App::c...torial(3pm)

💖 NAME 💖

App::cpm::Tutorial — it's the whole tutorial for cpm, bestie. You're reading a 3pm page, aka a User Contributed Perl Documentation manual page, and this one is literally the "how do I use cpm" bible. 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

$ cpm install Module

That's it. That's the whole vibe. 😌

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

cpm is yet another CPAN client (like cpan, cpanp, and cpanm), which is fast! 🔥 Not "kinda fast", not "fast-ish" — the page says fast, so fast. Periodt.

🌈 How to install cpm 🌈

From CPAN:

$ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skaji/cpm/main/cpm | perl - install -g App::cpm

Or, download a self-contained cpm:

$ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skaji/cpm/main/cpm > cpm
$ chmod +x cpm
$ ./cpm --version

Two paths, both slay, pick your fighter. 🫶

🌸 First step 🌸

$ cpm install Plack

This command installs Plack into ./local, and you can use it by

$ perl -I$PWD/local/lib/perl5 -MPlack -E 'say Plack->VERSION'

If you want to install modules into current INC instead of ./local, then use --global/-g option. 👑

$ cpm install --global Plack

By default, cpm outputs only DONE install Module things. So quiet, so demure. If you want more verbose messages, use --verbose/-v option. 🗣️

$ cpm install --verbose Plack

🦋 Second step 🦋

cpm can handle version range notation like cpanm. Let's see some examples. 👀

$ cpm install Plack~'> 1.000, <= 2.000'
$ cpm install Plack~'== 1.0030'
$ cpm install Plack@1.0030  # this is an alias of ~'== 1.0030'

cpm can install dev releases (TRIAL releases). 💅

$ cpm install Moose@dev

# if you prefer dev releases for not only Moose,
# but also its dependencies, then use global --dev option
$ cpm install --dev Moose

And cpm can install modules from git repositories directly. No cap. 🧚

$ cpm install https://github.com/skaji/Carl.git

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🎀 cpanfile and dist/url/mirror/git syntax 🎀

If you omit arguments, and there exists one of

• cpm.yml — https://metacpan.org/pod/Module::cpmfile
• cpanfile — https://metacpan.org/dist/Module-CPANfile/view/lib/cpanfile.pod
• META.json — https://metacpan.org/pod/CPAN::Meta::Spec (with dynamic_config false)
• "Build.PL"
• "Makefile.PL"

in the current directory, then cpm loads modules from the file, and install them. 🍓

$ cat cpanfile
requires 'Moose', '2.000';
requires 'Plack', '> 1.000, <= 2.000';
$ cpm install

If you have cpanfile.snapshot, then cpm tries to resolve distribution names from it. Iconic behaviour honestly. 🌟

$ cpm install -v
30186 DONE resolve (0.001sec) Plack -> Plack-1.0030 (from Snapshot)
...

cpm supports dist/url/mirror syntax in cpanfile just like cpanminus:

requires 'Path::Class', 0.26,
  dist => "KWILLIAMS/Path-Class-0.26.tar.gz";

# use dist + mirror
requires 'Cookie::Baker',
  dist => "KAZEBURO/Cookie-Baker-0.08.tar.gz",
  mirror => "http://cpan.cpantesters.org/";

# use the full URL
requires 'Try::Tiny', 0.28,
  url => "http://backpan.perl.org/authors/id/E/ET/ETHER/Try-Tiny-0.28.tar.gz";

cpm also supports git syntax in cpanfile:

requires 'Carl', git => 'https://github.com/skaji/Carl.git';
requires 'App::cpm', git => 'https://login:password@github.com/skaji/cpm.git';
requires 'Perl::PrereqDistributionGatherer',
  git => 'https://github.com/skaji/Perl-PrereqDistributionGatherer',
  ref => '3850305'; # ref can be revision/branch/tag

💀 Please note that to support git syntax in cpanfile wholly, there are several TODOs. It's giving "works but not finished", and we're being honest about it.

💜 Darkpan integration 💜

There are CPAN modules that create darkpans (minicpan, CPAN mirror) such as CPAN::Mini, OrePAN2, Pinto.

Such darkpans store distribution tarballs in

DARKPAN/authors/id/A/AU/AUTHOR/Module-0.01.tar.gz

and create the de facto standard index file 02packages.details.txt.gz in

DARKPAN/modules/02packages.details.txt.gz

If you want to use cpm against such darkpans, change the cpm resolver by --resolver/-r option:

$ cpm install --resolver 02packages,http://example.com/darkpan Module
$ cpm install --resolver 02packages,file::///path/to/darkpan   Module

If you host your own metadb for your own darkpan, you can use it too. Main character energy fr fr. 👑

$ cpm install \
   --resolver metadb,http://example.com/darkmetadb,http://example.com/darkpan \
   Module

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okay that's the whole page bestie, you ate it 🫶 go install something and text me when it's DONE.

This tutorial came to you via perl v5.42.0, dated 2026-01-16, in the App::c...torial(3pm) section of the User Contributed Perl Documentation. 💖✨🎀