checkupdates-aur

List pending updates for AUR packages

$ checkupdates-aur

$ CHECKUPDATES_DEBUG=1 checkupdates-aur

$ checkupdates-aur --help

checkupdates-aur [--aur-path=PATH] [--chroot=PATH] [--host=HOST]

--aur-path=PATH
    Path to AUR database (default: /var/lib/aurrepo/db)

--chroot=PATH
    Check AUR packages built in chroot at PATH

--host=HOST
    Connect to aurrepo instance running on HOST

checkupdates-aur is a lightweight utility from the aurutils suite for Arch Linux, focused on detecting updates for locally installed packages from the Arch User Repository (AUR). It compares installed package versions (pkgver/pkgrel) against the latest metadata in the AUR database, producing output in the exact format of pacman -Qu (e.g., pkgbase 1.0-1 -> 1.1-1). This enables seamless piping into AUR helpers like yay, paru, or custom scripts for full system updates combining official repos and AUR.

Unlike full AUR helpers, it performs only version checks—no PKGBUILD downloads, dependency resolution, or building. It assumes an AUR database exists (populated by aurrepo or similar), fetched via git clones of AUR package repos. Primarily for installed AUR packages, with options for chroots or remote hosts. Errors go to stderr; stdout is clean for scripting. Ideal for pre-update hooks in pacman or zsh functions.

Requires aurutils and up-to-date AUR database (run aurrepo -u). Network needed for remote AUR data. Only checks installed/built AUR packages. No support for uninstalled packages or dependency checks.

Install from AUR: git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/aurutils.git && cd aurutils && makepkg -si

checkupdates-aur | sed 's/->/ /' | cut -d' ' -f1 | xargs -r yay -Syu --needed
Combines with official repos: checkupdates && checkupdates-aur | yay

Developed by Alad (Ilia Kosenkov) as part of aurutils (first tagged release 2018-01), to provide modular, reproducible AUR tools avoiding full helper bloat. Evolved for better integration with clean chroots and remote builds.

checkupdates(1), pacman(8), aurrepo(1)