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Custom Packages Registry

"Custom packages" are tools/apps installed outside standard package managers using a managed chezmoi list. This registry supports both GitHub-release assets and source-based builds.

Preconditions​

  • The tool/app is not available in higher-priority package managers for this repo.
  • You identified the official GitHub repository and release asset naming.
  • You know which format applies: dmg, file, tar_gz_bin, or git_maven_jar.

Where The List Lives​

Supported Formats​

The list is pipe-delimited. The template itself documents the schema:

  • DMG apps: dmg|App Name|owner/repo|release-tag|AppBundle.app|asset-pattern
  • Single binaries: file|tool-name|owner/repo|release-tag|asset-pattern|output-binary-name
  • Tarballs with a binary: tar_gz_bin|tool-name|owner/repo|release-tag|asset-pattern|bin-in-archive|output-binary-name
  • Source build (Git + Maven jar): git_maven_jar|tool-name|owner/repo|branch|output-binary-name

Steps​

  1. Add or edit the package row in:
  1. Apply:
chezmoi apply

The installer is:

It installs binaries into $HOME/.local/bin and DMG apps into /Applications. For git_maven_jar, it clones into ~/code/<repo>/<branch>, builds, and installs a launcher binary.

The installer script embeds a hash of the custom packages list so chezmoi apply re-runs it when you add or change rows in the list (not only when the installer script itself changes).

For git_maven_jar, CRUD is declarative:

  • create/update row -> clone/pull/build/install
  • remove row -> auto-remove stale launcher, and auto-remove stale repo directory if it is clean
  • dirty stale repos are preserved with a warning (to avoid data loss)

Verification​

For CLI tools:

command -v <binary-name>
<binary-name> --version

For DMG apps:

ls -d "/Applications/<AppName>.app"

Delete / Undo​

  1. Remove the row from home/readonly_dot_default-custom-packages.tmpl.
  2. Re-apply:
chezmoi apply
  1. If needed, manually remove residual app/binary:
  • /Applications/<AppName>.app
  • $HOME/.local/bin/<binary-name>

For source builds (git_maven_jar), stale repo cleanup is automatic when clean. If local changes exist in the stale repo, cleanup is skipped and you can remove it manually.