AUR helpers

AUR helpers automate usage of the Arch User Repository. In particular, they may automate the following tasks:

searching for packages published on the AUR;
resolving of dependencies between AUR packages;
retrieve and build AUR packages;
retrieve web content, such as user comments;
submission of AUR packages.

Warning: AUR helpers are not supported by Arch Linux. You should become familiar with the manual build process in order to be prepared to troubleshoot problems.

Note: Please use the discussion page to suggest edits to this article: Talk:AUR helpers.

Pacman only handles updates for pre-built packages in its repositories. AUR packages are redistributed in form of PKGBUILDs and need an AUR helper to automate the re-build process. However, keep in mind that a rebuild of a package may be required when its shared library dependencies are updated, not only when the package itself is updated.

Legend

The #Comparison tables columns have the following meaning:

File review

Does not source the PKGBUILD at all by default; or alerts the user and offers the opportunity to inspect the PKGBUILD manually before it is sourced. Some helpers are known to source PKGBUILDs before the user can inspect them, allowing malicious code to be executed.

Diff view

Ability to view package differences on inspection. Besides the PKGBUILD, this includes changes to files such as .install or .patch files.

Git clone

Uses git-clone(1) by default to retrieve build files from the AUR.

Reliable parser

Ability to handle complex packages by using the provided metadata (RPC/.SRCINFO) instead of PKGBUILD parsing, such as aws-cli-git^AUR.

Reliable solver

Ability to correctly solve and build complex dependency chains, such as ros-melodic-desktop^AUR.

Split packages

Ability to correctly build and install:

Multiple packages from the same package base, without rebuilding or reinstalling multiple times, such as clion^AUR.
Split packages which depend on a package from the same package base, such as jellyfin^AUR.
Split packages independently, such as python-pyalsaaudio^AUR and .

Shell completion

Tab completion is available for the listed shells.

Note:

Optional means that a feature is available, but only through a command-line argument or configuration option.
Partial means that a feature is not fully implemented, or that it partially deviates from the given criteria.

Comparison tables

Search and download

Name	Written in	Git clone	Shell completion	Specificity
	C++	Yes	bash	print build order
pbget^AUR	Python
	Go		zsh
	Bash		bash

Search and build

Name	Written in	Diff view	Shell completion	Specificity
	Bash		bash, zsh
bauerbill^AUR	Python		bash, zsh
	Python	No
	Rust		bash, zsh, fish	local patch application, bubblewrap, `.pkg.tar` inspection

Pacman wrappers

Name	Written in	Git clone	Reliable parser	Unsafe flags	Shell completion
	Haskell		Yes		bash, fish, zsh
	Bash				bash, zsh
pakku^AUR	Nim				bash, zsh
	Rust				bash, fish, zsh
	Python			-Sy	bash, fish, zsh
	Perl	Yes			bash, fish, zsh
	Go				bash, fish, zsh

Graphical

Warning: Usage of graphical AUR helpers may lead to a defective system, for example through unattended partial upgrades.

Kalu — Systray notification icon using libalpm and PolicyKit, with optional updater

https://github.com/Thulinma/kalu || kalu^AUR

Maintenance

aur-out-of-date — Uses hoster APIs to check AUR packages for upstream changes.

https://github.com/simon04/aur-out-of-date || aur-out-of-date^AUR

Other

aur-talk — Fetch and display AUR comments.

https://github.com/GermainZ/aur-talk || aur-talk-git^AUR

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