Package Manager 🤖📦

Kevin's Package Manager (PKGMGR) is a multi-distro package manager and workflow orchestrator. It helps you develop, package, release and manage projects across multiple Linux-based operating systems (Arch, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, …).

PKGMGR is implemented in Python and uses Nix (flakes) as a foundation for distribution-independent builds and tooling. On top of that it provides a rich CLI that proxies common developer tools (Git, Docker, Make, …) and glues them together into repeatable development workflows.

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Why PKGMGR? 🧠

Traditional distro package managers like apt, pacman or dnf focus on a single operating system. PKGMGR instead focuses on your repositories and development lifecycle. It provides one configuration for all repositories, one unified CLI to interact with them, and a Nix-based foundation that keeps tooling reproducible across distributions.

Native package managers are still used where they make sense. PKGMGR coordinates the surrounding development, build and release workflows in a consistent way.

In addition, PKGMGR provides Docker images that can serve as a reproducible system baseline. These images bundle the complete PKGMGR toolchain and are designed to be reused as a stable execution environment across machines, pipelines and teams. This approach is specifically used within Infinito.Nexus to make complex systems distribution-independent while remaining fully reproducible.

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Features 🚀

PKGMGR enables multi-distro development and packaging by managing multiple repositories from a single configuration file. It drives complete release pipelines across Linux distributions using Nix flakes, Python build metadata, native OS packages such as Arch, Debian and RPM formats, and additional ecosystem integrations like Ansible.

All functionality is exposed through a unified pkgmgr command-line interface that works identically on every supported distribution. It combines repository management, Git operations, Docker and Compose orchestration, as well as versioning, release and changelog workflows. Many commands support a preview mode, allowing you to inspect the underlying actions before they are executed.

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Full development workflows

PKGMGR is not just a helper around Git commands. Combined with its release and versioning features it can drive end-to-end workflows:

1. Clone and mirror repositories.
2. Run tests and builds through make or Nix.
3. Bump versions, update changelogs and tags.
4. Build distro-specific packages.
5. Keep all mirrors and working copies in sync.

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Worktrees and garbage collection

