Add a new package manager

Implement support for a new package manager in mpm, or complete an incomplete integration. If adding a manager requested via a GitHub issue, extract CLI output samples from the issue body to guide the implementation.

Completing an incomplete integration

External contributors often submit a working manager module (managers/<name>.py, pool.py, conftest.py) but skip the documentation and metadata files. See kdeldycke/meta-package-manager#1758 for a typical example: the PR added code and tests but was missing 10+ files.

When asked to “integrate further”, “fill gaps”, or “finish” a manager that already has code:

1. Read the existing manager module to understand supported operations and platforms.

2. Walk the file checklist below and check every file for the manager’s presence. The most commonly missed files are: readme.md (Sankey + operations matrix), docs/meta_package_manager.managers.md, extra-labels/mpm.toml, labels.py, test_pool.py (manager count), and changelog.md.

3. Verify the requirement version specifier by fetching the upstream release history. Check when the features the code depends on (like --json output) were actually introduced. Contributors often default to >=1.0.0 without checking.

4. If the manager wraps or complements another (like sfsu wraps Scoop), merge their label rules under a single 📦 manager: label. Use the -based suffix convention for the group name in labels.py (like scoop-based) to avoid colliding with the manager ID itself.

5. Fetch the upstream repository (README, releases, changelog) to verify CLI output formats match the parsing code.

6. Check class attribute ordering against the base class. The test_content_order test enforces that class-level attributes and methods follow the canonical order defined in PackageManager. Common mistakes: version_regexes before post_args, or name after homepage_url.

7. If the manager delegates operations to another manager’s CLI, use the Delegate descriptor from capabilities.py instead of repeating override_cli_path boilerplate. See the Delegating operations section below.

Choose a template

Pick an existing manager with a similar CLI as your starting point. Read the template file in full before starting.

Pattern	Example	When to use
Simple regex parsing	snap.py, flatpak.py	CLI outputs fixed-width or whitespace-delimited text
JSON output	npm.py, homebrew.py	CLI supports --json or structured output
Multiple compiled regexes	gem.py, dnf.py	Complex text output requiring several capture patterns
Shell function wrapper	sdkman.py	Manager is a shell function, not a standalone binary
Sibling binaries	nix.py	Different operations use different CLI binaries in the same directory
Subclass of existing manager	yay.py, paru.py, pacaur.py	Manager is a drop-in replacement or wrapper for another manager already implemented
Delegate to another manager	sfsu.py	Manager has its own CLI for read operations but delegates mutating operations (install, upgrade, remove) to another manager’s binary

Subclassing is the lightest option: yay.py is only 39 lines because it inherits almost everything from pacman.py. If the new manager shares the same CLI interface as an existing one, subclass it and override only what differs.

Delegation via Delegate is for managers that share the same package ecosystem but have different CLI interfaces. Unlike subclassing, the read operations (list, search, outdated) have completely different implementations, but mutating operations reuse the other manager’s methods verbatim.

Typical manager modules range from 140 to 260 lines. Larger implementations (350-570 lines) tend to involve managers with unusual output formats or many edge cases like fwupd.py, winget.py, or pkg.py.

Implementation

Create meta_package_manager/managers/<name>.py. Follow the import pattern, class structure, and TYPE_CHECKING block from your template exactly.

Class-level attributes and methods must follow the canonical order defined in PackageManager (enforced by test_content_order). The order is: homepage_url, platforms, requirement, cli_names, cli_search_path, extra_env, pre_cmds, pre_args, post_args, version_cli_options, version_regexes, then operations (installed, outdated, search, install, upgrade_all_cli, upgrade_one_cli, remove, sync, cleanup).

Class attributes

Required:

• homepage_url: official project URL.

• platforms: use constants from extra_platforms (ALL_PLATFORMS, LINUX_LIKE, MACOS, WINDOWS, UNIX_WITHOUT_MACOS, etc.). Combine with tuples: platforms = LINUX_LIKE, MACOS.

Common optional:

• requirement: minimum version specifier (e.g., ">=2.0.0"). Set this to the earliest version that supports all features the implementation depends on. If the code parses --json output, check the upstream release history to find when that flag was introduced. Do not default to >=1.0.0 without verification.

• cli_names: tuple of binary names to search for. Defaults to (lowercase_class_name,). Set explicitly when the binary name differs from the class name (e.g., cli_names = ("nix-env",) for class Nix).

• version_regexes: tuple of regex strings with a (?P<version>...) named group.

• version_cli_options: tuple of args to get version. Defaults to ("--version",).

• pre_args, post_args: global arguments prepended/appended to every CLI call. Use these for flags like --no-color or --quiet that apply to all operations.

• extra_env: dict of environment variables to suppress colors, pagers, interactive prompts, etc.

• cli_search_path: extra directories to find the binary (e.g., ("~/.sdkman/bin",)).

Operations

Each operation maps to one of these methods. Implement as many as the manager supports. Unimplemented operations are automatically skipped by mpm.

Operation	Method signature	Returns	Notes
Installed	installed (property)	Iterator[Package]	Yield packages with id and installed_version.
Outdated	outdated (property)	Iterator[Package]	Yield packages with id, installed_version, and latest_version.
Search	search(query, extended, exact)	Iterator[Package]	Decorate with @search_capabilities(extended_support=..., exact_support=...). Yield with id, latest_version, optionally description.
Install	install(package_id, version=None)	str	Decorate with @version_not_implemented if version pinning is unsupported.
Upgrade all	upgrade_all_cli()	tuple[str, ...]	Return self.build_cli(...), not self.run_cli(...).
Upgrade one	upgrade_one_cli(package_id, version=None)	tuple[str, ...]	Same as above. Decorate with @version_not_implemented if needed.
Remove	remove(package_id)	str	Optional.
Sync	sync()	None	Optional. For refreshing package metadata from remote sources.
Cleanup	cleanup()	None	Optional. For garbage collection, cache clearing, orphan removal.

