grimaur

grimaur is a lightweight AUR helper that searches, builds, and updates AUR packages. It uses the AUR RPC API and automatically falls back to the official git mirror when the endpoint is unavailable.

Tip

When the AUR is down, run commands with --git-mirror

For example: grimaur <package> --git-mirror to bypass the RPC entirely, this ensures higher uptimes.

Install

Deps

sudo pacman -S --needed git base-devel

Directly from the AUR

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/grimaur-git.git
cd grimaur-git
makepkg -si

From the git mirror

git clone --branch grimaur-git --single-branch https://github.com/archlinux/aur.git grimaur-git
cd grimaur-git
makepkg -si

From Python directly

git clone https://github.com/ryk4rd/grimaur
cd grimaur
chmod +x grimaur
./grimaur <command>

Usage

Search Packages

• grimaur <term> (or grimaur search <term>) lists matching packages and lets you pick one to install.
  • Regex "pattern-*"` automatically uses git mirror
  • Pass --git-mirror when endpoint is down
• grimaur list to see installed "foreign" packages recognized by pacman -Qm

Note

You can use grimaur fetch <package> to inspect PKGBUILD and source code before manually installing using makepkg or similar.

Even see it directly: python grimaur inspect brave-bin --target PKGBUILD Also accepts: SRCINFO

Inspect & Install & Remove Packages

• grimaur inspect <package> --full Shows full depends
• grimaur install <package> clones the repo, resolves dependencies, builds with makepkg
  • Pass --git-mirror to skip AUR RPC
  • Pass --use-ssh use SSH instead of HTTPS
• grimaur remove <package> to uninstall from pacman
  • Pass --remove-cache to delete cached files too
• grimaur install/fetch/inspect mypkg --repo-url <url> to use custom URL instead

Stay Updated

• grimaur update rebuilds every installed “foreign” package that has a newer release.

  • Pass --global to update system first, then AUR packages
  • Pass --global --system-only for equivalent of -Syu
  • Pass --global --index, only sync package db -Sy

• grimaur update <pkg1> <pkg2> limits the update run to specific packages.

• grimaur update --devel Update all *-git packages aswell (needed for grimaur-git for example).

• Combine with --refresh to force a fresh pull of every tracked package.

Additional Options

• Useful to build in tmp/ pass --dest-root - (default: ~/.cache/aurgit)
• For automating updates grimaur update:
  • Pass --global --download, download updates without installing -Syuw
  • Pass --global --install, to be used with command above -Su
• Useful for scripting on top of Grimaur
  • --no-color disables colored terminal output
  • grimaur search <term> --limit 10 limits results to the first N matches
  • grimaur search <term> --no-interactive lists results without prompting to install
• Force grimaur fetch <package> --force reclones even if the directory exists
• Complete example: python grimaur --use-ssh search "brave.*-bin" --no-interactive

Details

• Respects IgnorePkg = x y z from /etc/pacman.conf
• Pass --noconfirm to skip prompts (install, update, remove, and search)

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