apk-world(5)

💅 apk-world(5) — the File Formats Manual, but make it a group chat

okay so real talk bestie, this is the manual page for apk-world from the File Formats Manual section, and it's honestly lowkey iconic once you get what it's doing. let's go 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

/etc/apk/world — the literal list of constraints that your package selection has to fulfil. that's it, that's the whole name. slay 🎀

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so at /etc/apk/world, apk maintains the world — which is just the fancy way of saying: the running list of constraints that the package selection needs to fulfil. it's giving "the main character of your install" ngl 👑

bestie heads up 🚨 if you edit this file manually, you should run apk-fix(8) to actually apply the changes. don't just edit and walk away like nothing happened, that's not the vibe fr fr.

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🌸 PACKAGE SPECIFICATION 🌸

this is a plaintext file, one constraint per line, using dependency notation. each line has the format:

[!]name{@tag}{[<>~=]version}

when you're modifying an existing installation, the installed version is preferred — unless an upgrade is requested, or a world constraint or package dependency requires an alternate version. the way it just respects what's already there 😌

🦋 tagged repositories, iykyk

to enable selection from a tagged repository, use the format name@tag, e.g. busybox@edge. see apk-repositories(5) for the details on tagged package repositories.

untagged repositories are also considered for constraints with a tag. the tag is inherited to all dependencies as an allowed repository. that is: the dependencies are selected from the tagged repository if the name@tag has a dependency with a version constraint requiring a version available only from the tagged repository. if the dependency can be satisfied from a non-tagged repository, it will be preferred. periodt ✨

💅 version operators

to constrain the acceptable versions of the package, use the =, <, >, >=, ~, >~ or <~ operators. respect the order bestie, they mean:

• = — the package is equal to the specified version
• < — less than it
• > — greater than it
• >= — greater than or equal to it
• ~ — prefix match
• >~ — greater than or prefix match
• <~ — less than or prefix match

the ~ operator constrains the package to the prefix match of the version number. cute and precise, we love to see it 🎀

🔥 the identity hash one

a constraint against a specific identity hash is specified with the >< operator. these constraints are generated by apk-add(8) when a package filename is added. you probably won't be hand-typing these and that's fine 🙈

💀 the conflict exclamation mark

the optional ! in front of the name changes the dependency constraint to a conflict, and ensures that any package matching the specification is not installed. it's the "not you, bestie" of package management 🚫

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🌈 EXAMPLES — let's break it down 🌈

• busybox — installs busybox from the untagged repository from which it is available
• busybox@edge — allows installation of busybox and it's dependencies from a repository tagged with "edge". tagged repositories will not be prioritized. if a version from an untagged repository is a better fit, it will be used 👀
• !unwanted — prevents installation of unwanted as a dependency by creating a conflict. iconic blocking behavior 💅
• busybox=1.6.1 — install busybox version 1.6.1
• busybox>1.6.1 — install a busybox version greater than 1.6.1
• busybox>=1.6.1 — install a busybox version greater than or equal to 1.6.1
• busybox<1.6.1 — install a busybox version less than 1.6.1
• busybox~1.6 — install any busybox version starting with 1.6. examples of match: 1.6, 1.6.0_pre1, 1.6.0, 1.6.5, 1.6.9_p1 🍓
• busybox>~1.6 — install a busybox version greater than or prefix match of 1.6
• busybox<~1.6 — install a busybox version less than or prefix match of 1.6
• busybox><Q12l/v/T0pPK3aQaUWmI9djiLpF+g= — install a busybox matching the specified identity hash. no cap, that's the actual string 🌟

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and that's the whole page bestie, you ate that 💖 this was apk-world(5) from the File Formats Manual, dated 2026-11-02 — go forth and curate your world, mwah 🧚✨