expac

pacman database query tool with custom formatting

TLDR

List dependencies of a package

$ expac [-S|--sync] '%D' [package]

List optional dependencies

$ expac [-S|--sync] "%o" [package]

List download size of packages in MiB

$ expac [-S|--sync] [-H|--humansize] M '%k\t%n' [package1] [package2]

List packages marked for upgrade with size

$ expac [-S|--sync] [-H|--humansize] M '%k\t%n' $(pacman -Qqu) | sort [-sh|--sort --human-numeric-sort]

List explicitly-installed packages with optional dependencies

$ expac [-d|--delim] '\n\n' [-l|--listdelim] '\n\t' [-Q|--query] '%n\n\t%O' $(pacman -Qeq)

SYNOPSIS

expac [options] format [targets]

expac extracts data from alpm databases using printf-like format strings. It provides flexible output formatting for pacman-based package queries.The tool acts as a lightweight alternative to parsing pacman output, offering direct access to package metadata including dependencies, sizes, descriptions, and installation dates. Format specifiers like %n (name), %v (version), %D (dependencies) enable custom reports.Useful for scripting, package analysis, and generating custom package reports. Particularly powerful when combined with other tools for filtering and processing package information.

PARAMETERS

-S, --sync

Query sync database

-Q, --query

Query local database

-H, --humansize unit

Human-readable sizes (K, M, G)

-d, --delim string

Delimiter between packages (default: newline)

-l, --listdelim string

Delimiter for list items (default: two spaces)

-t, --timefmt format

Time output format string passed to strftime(3) (default: %c)

-1, --readone

Stop after first match

-p, --file pkgfile

Query a package file instead of the database

FORMAT SPECIFIERS

Common format specifiers: %n (name), %v (version), %d (description), %D (depends), %E (depends, no version), %O (optional deps), %o (optional deps, no descriptions), %N (required by), %P (provides), %H (conflicts), %G (groups), %m (install size), %k (download size), %r (repo), %u (URL), %a (architecture), %l (install date), %w (install reason), %F (files).

CAVEATS

Arch Linux and derivatives only. Format strings use % specifiers. Part of the pacman ecosystem. Use -H to format sizes in human-readable units (K, M, G, T).