shelly

Unified Arch Linux package manager CLI

TLDR

Upgrade all packages from every source (repo, AUR, Flatpak, AppImage)

$ shelly upgrade-all

Install a package from the repos

$ shelly install [package]

Remove an installed package and unused dependents

$ shelly remove --cascade [package]

Search available packages in the standard repositories

$ shelly query --available [search_term]

Search the AUR

$ shelly aur search [search_term]

Remove orphaned packages (installed as dependencies but no longer required)

$ shelly purify --orphans

Install without confirmation prompts

$ shelly install --no-confirm [package]

SYNOPSIS

shelly [options] \<command\> [args]

shelly is the command-line interface for Shelly (Shelly-ALPM), a modern unified package manager for Arch Linux. It installs, updates, searches, and removes packages across standard ALPM repositories, the AUR, Flatpak, and AppImages from one CLI.Direct subcommands cover the common lifecycle: install, remove, upgrade, upgrade-all, query, update, downgrade, purify, sync, news, and cache/keyring utilities. Grouped subcommands handle specialized sources: shelly aur, shelly flatpak, and shelly appimage. Configuration is managed with shelly config.Global options such as --no-confirm (alias -n), --json (-j), --verbose (-v), and --ui-mode (-U) apply across subcommands. Optional shortcodes of the form -\<Type\>\<Action\>… map type letters (for example S standard, A AUR, F Flatpak) to verbs for compact invocations.Shelly also ships a separate GUI; the CLI binary is the scriptable entry point documented here. On CachyOS it may be installable as the shelly package from the distribution repositories.

PARAMETERS

install [packages…]

Install packages from repositories, local files, or URLs.

remove [packages…]

Remove packages. --cascade (-c) removes unneeded reverse dependencies; --ripple (-i) removes packages that depend on the target.

upgrade

Perform a full system upgrade of standard packages.

upgrade-all

Upgrade packages from every source (repo, AUR, Flatpak, AppImage). Use --no-aur, --no-flatpak, --no-appimage, or --no-repo to skip a source.

query [package]

Query repositories and packages (installed and available by default). --available (-a), --installed (-i), --detail/--info (-d).

aur search \<query…\>

Search the Arch User Repository.

aur install [packages…]

Build and install AUR packages.

flatpak … / appimage …

Manage Flatpak apps and AppImages respectively.

purify

Remove corrupted packages; --orphans (-o) also removes orphaned dependencies.

config get|set|list|reset|parallel

Read or change Shelly configuration values.

--no-confirm, -n

Disable confirmation prompts.

--json, -j

Emit JSON output for scripting.

--version

Show version information.

INSTALL

yay -S shelly

CAVEATS

Arch Linux (and derivatives with ALPM) only; not a general multi-distro package manager. AUR builds execute PKGBUILD scripts and need a working build toolchain. Privileged operations typically require root or a configured privilege helper. The GUI and CLI share branding with other unrelated "Shelly" projects (smart-home devices, SSH clients); this page documents the Arch package manager CLI from Seafoam Labs.

RESOURCES

Source code · Documentation