Command	Does
pkgmgr worktree up <branch> [--base REF] [--path DIR] [--pull REF ...] [--push BRANCH ...]	Checks the branch out under <directories.worktrees>/<host>/<owner>/<repo>/<branch> or at --path, assigns a free slot, records the merge flow and runs the pinned worktree-init hook
pkgmgr worktree flow [PATH] [--json]	Shows the merge flow of the worktree at PATH (default: .)
pkgmgr worktree flow set [PATH] (--pull REF ... | --no-pull) (--push BRANCH ... | --no-push) [--json]	Replaces both lists of the merge flow
pkgmgr worktree flow clear [PATH] [--json]	Removes the merge flow
pkgmgr worktree cleanup [--apply]	Removes clean worktrees whose commits are merged or pushed: pinned worktree-fini hook, compose stack, checkout; the branch stays
pkgmgr branch cleanup [--apply]	Removes merged branches that no worktree holds, locally and on the remotes
pkgmgr branch cleanup --local [--apply] [--json] [--merged-into REF]...	Deletes only local branches whose tip is an ancestor of the remote-tracking default or of a --merged-into REF, each with git update-ref --no-deref -d against the planned sha and then its branch.<name> section in the repository's own config file (git config --file <git common dir>/config; a section it cannot remove is noted on the done item), also when the branch has an upstream or remote copy. Every git call of --local runs without any inherited GIT_* variable but GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES, which only narrows repository discovery, so a directory below a ceiling is never resolved to the repository above it; only the config reads of deleteMerged and of the upstreams run twice, both with the system config: once with the caller's GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL, GIT_CONFIG_SYSTEM, GIT_CONFIG_PARAMETERS and GIT_CONFIG_COUNT with its GIT_CONFIG_KEY_<n> and GIT_CONFIG_VALUE_<n>, once without any of them, without XDG_CONFIG_HOME and with HOME set to the passwd home, and a branch either read keeps stays, so the environment can add keeps but never remove one. A --merged-into REF must name exactly one branch or remote-tracking ref, as git rev-parse --symbolic-full-name resolves it, in every scanned repository git can read; X~0, X^0, X@{0}, a sha, a range or an unknown ref stops the run. The default comes from origin, or from the only remote when there is no origin: the ref refs/remotes/<remote>/HEAD, else main, else master resolves to, every symref step inside refs/remotes/<remote>/, so never a local branch or HEAD; without one, for example with several remotes and no origin, the repository is refused, also under --merged-into; so is one whose refs, packed-refs, reftable, logs or logs/refs is a symlink (git-new-workdir), one with a symlink anywhere below refs/, reftable/ or logs/refs/ (for example refs/heads/team linked to another clone's heads), one whose git dir is neither its git common dir nor directly under <common>/worktrees/ (a registration moved elsewhere), or one whose git output is not UTF-8. The repository is the one the current directory belongs to, also in a submodule or with a separate git dir; one whose main worktree belongs to another repository (core.worktree), whose git dir is neither its git common dir nor directly under <common>/worktrees/, or whose path is not UTF-8 is refused with exit 2. Skips a symbolic branch, every branch a symbolic ref anywhere under refs/ (also a tag or remote-tracking one) or under the main worktree's or any registration's refs/worktree/ points to, a branch that is itself a --merged-into target, a branch a worktree holds or that the HEAD of the main repository or of any worktrees/<id> registration names (also one git worktree list omits or whose id is no valid ref name, read through git --git-dir=<dir> symbolic-ref HEAD, so also under reftable), one a rebase or bisect in any worktree works on, one merged only by patch or PR, and, as git branch --delete-merged keeps them, one whose branch.<name>.deleteMerged is false in the config of any worktree (also its config.worktree or an includeIf "onbranch:..." file) or in the system config file, and the local upstream, as git's %(upstream) resolves it in any worktree, of any branch that stays, also of one that --branch or --exclude leaves out, each shown as kept with its reason; these holds are read through the git common dir, whichever worktree is scanned, and a registration, symbolic ref, HEAD or state file they cannot read refuses the repository; when a repository vanishes, moves or stops being readable, or its default or a --merged-into target stops resolving mid-run, its later items are skipped with that reason and the plan is still printed. A repository git or the filesystem fails on while planning (for example a dangling .git file under --all) is refused with that reason and the run goes on. The plan, refused repositories included, is printed (as JSON with --json), and the run exits 1 when an item failed, else 2 when a repository was refused, else 0. It stops with a message on stderr, no plan and exit 2 in exactly these cases: without --all, the current directory is not inside a git repository, its git dir is neither its git common dir nor directly under <common>/worktrees/, its main worktree belongs to another repository (core.worktree), or its path or git output is not UTF-8; --apply outside the host PID namespace; a --merged-into REF refused as above; a --branch that matches no item. Meant for working clones and their worktrees, not for a bare server repository. Not mirrored from git branch --delete-merged: git also keeps a branch whose push would update its own upstream; --local does not. Known residuals: a worktree, rebase or symbolic ref that starts holding a branch between its last re-check and its update-ref -d is not seen; a deleteMerged or upstream config change after the plan is not re-checked before the delete; an entry under <git common dir>/worktrees/ that is no git dir (for example an empty leftover) refuses the repository. Reads no forge token and never fetches, pushes, deletes a remote branch, runs docker or repository hooks, touches a worktree, compose stack, volume or image, or refreshes the branch tree file (rerun pkgmgr branch tree for that)
pkgmgr branch tree [--format json|yaml] [--output FILE]	Writes every managed repository's branches and worktrees with their cleanup state, without fetching
pkgmgr gc [--all] [--apply]	Both cleanups in one pass, for the current repository or every managed one
pkgmgr gc --report [--all] [--root DIR] [--threshold-mb MB] [--docker] [--json]	Read-only disk inventory: worktree sizes, changes a cleanup would keep, --root children, core dumps, docker usage, free space per filesystem
pkgmgr worktree orphans --stale-days N --top N	Lists merged and abandoned branches and worktrees with a proposal each

