glix

README

Golang Installer

A smart wrapper around go install with BoltDB-based module tracking, automatic CLI discovery, and GoReleaser build support.

Features

• Smart CLI Discovery: Automatically detects installable CLI tools in cmd/ and cli/ directories
• GoReleaser Integration: Builds modules with .goreleaser.yaml configurations locally
• Module Tracking: BoltDB database tracks installed modules, versions, and dependencies using Protocol Buffers
• Flexible Input: Accepts various URL formats (https, git, ssh) and normalizes them
• Version Management: Fetches all available versions and supports version pinning with @version
• Dependency Tracking: Extracts and stores transitive dependencies for each module
• Fast Queries: Secondary indexes for efficient time-based and name-based lookups

Installation

go install github.com/inovacc/glix@latest

Usage

Basic Installation

Install a Go CLI tool by providing its module path:

# Using install command
glix install github.com/inovacc/ksuid/cmd/ksuid

# Shorthand (install is default)
glix github.com/inovacc/ksuid/cmd/ksuid

# With version pinning
glix install github.com/inovacc/ksuid/cmd/ksuid@v1.2.3

# Latest version (default)
glix install github.com/inovacc/ksuid/cmd/ksuid@latest

Removing Modules

Remove an installed module:

# Remove by full path
glix remove github.com/inovacc/ksuid/cmd/ksuid

# Remove by binary name
glix remove ksuid

Updating Modules (Planned)

Update a module to the latest version:

glix update github.com/inovacc/ksuid/cmd/ksuid

Flexible URL Formats

glix accepts various URL formats and normalizes them automatically:

# HTTPS URL
glix https://github.com/inovacc/ksuid/cmd/ksuid

# Git protocol
glix git://github.com/inovacc/ksuid/cmd/ksuid

# SSH format
glix ssh://github.com/inovacc/ksuid/cmd/ksuid

# With .git suffix
glix https://github.com/inovacc/ksuid/cmd/ksuid.git

All of these will be normalized to github.com/inovacc/ksuid/cmd/ksuid.

Smart CLI Discovery

When you provide a library module path (without a specific CLI path), glix automatically discovers installable CLIs:

# Provide root module - automatically discovers CLIs in cmd/ or cli/ directories
glix github.com/inovacc/brdoc

# Output:
# Module "github.com/inovacc/brdoc" found but is not installable (no main package), searching for CLIs...
# Found installable CLI: github.com/inovacc/brdoc/cmd/brdoc
# Installing module: github.com/inovacc/brdoc/cmd/brdoc

Discovery Methods:

1. Searches cmd/ directory for packages with package main
2. Searches cli/ directory for packages with package main
3. Parses .goreleaser.yaml for build targets (if present)

If multiple CLIs are found, the first one is automatically selected.

GoReleaser Build Support

For modules with .goreleaser.yaml or .goreleaser.yml configurations, glix automatically:

1. Detects the GoReleaser configuration
2. Installs goreleaser if not present
3. Builds the module using goreleaser build --snapshot --clean
4. Extracts the built binary for your platform
5. Installs it to $GOPATH/bin

# Module with .goreleaser.yaml - builds locally
glix github.com/inovacc/twig

# Output:
# Fetching module information...
# Found GoReleaser config: .goreleaser.yaml
# GoReleaser not found, installing...
# GoReleaser installed successfully
# Building with GoReleaser...
# Build completed successfully
# Found binary: twig_windows_amd64.exe
# Binary installed to: C:\Users\username\go\bin\twig.exe

This is particularly useful for:

• Modules that require local builds (CGO dependencies)
• Modules with custom build steps (code generation)
• Modules with platform-specific build requirements

Version Support

glix supports both tagged releases and pseudo-versions:

# Tagged release
glix github.com/inovacc/brdoc@v1.0.0

# Pseudo-version (for modules without tags)
glix github.com/inovacc/twig@latest
# Automatically uses: v0.0.0-20250109123456-abcdef123456

Database Tracking

All installed modules are tracked in a BoltDB database with Protocol Buffer serialization:

• Module name and version
• All available versions
• Installation timestamp
• Module hash
• Nested dependency tree
• Secondary indexes for fast time-based and name-based queries

Database Location

The database location varies by platform:

• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\glix\modules.db
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/glix/modules.db
• Linux: $XDG_DATA_HOME/glix/modules.db (defaults to ~/.local/share/glix/modules.db)

Override with the GLIX_DB_PATH environment variable:

export GLIX_DB_PATH=/custom/path/modules.db
glix github.com/inovacc/ksuid/cmd/ksuid

Example Output

$ glix github.com/inovacc/brdoc

Fetching module information...
Module "github.com/inovacc/brdoc" found but is not installable (no main package), searching for CLIs...
Found installable CLI: github.com/inovacc/brdoc/cmd/brdoc
Installing module: github.com/inovacc/brdoc/cmd/brdoc
Module is installer successfully: github.com/inovacc/brdoc/cmd/brdoc
Show report using: glix report github.com/inovacc/brdoc/cmd/brdoc

Commands

Install

glix install <module-path>[@version]
# Or use shorthand
glix <module-path>[@version]

Installs a Go module and tracks it in the BoltDB database.

Remove

glix remove <module-name>

Removes an installed module by deleting its binary from $GOPATH/bin and removing its entry from the database.

Update (planned)

glix update <module-name>

Updates a module to its latest version.

Report (planned)

glix report <module-name>

Generate reports on installed modules and their dependencies.

Monitor (planned)

glix monitor

Monitor installed modules for available updates.

Architecture

• Cobra CLI: Command structure and flag parsing
• BoltDB: Embedded key-value database (go.etcd.io/bbolt) for module tracking
• Protocol Buffers: Efficient binary serialization (google.golang.org/protobuf) for data storage
• Secondary Indexes: Time-based and name-based indexes for fast queries
• Temporary Modules: Uses "dummy" Go modules for dependency resolution without polluting workspace
• Semantic Versioning: Sorts and compares versions using golang.org/x/mod/semver

Roadmap

• Install module with smart CLI discovery
• GoReleaser integration for local builds
• Version resolution and dependency tracking
• Support for pseudo-versions (untagged modules)
• BoltDB storage with Protocol Buffers
• Remove command for uninstalling modules
• Update command for updating modules
• Report command for installed modules
• Monitoring for module updates
• Auto-update functionality

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please ensure:

• All tests pass: go test ./...
• Code is formatted: go fmt ./...
• Linting is clean: golangci-lint run

License

See LICENSE file for details.