Pacsea

Pacsea is a fast, friendly TUI for browsing and installing Arch and AUR packages — built for speed and minimal keystrokes.

Community

✨ Idea or bug? Open an issue or check out Idea Discussions
❤️ Thank you to the Pacsea community for your ideas, reports, and support!

Supported Platforms

Supported Distributions	Supported Languages

Main app view

Table of Contents

• Quick start
• Features
• Usage
  • Handy shortcuts
• CLI Commands
• Configuration
• Troubleshooting
• Roadmap
• Credits
• License

Quick start

• Install (stable):

paru -S pacsea-bin   # or: yay -S pacsea-bin

• Install (latest):

paru -S pacsea-git   # or: yay -S pacsea-git

• Run:

pacsea

Prefer a dry run first? Add --dry-run.

Features

• Security Scan for AUR Packages: Comprehensive security scanning workflow with multiple tools (ClamAV, Trivy, Semgrep, ShellCheck, VirusTotal, custom patterns, aur-sleuth) and detailed scan summaries
• Fuzzy Search: Toggle flexible fuzzy search mode (CTRL+F) to find packages even without exact names
• Unified search: Fast results across official repos and the AUR.
• Package Update Availability: Automatic background checks with detailed version comparison view
• Keyboard‑first: Minimal keystrokes, Vim‑friendly navigation.
• Queue & install: Space to add, Enter to confirm installs. Press S in the confirm dialog to scan AUR packages before installing.
• Always‑visible details: Open package links with a click.
• PKGBUILD preview: Toggle viewer; copy PKGBUILD with one click.
• Persistent lists: Recent searches and Install list are saved.
• Installed‑only mode: Review and remove installed packages safely.
• Distro-aware updates: Automatic detection and use of appropriate mirror tools for Manjaro, EndeavourOS, CachyOS, Artix, and standard Arch
• Helpful tools: System update dialog with distro-aware mirror management and Arch News popup.

Security-first approach for AUR Packages

• Security-first approach for installing AUR Packages.
• Security Coverage via automatic Scans and Optional Measures (e.g., converting AUR packages to Flatpak (in Planning)), and more

New: Security scans for AUR

Pacsea adds a security‑first workflow for AUR installs. Before building you can run one or more checks — ClamAV (antivirus), Trivy (filesystem), Semgrep (static analysis), ShellCheck for PKGBUILD/.install, VirusTotal hash lookups, custom suspicious pattern scanning, and aur-sleuth (LLM audit). Scans generate a comprehensive summary showing infections, vulnerabilities by severity, Semgrep findings count, and VirusTotal statistics.

VirusTotal API Setup: Configure your VirusTotal API key directly from the Optional Deps modal. Press Enter on the "Security: VirusTotal API" entry to open the API key page, then paste and save your key. The modal blocks main UI interactions to prevent accidental clicks/keys.

Future implementation will include: Enhanced AI Security Scan (optional)

System update dialog

TUI Optional Deps

• Install and verify recommended helper tools directly from a dedicated view with environment-aware defaults.
• Desktop-aware preferences include GNOME Terminal on GNOME, Klipper on KDE, and support for multiple editors (nvim, vim, helix, emacs/emacsclient, nano).
• The modal detects your:
  • environment (Wayland/X11, desktop environment, distro)
  • and shows relevant options.
  • Tools include editors, terminals, clipboard utilities (wl-clipboard for Wayland, xclip for X11),
  • mirror updaters (reflector, pacman-mirrors, eos-rankmirrors, cachyos-rate-mirrors),
  • AUR helpers (paru, yay), and
  • security utilities (ClamAV, Trivy, Semgrep, ShellCheck, VirusTotal API setup, aur-sleuth).
• Quickly see what's installed and press Enter to install missing packages.

Usage

1. Start typing to search (press CTRL+F to toggle fuzzy search mode).
2. Move with ↑/↓ or PageUp/PageDown.
3. Press Space to add to the Install list.
4. Press Enter to install (or confirm the Install list).
5. For AUR packages: Press S in the confirm dialog to scan before installing.
6. Press F1 or ? anytime for a help overlay.
7. PKGBUILD copy: For the "Copy PKGBUILD" button, install wl-clipboard (Wayland) or xclip (X11). The copied PKGBUILD includes a suffix configured in settings.conf (clipboard_suffix).
8. Check for available updates using the "Updates available" button at the top of the interface.