A hook runs only when the worktree_hooks config pins its command under the <provider>/<account>/<repository> of a repository managed in the pkgmgr config, and only for that repository's directory; origin's URL, which the repository's own config sets, never selects a pin. {path} and {slot} are replaced; a worktree-init or worktree-fini target in the repository's Makefile is reported, never run, because an agent may have written it. The pinned program must be an absolute path or a root-owned command on a PATH entry that root owns and no group or other user can write, up to /, so a binary planted in a user-writable directory such as a virtualenv never runs. The Nix store never counts: it is group-writable, and any user can have the daemon build root-owned content there, so pin an absolute path on Nix. A bare name runs as the resolved file that was checked. Inside a user namespace other than the initial one, root means the overflow uid, under which the real root's files show there, as do those of every other unmapped owner. Outside such a namespace a directory on a nosuid mount, where udisks2 and FUSE put user mounts, never counts as root's. The hook runs with stdin closed, only those PATH entries and a 30 minute timeout. Removal walks to the worktree without following a symbolic link and skips a worktree path that is not its own realpath. A pinned command that reads repository files, such as make or a script in the repository, trusts the worktree's content, tracked or ignored.

Every cleanup is a dry run until --apply, and --json prints the plan for other tools. The agent skills wrap these commands; see AGENTS.md for the split.

Merge flow

Every worktree can carry a merge flow that scripts and skills read: pull lists the refs merged into the branch, in order, before a gate, deploy or merge; push lists the branches the branch is merged into, in order, when it is finished, each then pushed by the operator. It lives in pkgmgr/flow.yml inside the worktree's own git directory (.git of the main worktree, <common>/worktrees/<id> of a linked one), so it is never committed and goes with the worktree:

version: 1
branch: feature/x
pull:
  - origin/main
  - store-i18n
push:
  - feature/iam-profile-rbac
  - production

branch is the branch the flow was set on; another current branch shows as a warning. worktree up records --pull and --push; without them pull is the base the worktree came from and push that base's local branch (origin/main gives main). flow set needs each list or its --no-pull/--no-push, and writes atomically into a pkgmgr/ of mode 0700. Every entry must pass git check-ref-format --branch and must not start with -; a remote-tracking name such as origin/main passes. An invalid name exits 2 and writes nothing. A flow file that is a symbolic link, no regular file, larger than 64 KiB or malformed reads as invalid, with empty lists and a warning, and is never followed.

flow --json prints worktree and git_dir (absolute paths), branch (the current branch, null when detached), flow_branch (the file's branch), pull, push, source (file, none or invalid) and warnings; it exits 0 also without a flow, 2 when PATH is not a git worktree. In pkgmgr branch tree every item carries flow: {"pull", "push", "source"}, or null without a worktree or a flow; flow warnings join the repository's warnings.

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Architecture & Setup Map 🗺️

The following diagram gives a full overview of:

• PKGMGR’s package structure,
• the layered installers (OS, foundation, Python, Makefile),
• and the setup controller that decides which layer to use on a given system.

Diagram status: 12 December 2025

Always-up-to-date version: https://s.veen.world/pkgmgrmp

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Installation ⚙️

PKGMGR can be installed using make. The setup mode defines which runtime layers are prepared.

Download

git clone https://github.com/kevinveenbirkenbach/package-manager.git
cd package-manager

Dependency installation (optional)

System dependencies required before running any make commands are installed via:

scripts/installation/dependencies.sh

The script detects and normalizes the OS and installs the required system-level dependencies accordingly.