Key helpers from the base class:

• self.run_cli(*args, **kwargs) executes the manager CLI and returns stdout.

• self.build_cli(*args) builds a command tuple without executing it (used by upgrade_all_cli and upgrade_one_cli).

• self.package(id=..., ...) creates a Package with manager_id pre-filled.

• self.cli_path resolves to the discovered binary path. Use .parent to find sibling binaries for operations that use a different CLI (see nix.py for sync and cleanup).

Delegating operations to another manager

When a manager uses its own CLI for read operations but delegates mutating operations to another manager’s binary, use the Delegate descriptor from capabilities.py:

from ..capabilities import Delegate
from .scoop import Scoop


class SFSU(PackageManager):
    _scoop = Delegate(Scoop)

    # Read operations use sfsu's own CLI with JSON output.
    @property
    def installed(self) -> Iterator[Package]:
        output = self.run_cli("list", "--json")
        ...

    # Mutating operations delegate to scoop.
    install = _scoop.install
    upgrade_all_cli = _scoop.upgrade_all_cli
    upgrade_one_cli = _scoop.upgrade_one_cli
    remove = _scoop.remove

The Delegate factory resolves the target manager’s CLI binary via self.which() and temporarily sets _delegate_cli_path on the instance so that build_cli routes the command through the target binary. The host manager’s post_args are automatically suppressed during delegation.

Place _scoop = Delegate(Scoop) at the top of the class body (before homepage_url). Place individual delegation assignments (install = _scoop.install) in the canonical operation order, interspersed with the other operations.

Do not subclass when the two managers have completely different output formats for read operations. Subclassing is for managers that share the same CLI interface. Delegation is for managers that share the same package ecosystem but have different CLIs.

CLI output guidelines

• Use --long-form-options for self-documenting CLIs.

• Suppress colors and emoji (--no-color, --color=never, etc.) via post_args or extra_env.

• Prefer machine-readable output (JSON, XML, CSV) over text parsing. When parsing text, use class-level compiled regexes with named groups.

• Include at least one CLI output sample in each method’s docstring as a .. code-block:: shell-session block. This helps future maintainers verify parsing without access to the actual manager.

• Read Falsehoods programmers believe about package managers to anticipate edge cases in package naming and versioning.

File checklist

Every new manager touches the same set of files. This list is derived from all 30 manager-addition commits in the project history.

Always required

File	Change
meta_package_manager/managers/<name>.py	The new manager implementation.
meta_package_manager/pool.py	Add import (sorted by module name) and class to manager_classes tuple (sorted case-insensitively by class name).
tests/conftest.py	Add "<manager_id>": "<package_name>" to PACKAGE_IDS. Choose a small, low-impact package for destructive tests.
tests/test_pool.py	Increment both count assertions in test_manager_count().
changelog.md	Add - [<manager_id>] Add <Name> package manager with <operations> support. under the current unreleased version.
readme.md	Add entry to the Sankey diagram (alphabetical) and a row to the operations matrix with correct platform and operation flags.
docs/meta_package_manager.managers.md	Add automodule section for meta_package_manager.managers.<name> in alphabetical order.
pyproject.toml	Add manager name (and ecosystem name if different) to keywords. Add "📦 manager: <name>" entries to both labels.extra-file-rules and labels.extra-content-rules. If the manager wraps another (like sfsu wraps Scoop), merge into the existing manager’s label instead of creating a separate one.
extra-labels/mpm.toml	Add a [[profiles.default.labels]] entry with the label name, color "bfdadc", and description. If the manager belongs to an existing ecosystem group, update that group’s description instead of creating a new entry.
meta_package_manager/labels.py	If the manager belongs to an ecosystem group, add it to the appropriate frozenset in MANAGER_LABEL_GROUPS. If the manager creates a new group (standalone manager now gaining a wrapper), add a new group entry.

When applicable

File	When	Change
.github/workflows/tests.yaml	Manager can be installed on CI runners. Check if it’s available via an existing package manager (like Scoop, apt, brew) on the target OS.	Add an install step in the manager setup section, near related managers.
docs/benchmark.md	Manager already appears in the comparison table.	Add ✓ in the mpm column.
.github/workflows/tests-install.yaml + docs/install.md	Manager is a distributor of mpm itself (like Homebrew, Scoop, Nix, or an AUR helper). Most managers are not.	Add a CI job testing mpm installation via the new channel, and a matching tab in the install docs.

Validate

$ uv run -- pytest tests/test_pool.py tests/test_managers.py -x -q
$ uv run --group typing mypy meta_package_manager/managers/<name>.py

The test suite enforces: valid ID format, homepage URL, platform declarations, version regexes, no duplicate IDs, correct pool count, canonical attribute ordering (test_content_order), and label group disjointness.

Common validation failures after adding a manager:

• test_manager_count: forgot to increment the count in test_pool.py.

• test_content_order: class attributes are not in the canonical order (like version_regexes before post_args).

• Label group collision: the group name in labels.py collides with a manager ID. Use the -based suffix (like scoop-based, pip-based).