Handy shortcuts

• Help: F1 or ?
• Fuzzy search: Ctrl+F (toggle mode)
• Reload config: Ctrl+R
• Switch panes: Tab , ← / →
• Change sorting: Shift+Tab
• Add / Install: Space / Enter
• Clear search: Shift+Del (in insert mode)
• Close popup: q
• Toggle PKGBUILD viewer: Ctrl+X (or click the label)
• Quit: Ctrl+C

PKGBUILD preview

CLI Commands

Pacsea supports powerful command-line operations, allowing you to manage packages without launching the TUI:

pacsea -s <query>              # Search packages
pacsea -i <package1> <package2>  # Install packages
pacsea -u                       # System update
pacsea -l                       # List installed packages
pacsea -n                       # Show Arch news

For a complete list of all CLI commands and options, see the CLI Commands wiki page or run:

pacsea --help

Note: All CLI commands exit after completion and don't launch the TUI interface. Except if explicitly mentioned.

Configuration

• Config lives in ~/.config/pacsea/ as three files:
  • settings.conf — app behavior (layout, defaults, visibility)
  • theme.conf — colors and styling
  • keybinds.conf — keyboard shortcuts
• Press Ctrl+R in the app to reload your theme (theme.conf). Settings and keybinds (settings.conf, keybinds.conf) are read fresh from disk automatically — no reload needed.

For example configuration files, see the config/ directory:

• config/settings.conf — app behavior (layout, defaults, visibility, scans, news, etc.)
• config/theme.conf — colors and styling with multiple theme examples
• config/keybinds.conf — keyboard shortcuts for all actions

Preflight Modal

By default Pacsea shows a Preflight review modal before installs/removals. This allows you to inspect dependencies, files, config conflicts, and optionally run AUR security scans.

The Install list shows all packages queued for installation. You can export your list to a file or import packages from a previously saved list. The blue refresh icon next to each package indicates the loading/update status.

To skip this modal, change the following key in ~/.config/pacsea/settings.conf:

skip_preflight = true

Panels hidden

Optional: build from source

sudo pacman -S rustup && rustup default stable
git clone https://github.com/Firstp1ck/Pacsea
cd Pacsea
cargo run

Troubleshooting

• AUR search errors: Check your network and try again.
• Installs don’t start: Ensure you have a terminal installed (e.g. alacritty, kitty, xterm) and sudo working in a terminal.

Roadmap

• Vote or suggest features: Feature discussion

• Check out what's next and what I am working on What's Next...?

Potential future Features

Community Suggestions: Priority Features

• Add Flags in result pane for packages that are: not maintained, orphaned and outdated
• Adjustable Height of the "Results", "Package Info" and "Search" panes
• Add possibility to switch locations of Top/Center/Bottom panes
• View AUR package comments

Other Potential Features

• Show with Hover over button, what the button does
• Mirror Search and extensive Mirror Selection
• Add Chaotic AUR setup and add Garuda Repository Support
• Multi Package Manager Support for: Debian-Based (apt), Fedora-Based (dnf) and Flatpak Support
• Add custom Repository Support (e.g Make Cachy/Manjaro/EOS Repositories available to other Arch based Systems)
• Ability to resolve dependency conflicts
• Add accessability themes for visual impairments
• Add PKGBUILD Preview shellcheck and namcap
• Add custom upgrade commands
• Add possibility to view News for the respectiv Distro: EndeavourOS, Manjaro, Garuda and CachyOS
• Add possibility to view News based on installed Packages (Including AUR comments)
• Available Update button. Opens a Preview with old and new version. -> done;
  • grouped by system critical updates like Kernel, systemd and other CORE packages that need restart and other packages (pacman and aur, incl. search/filter)
• Commandline Flags -u and --update use set "Update System" from the TUI settings.

Credits

• Inspired by the following yay commandline: yay -Slq | fzf --multi --preview 'yay -Sii {}' --preview-window=down:75% --layout=default | xargs -ro yay -S
• Built with Ratatui + Crossterm
• Powered by Arch + AUR

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Wiki

Check out the Wiki for more information.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read the CONTRIBUTING