PKGCLI(1)

📦
version 1.4.0 · 4 versions
, in arch rolling, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu stonking

💅 pkgcli(1) — the manual page, but make it make sense

okay so bestie, welcome to the pkgcli manual, section 1 of the man pages ✨ this is the whole thing, vibe-checked and everything.

🌸 NAME 🌸

pkgcli — the command-line client for PackageKit. literally your bestie for talking to packages from the terminal 🫶

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

pkgcli [GLOBAL-OPTIONS...] COMMAND [COMMAND-OPTIONS...] [ARGUMENTS...]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so pkgcli is a command line client for PackageKit, which is this distribution-neutral interface to your operating system's package manager. like, it doesn't care which distro you're on, it just speaks package. it gives you a whole set of subcommands for querying and managing software packages, repositories and transaction history. iconic behavior honestly 👑

use pkgcli --help to get a list of available commands, and pkgcli COMMAND --help for command-specific help. no cap, that's the move 🙈

💖 GLOBAL OPTIONS 💖

these get parsed before the command name, and they affect most subcommands:

  • -v, --version — show the pkgcli version and exit. short and sweet, we love a quick exit 💅
  • -h, --help — show generic help plus a list of available commands.
  • -q, --quiet — only provide minimal output. lowkey mode, keep it chill.
  • --verbose — show more detailed and debug-style output. for when you're in your detective era 🔍
  • --json — output results in JSON format suitable for consumption by other tools. the output is generated in the JSONL (JSON Lines) format, with one JSON object per line. (this is the one your scripts will be obsessed with)
  • --no-color — disable colored terminal output. this is also enabled when the NO_COLOR environment variable is set.
  • -y, --yes — answer “yes” to all questions and run in non-interactive mode. the “don't ask me, just do it” flag, fr fr.
  • -f, --filter=FILTER — apply one or more filters when querying packages, such as restricting results to installed or available packages. you can view all supported filter options by running pkgcli organization. super handy 🎀
  • -n, --background — hint that the command is not urgent and may use idle network bandwidth and power-saving settings where supported. it's giving “no rush bestie, take your time” 🌸

🎀 COMMANDS 🎀

the following commands are available (yes, all of them, we're not skipping a single one):

  • backend — display information about the PackageKit backend currently in use, including the backend name, version, and the roles it supports.
  • history — show a list of recent package management transactions (like installation, removal, and update operations performed on the system).
  • search — search for packages matching a given pattern. the first argument may optionally be one of name, details, file or group, to limit the search to the selected domain. if only one argument is given, a search across package details (name, summary, and description) is performed.
  • list — list packages, optionally filtered by installation status or name pattern. use with --filter to show only installed, available, or other categories of packages.
  • show — display detailed information about one or more packages, including version, size, description, license, and repository information.
  • list-depends — list all packages that the specified package depends on. use the --recursive flag to list dependencies of the entire chain.
  • list-requiring — list packages that depend on or require the specified package.
  • what-provides — find and list packages that provide a given capability, shared library, or file path.
  • files — display a list of all files contained in the specified package.
  • list-updates — list all available package updates for installed software.
  • show-update — display detailed information about a specific update, including changelog entries, security advisories, and other update metadata.
  • resolve — resolve package names or identifiers to their package state, showing whether they are installed, available, or unavailable.
  • organization — display available package filters (such as installed, available, newest), groups (such as system, development, graphics), and categories that can be used to query packages.
  • show-os-upgrade — check for and display information about available operating system or distribution upgrades, such as upgrades to a newer OS release.
  • last-time — show the elapsed time since the last transaction of a specified role occurred, such as the last package update or cache refresh.
  • refresh — refresh the local package metadata cache by downloading the latest package information from configured repositories. this should be run before checking for updates or searching for new packages.
  • install — install one or more packages by name, or install local package files if a path is provided instead of a package name.
  • remove — remove one or more installed packages from the system. this may also remove dependent packages if they are no longer needed. use with the --autoremove option to clean up unused packages as well.
  • update — install available updates for all installed packages on the system, or for specific packages if specified as arguments.
  • upgrade — perform a system upgrade to newer package versions or a new distribution release. this may involve major version updates and significant changes. ⚠️ big girl stuff, be aware.
  • download — download package files to the local system without installing them. this is useful for offline installation or package inspection.
  • offline-update — prepare, trigger, cancel, or inspect offline system updates. offline updates are applied during system boot before the desktop environment starts, allowing critical system packages to be updated safely.
  • install-sig — install a cryptographic signature for a package to verify its authenticity and integrity.
  • repair — attempt to automatically repair problems with the package management system, such as broken dependencies, corrupted databases, or interrupted transactions. the “fix me please” command 😭
  • quit — request the PackageKit daemon to terminate gracefully after completing any ongoing operations. the daemon will restart automatically when needed. it's giving “you can go home now” 🧚
  • repo-list — display a list of all configured software repositories, showing their identifiers, descriptions, and enabled/disabled status.
  • repo-enable — enable a previously disabled repository, allowing packages from that repository to be installed and updated.
  • repo-disable — disable a repository, preventing packages from that source from being installed or updated while keeping the repository configuration.
  • repo-remove — completely remove a repository from the system configuration. this is permanent and the repository will need to be re-added if needed later. takes a repository-ID as parameter. 💀 permanent, bestie.
  • monitor — monitor and display real-time PackageKit transaction events and status changes on the bus. this is useful for debugging or observing package management activity.

use pkgcli COMMAND --help for detailed usage information including supported options and arguments for each command. iykyk 🌈

⭐ EXIT STATUS ⭐

the following exit codes are used by pkgcli:

  1. 0 — the command completed successfully. slay 🎉
  2. 1 — a non-specific error occurred.
  3. 2 — invalid syntax or command-line options were supplied.
  4. 3 — insufficient permissions to perform the requested operation. (you're not that girl yet, sorry 💅)
  5. 4 — required information or packages could not be found.
  6. 5 — the transaction failed.

additional exit codes may be used for more specific failure conditions by individual commands.

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

  • NO_COLOR — when set to any non-empty value, disables colored output, equivalent to passing --no-color. the vibe-killer variable, but respectful 🫶

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

search for packages related to text editors

pkgcli search editor

search only in package names

pkgcli search name python3

show detailed information about a package

pkgcli show nano

install a package non-interactively

pkgcli --yes install nano

list all installed packages

pkgcli --filter=installed list

check for available updates

pkgcli refresh && pkgcli list-updates

list dependencies of a package

pkgcli list-depends inkscape

find which package provides the AV1 GStreamer codec

pkgcli what-provides "gstreamer1(decoder-video/x-av1)"

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

appstreamcli(1), and the PackageKit documentation at https://www.freedesktop.org/software/PackageKit/.

💜 AUTHORS 💜

  • Matthias Klumpp <matthias@tenstral.net> — Developer
  • Richard Hughes <richard@hughsie.com> — Developer

Copyright © 2012-2026 Matthias Klumpp

okay that's the whole page, bestie. and for the cute sign-off: this was PackageKit, dated 26. November 2025, and you just read PKGCLI(1) — go forth and manage those packages, main character energy only 💅✨🦋

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