p .psc-package/testing/.set

Then copy over packages.json into the directory:

cp packages.json .psc-package/testing/.set/packages.json

• after this setup, you can use the verify command of psc-package, e.g. psc-package verify aff. This will verify the package and its reverse dependencies.

If this builds correctly, you can then push up this branch and make a pull request. Travis will verify your package builds correctly, and then we will try to merge your pull request. Your package will then be available in the next tagged package set.

Formatting the package set

When creating your pull request, make sure to run the format command to pretty-print the packages file. This helps us avoid problems in the future with git diffs and so on.

Update a package in the set

Similar to the above, you will need to do the setup. You can then modify the version field to the version you wish to use. Once you have updated the package set, run the copy command and verify the package you have modified.

Then you can make a pull request. Again, once Travis verifies your change, we will merge it into master and your change will be available in the next tag.

Add a package from Bower

If you have Bower installed on your system, you can easily add a package from Bower to the package set. Use the Bower package name to add the package using the add-from-bower command:

psc-package add-from-bower <purescript-something>

FAQ

How come I can't install (some package) from the package set?

You should make sure you're using the correct package-set release and have updated the value of "set" in your psc-package.json file. See The psc-package.json format section for more details.

Can I add a dependency which is not in the package set?

Not right now. We might add this feature in future, but for now, consider either:

• Adding your dependency to the package set if possible, or
• Creating your own custom package set

Why are my changes not updated in my package set?

Package sets are cached based on a git reference (e.g. tag or branch) to the project directory .psc-package. If you are making changes to a package set and reusing the package reference then you will need to clear the cache for the changes to take effect.

$ rm -rf .psc-package
$ psc-package install