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Arch packages (pacman)

docs/bootstrap/packages/pacman.md

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Arch packages (pacman)

System packages for Arch-family Linux (Arch, Manjaro, EndeavourOS, ...).

toml
[bootstrap.packages]
"pacman:openssl" = "latest"
"pacman:base-devel" = "latest"
"pacman:libreoffice-fresh" = { state = "absent" }

For a rolling-release workstation, keep the whole system current using Arch's supported full-system upgrade workflow before adding packages. mise's scoped upgrade command is not a replacement for that workflow; see the partial-upgrade limitation below.

Preview and apply

sh
mise bootstrap packages status
mise bootstrap packages apply --manager pacman --dry-run
mise bootstrap packages apply --manager pacman

These commands use the active [bootstrap.packages] declarations. To add and install a package together, use mise bootstrap packages use pacman:openssl. The manager must be available on the host; an explicit --manager pacman fails when it is unavailable.

Behavior

  • Package state is checked with pacman -Q and pacman -T (read-only, never elevates). An installed package that satisfies the requested name through Provides counts as installed.
  • Missing packages are installed with pacman -S --noconfirm --needed, elevated with sudo when necessary (see sudo). --needed makes installs idempotent.
  • Packages declared with state = "absent" are removed with pacman -R --noconfirm. Removal is based on pacman's installed package database, so it works the same for official Arch packages and packages from configured third-party repositories such as the Omarchy Package Repository. mise does not cascade to dependents or remove orphaned dependencies.
  • If /var/lib/pacman/sync contains no databases (fresh containers), mise runs pacman -Sy automatically before installing. Force a refresh with mise bootstrap packages apply --update.
  • mise bootstrap packages upgrade runs pacman -Sy and then upgrades only the configured packages. Requests satisfied through Provides are skipped to avoid replacing the installed provider. Arch officially supports only full-system upgrades (pacman -Syu) — upgrading individual packages is a partial upgrade, so prefer running pacman -Syu yourself on a rolling-release system.

::: warning Arch repositories only carry the latest version of each package, so pacman entries cannot be installed at a pinned version — mise bootstrap packages apply skips pinned entries with a warning, though mise bootstrap packages status still reports a version mismatch for them. Declare packages that must be built from the Arch User Repository with the separate aur: manager. :::