paq

README

paq

A unified CLI for querying installed packages across multiple package managers.

繁體中文

Why?

Developers typically have multiple package managers installed, each with different commands:

brew list          # Homebrew
npm list -g        # npm
snap list          # Snap
flatpak list       # Flatpak

paq gives you one consistent interface:

paq brew
paq npm
paq snap
paq flatpak

Features

• Single binary — cross-platform (macOS, Linux, Windows)
• Zero config — auto-detects available package managers
• Two output formats — table (default) and JSON (--json)
• Extensible — add new providers without modifying core code
• Self-updating — paq upgrade auto-detects install method and updates

Install

Homebrew

brew install cluion/tap/paq

Go install

go install github.com/cluion/paq/cmd/paq@latest

From source

git clone https://github.com/cluion/paq.git
cd paq
make build
sudo make install   # installs to /usr/local/bin/paq

If you prefer not to use sudo, add an alias to your shell config (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc):

alias paq="/path/to/paq/bin/paq"

Download binary

Download the latest release from Releases.

Update

Run paq upgrade to auto-detect your install method and upgrade:

paq upgrade          # auto-detect and upgrade
paq upgrade --check  # check for new version only

Works for all install methods: Homebrew, go install, and direct binary downloads.

Or manually:

Go:

go install github.com/cluion/paq/cmd/paq@latest

Homebrew:

brew upgrade cluion/tap/paq

From source:

cd paq
git pull
make build
sudo make install   # if alias, just rebuild — it takes effect immediately

Uninstall

Homebrew:

brew uninstall cluion/tap/paq

Go install:

rm $(go env GOPATH)/bin/paq

From source:

sudo make uninstall
# or manually:
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/paq

Releasing

Maintainers can trigger a release by pushing a tag. GitHub Actions will automatically build, create a Release, and update the Homebrew formula:

git tag v1.0.0
git push origin v1.0.0

Prerequisite: create the cluion/homebrew-tap repository on GitHub first.

Usage

List detected package sources

paq list

Source  Display Name  Status
brew    Homebrew      available
npm     npm           available
snap    Snap          not found
flatpak Flatpak       not found
Total: 4

Query a specific source

paq brew

Name        Version   Description
git         2.40.0    Distributed version control system
node        20.1.0    Platform built on V8
curl        8.1.0
Total: 3

JSON output

paq brew --json

{
  "source": "brew",
  "count": 3,
  "packages": [
    { "name": "git", "version": "2.40.0", "desc": "Distributed version control system" },
    { "name": "node", "version": "20.1.0", "desc": "Platform built on V8" },
    { "name": "curl", "version": "8.1.0" }
  ]
}

Version

paq version

paq dev (commit: abc1234, built: 2026-04-06)

Supported Package Managers

Provider	Command	Platforms
Homebrew	paq brew	macOS
npm	paq npm	macOS, Linux, Windows
Snap	paq snap	Linux
Flatpak	paq flatpak	Linux
APT/dpkg	paq apt	Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

Development

Prerequisites

• Go 1.26+
• golangci-lint

Build

make build

Test

make test

Lint

make lint

License

MIT