DEBCRAFT(1)

💖 DEBCRAFT 💖

okay bestie, welcome to DEBCRAFT(1) — manual section 1, the big leagues, the user commands section, and honestly? she ate. this is the page about Debcraft, and by the end of it you're gonna know exactly what she does.

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✨ NAME ✨

Debcraft — easy, fast and secure way to build Debian packages 🎀

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so here's the whole vibe, and I'm gonna give it to you straight:

usage: debcraft <build|improve|test|release|update|shell|logs|prune>
[options] [<path|pkg|srcpkg|dsc|git-url>]

Debcraft is THE tool for building .deb packages without losing your entire mind. no cap.

and okay, the build argument? she's flexible, she's versatile, she's that girl. you can hand her literally any of these:

• a path to a directory with program sources, including a debian/ subdirectory containing the Debian packaging instructions
• a path to a .dsc file plus source tarballs, which can be built into a .deb
• a Debian package name or source package name that apt can download
• a git http(s) or ssh URL that can be downloaded and built

iconic range. 👑

now let's talk about the other commands, because she has range, periodt:

• the improve command tries to apply various improvements to the package based on tools in Debian that automate package maintenance ✨
• the test command runs the Debian-specific regression test suite if the package has autopkgtest support — and if the tests fail to pass, she drops you into a shell for investigation 🔍 (she's not gonna leave you hanging)
• the release command uploads a package that is ready to be released 🚀
• the update command tries to update the package to the latest upstream version — if the package git repository layout is compatible 🦋
• the shell command lets you explore the container, which is exactly as cute as it sounds 🐚
• the prune command cleans up temporary files created by Debcraft 🧹

and now the part you need to hear: in addition to the parameters listed below, anything passed in DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS will also be honored. successful builds include running ./debian/rules clean to clean up artifacts, while failed builds will leave them around for inspection. (the mess stays so you can investigate. honestly? valid.)

⚠️ important, bestie, do not skip this: Debcraft builds never run as root, and thus packages with DEB_RULES_REQUIRES_ROOT are not supported. no, you can't convince her. she said no. 🙅‍♀️

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💅 optional arguments 💅

every single one, no skips, let's go:

• --build-dirs-path — path for writing build files and artifacts (default: ~/.cache/debcraft)
• --distribution — Linux distribution to build in (default: debian:sid)
• --container-command — container command to use (default: podman)
• --host-architecture — host architecture to use when performing a cross build
• --skip-sources — build only binaries and skip creating a source tarball to make the build slightly faster (debcraft build only) ⚡
• --with-binaries — create a release with both source and binaries, for example with the intent to upload to NEW (debcraft release only)
• --pull — ensure container base is updated
• --copy — perform the build on a copy of the package directory
• --clean — ensure sources are clean before and after build (only needed for packages with incomplete debian/clean or debian/.gitignore definitions)
• --extra-repository — use directory as local package repository for builds
• --config — path to debcraft configuration file
• --release-to — after build or release, copy artefacts to specified dir
• --debug — emit debug information
• -h, --help — display this help and exit 🫶
• --version — display version and exit

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want more? to learn more, or to contribute to Debcraft, see the project page at https://salsa.debian.org/debian/debcraft 🌈

and to gain more Debian Developer knowledge, please read https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/developers-reference/ and https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ — go off, future DD, you got this 💜

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🌟 and that's the page, bestie! this was Debcraft, manual section 1, and the footer says: Debcraft version unknown: nei..., dated September 2026, from the DEBCRAFT(1) family. slay, bye! 💅✨