revdeprun

A command-line tool that automates reverse dependency checking for R packages. Provision R on Ubuntu, install system dependencies, preinstall revdep dependency binaries, configure environment context, and run xfun::rev_check() in a single command. Designed for cloud environments where you need reproducible, isolated test runs without tedious manual setup.

Installation

Prerequisites

Install Rust:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

Install C compiler and linker:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y build-essential

Install revdeprun

From crates.io (stable release):

cargo install revdeprun

From GitHub (latest development version):

cargo install --git https://github.com/nanxstats/revdeprun.git

Note: If cargo or revdeprun is not found immediately after installation, restart your shell.

Environment

Currently, this tool is designed for Ubuntu-based systems and requires:

• Operating system: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, 24.04 LTS, and future LTS releases.
• Version control: Git on PATH.
• Network access: To download R, R packages, and repository metadata.
• Elevated privileges: sudo access for installing R and system requirements.

Security

Important

Never run revdeprun on your local machine or any environment with sensitive data. Reverse dependency checks execute arbitrary third-party R code, download dependencies from external repositories, and install system packages via sudo. Always run revdeprun in temporary, isolated environments such as disposable cloud instances or containers that will be destroyed after use.

See SECURITY.md for complete security guidelines.

Usage

Simply point revdeprun at your package:

revdeprun https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/YOUR-REPOSITORY.git

Git repository, local directory, or source tarball (.tar.gz) are supported.

Sensible defaults that make this fast and robust:

• Discover and install the current release version of R for Ubuntu.
• Pre-install system requirements for all reverse dependencies at once.
• Pre-install all dependencies required for checking reverse dependencies from the Posit Public Package Manager (P3M) binary repository, into a dedicated library in revdep/library/.
• Run xfun::rev_check() for parallel reverse dependency checking.
• Generate summary reports only for any check results with diffs.
• Use all available CPU cores for parallel installation and checking.

Command-line options

Usage: revdeprun [OPTIONS] <REPOSITORY>

Arguments:
  <REPOSITORY>
          Git URL, local directory, or source package tarball (.tar.gz) for the target R package

Options:
      --r-version <R_VERSION>
          R version to install (e.g., release, 4.3.3, oldrel-1)
          [default: release]

      --num-workers <N>
          Number of parallel workers for xfun::rev_check()
          [default: number of CPU cores]

      --work-dir <WORK_DIR>
          Optional workspace directory where temporary files are created

      --skip-r-install
          Skip installing R and reuse the system-wide installation

  -h, --help
          Print help

  -V, --version
          Print version

Example usages

Standard check on a remote repository:

revdeprun https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/YOUR-REPOSITORY.git

Specify R version and parallelism:

revdeprun --r-version devel --num-workers 48 \
  https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/YOUR-REPOSITORY.git

Use a custom workspace and SSH authentication:

revdeprun --work-dir /data/workspace \
  git@github.com:YOUR-USERNAME/YOUR-REPOSITORY.git

Check a local directory:

revdeprun ~/workspace/YOUR-REPOSITORY

Check a local source package tarball:

revdeprun ~/packages/YOURPACKAGE_1.2.3.tar.gz

Use an existing R installation:

revdeprun --skip-r-install https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/YOUR-REPOSITORY.git

Monitor long-running checks

Reverse dependency checks can take hours to complete. If you are monitoring progress via an SSH session from your local machine, consider preventing your computer from sleeping to maintain an uninterrupted connection and keep progress output streaming continuously to your terminal. On macOS, open a new terminal window and run caffeinate -d. On Windows, use PowerToys Awake.

Technical workflow

The following diagrams illustrate the revdeprun workflow.

Phase 1: Environment setup

Phase 2: Dependency installation and reverse dependency checking

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.