Install

git clone https://github.com/kevinveenbirkenbach/package-manager.git
cd package-manager
make install

Setup modes

Command	Prepares	Use case
make setup	Python venv and Nix	Full development & CI
make setup-venv	Python venv only	Local user setup

Full setup (venv + Nix)

make setup

Use this for CI, servers, containers and full development workflows.

Venv-only setup

make setup-venv
source ~/.venvs/pkgmgr/bin/activate

Use this if you want PKGMGR isolated without Nix integration.

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Alles klar 🙂 Hier ist der RUN-Abschnitt ohne Gedankenstriche, klar nach Nix, Docker und venv getrennt:

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Run PKGMGR 🧰

PKGMGR can be executed in different environments. All modes expose the same CLI and commands.

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Run via Nix (no installation)

nix run github:kevinveenbirkenbach/package-manager#pkgmgr -- --help

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Run via Docker 🐳

PKGMGR can be executed inside Docker containers for CI, testing and isolated workflows.

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Container images

One image per distribution, each installing PKGMGR as a distro-native package on top of the matching base image from base-images. Every image is a manifest list covering linux/amd64 and linux/arm64.

All images live under ghcr.io/kevinveenbirkenbach/:

Tag	Contains
pkgmgr-<distro>:latest	newest build of the newest release on main
pkgmgr-<distro>:stable	newest build of the release the git tag stable marks
pkgmgr-<distro>:<major>	newest build of the newest release of that major
pkgmgr-<distro>:<major>.<minor>	newest build of the newest release of that minor
pkgmgr-<distro>:<version>	newest build of that release
pkgmgr-<distro>:<version>.<unix-ts>	one build, never moves

<distro> is one of arch, debian, ubuntu, fedora, centos. The Arch image is published without the suffix as well, so pkgmgr:stable and pkgmgr-arch:stable are the same image.

<version> is the PKGMGR release and <unix-ts> the build time, so 2.3.0.1767225600 is a full version an updater can order and pin. Every tag of one build points at the same image.

stable moves only once "Mark stable commit" has moved the git tag stable, which it does after every test of that release passed. Every day at 03:00 UTC, after the daily 00:00 UTC build of base-images, and on demand through the workflow's manual trigger, two releases are rebuilt on the newest base image:

• the newest vX.Y.Z release on main, moving latest, its prefixes and <version>, and adding <version>.<unix-ts>;
• the release the git tag stable marks, when that is an older one, moving stable and <version>, adding its own <version>.<unix-ts>, and moving a prefix only while it is still the newest release of that prefix.

With newest 2.4.0 and stable 2.3.0, 2.4.0 takes latest, 2 and 2.4, and 2.3.0 takes stable and 2.3. A security update in base-images thereby reaches whoever pinned a major, a minor, a release or follows stable.

Each release is compared with its own published <version>. A rebuild whose installed packages equal it pushes nothing, since a new timestamp tag would make every pin bump for no change; a tag of that release that does not show the published build yet, such as stable right after "Mark stable commit", is moved without a new timestamp.

A rebuild runs the build scripts of the release it rebuilds, not those of main, so the skip and the tag rules above only hold for releases tagged after this scheme landed. The scripts of an earlier release know no aliases: its merge step fails and leaves its tags where they are, until a newer release replaces it as the newest and the stable one.

For a clean environment that carries the system dependencies but no PKGMGR, pull base-<distro> from base-images directly.

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Run examples

docker run --rm -it \
  -v "$PWD":/src \
  -w /src \
  ghcr.io/kevinveenbirkenbach/pkgmgr:stable \
  pkgmgr --help

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Run via virtual environment (venv)

After activating the venv:

pkgmgr --help

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This allows you to choose between zero install execution using Nix, fully prebuilt Docker environments or local isolated venv setups with identical command behavior.

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License 📄

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

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Author 👤

Kevin Veen-Birkenbach https://www.veen.world