pikman

Search for a package in native repos

$ pikman search [package_name]

$ pikman install [package]

$ pikman --aur install [package]

$ pikman --flatpak install [package]

$ pikman update

$ pikman upgrade

$ pikman remove [package]

$ pikman --aur init

pikman [global options] command [command options] [arguments...]

pikman is the official package manager for PikaOS, a Debian-based Linux distribution. It provides a unified interface for managing packages across multiple packaging systems. On its native PikaOS it wraps APT for native package management, but can also install packages from Arch/AUR, Fedora, and Alpine repositories using APX with Podman containers under the hood. It also supports Flatpak packages. Applications installed from containerized distributions automatically appear in the host's application launcher.
pikman handles privilege escalation internally and must not be run with sudo. It refuses to run as root.

--arch, --aur

Install and manage Arch Linux packages including AUR

Install and manage Fedora packages

Install and manage Alpine Linux packages

Install and manage Flatpak packages

Specify a managed container name

Display help information

Show version number

install, i

Install the specified package(s)

Remove an installed package

Fully purge a package including config files

Search for a package

Show details for a package

List installed packages (supports --upgradable and --installed filters)

Update the list of available packages

Upgrade the system by installing/upgrading available packages

Remove all unused packages

Clean the package manager cache

Initialize a managed container for cross-distro support

Enter the container instance for a given package manager

Export a program's desktop entry from the container

Remove a program's desktop entry

Pikman is designed specifically for PikaOS and is not a general-purpose tool for other distributions. Before installing packages from other distributions (Arch, Fedora, Alpine), you must first initialize the respective container with pikman --aur init (or --fedora init, etc.). For Flatpak packages, use pikman --flatpak update instead of upgrade to match Flatpak conventions.

Pikman was created as part of the PikaOS project, a Debian-based distribution focused on gaming and desktop use. It is written in Go and was originally hosted on GitHub. The repository was archived in November 2024 with development continuing on PikaOS's own Gitea instance. There is also a GUI counterpart called Pikman Update Manager for graphical package management.

apt(8), flatpak(1), pacman(8), dnf(8), podman(1)