Xrepo CLI

Xrepo CLI

xrepo is xmake's standalone C/C++ package manager. It shares the xmake runtime but is a full package tool on its own — use it outside of any project to install, query, or enter an environment with C/C++ libraries and tools.

xrepo manages global repositories and installed packages. xmake repo is a project-local variant. If you want the change to apply everywhere on your machine, use xrepo.

Packages come from the official xmake-repo by default, plus any private repos you register, plus bridges to vcpkg/brew/conan/pacman/apt etc.

Installing packages

xrepo install zlib tbox
xrepo install "zlib 1.2.x"          # semver range — QUOTE the spec
xrepo install "zlib >=1.2.0"

Mode / kind

xrepo install -m debug zlib          # debug build
xrepo install -m release zlib
xrepo install -k shared zlib         # dynamic library
xrepo install -k static zlib

Platform / arch

xrepo install -p iphoneos -a arm64 zlib
xrepo install -p android -a arm64-v8a --ndk=~/android-ndk-r26 zlib
xrepo install -p mingw  --mingw=/opt/llvm-mingw zlib
xrepo install -p cross  --sdk=/opt/arm-linux-musleabi-cross zlib
xrepo install -p wasm   --toolchain=emcc zlib

Package configs

Pass recipe options via -f:

xrepo install -f "runtimes='MD'" zlib
xrepo install -f "regex=true,thread=true" boost
xrepo install -f "shared=true,pic=true" openssl

From third-party package managers

xrepo can install through other package managers and still hand you xmake-style link info:

xrepo install brew::zlib
xrepo install vcpkg::zlib
xrepo install conan::zlib/1.2.11
xrepo install pacman::zlib
xrepo install apt::zlib1g-dev

Force / clean

xrepo install --force zlib           # rebuild even if cached
xrepo remove zlib                    # uninstall
xrepo clean                          # clean caches
xrepo clean --all

Searching and inspecting

xrepo search zlib "pcr*"
xrepo info zlib

xrepo info shows description, versions, upstream URLs, hashes, supported platforms, and available configs — use it to discover which -f "..." options a package accepts before installing.

The dependency graph of a package, as a tree or as json:

xrepo info --depgraph libpng
xrepo info --depgraph --format=json libpng

Getting link / cflags info (xrepo fetch)

fetch resolves an installed package and prints the info you would otherwise get through add_packages. Great for dropping xrepo packages into a non-xmake build.

xrepo fetch pcre2                    # Lua table (linkdirs/links/defines/includedirs)
xrepo fetch --cflags openssl
xrepo fetch --ldflags openssl
xrepo fetch --cflags --ldflags conan::zlib/1.2.11
xrepo fetch -p iphoneos --cflags "zlib 1.2.x"

Pipe into a Makefile / CMake toolchain:

CFLAGS="$(xrepo fetch --cflags openssl)"
LDFLAGS="$(xrepo fetch --ldflags openssl)"

Downloading source only

xrepo download zlib
xrepo download "zlib 2.x"
xrepo download -o /tmp zlib          # output directory

Does not build or install — just fetches and extracts the upstream source.

Exporting an installed package

Copy an installed package (headers, libs, cmake files, …) into a standalone directory so you can ship it or hand it to another toolchain:

xrepo export -o /tmp/output zlib
xrepo export -o /tmp/output -p android -a arm64-v8a "zlib 1.2.x"

Importing and scanning

export and import are a pair: export an installed package on a machine with network access, import it where there is none.

xrepo export -o /tmp/output zlib
xrepo import -i /tmp/output          # install the exported packages here

scan re-registers the packages already present in the install directory, e.g. after you copied them in by hand or restored a cache:

xrepo scan                           # all installed packages
xrepo scan zlib

Repository management

xrepo add-repo myrepo https://github.com/mygroup/myrepo
xrepo add-repo myrepo https://github.com/mygroup/myrepo dev   # branch
xrepo rm-repo myrepo
xrepo list-repo
xrepo update-repo                    # pull the latest recipes

Private, air-gapped setups typically: add-repo an internal mirror, then install everything from there.

Package virtual environments

xrepo env drops you into a shell (or runs a single command) with selected packages on PATH / LD_LIBRARY_PATH / PKG_CONFIG_PATH. This is a sizable topic on its own — see the xrepo-env skill for ad-hoc, project-local (./xmake.lua), and named environments, plus CI usage and --show debugging.

Quick reference

Common flags

• -m debug|release — build mode
• -k static|shared — library kind
• -p <plat> / -a <arch> — target platform / arch
• -f "k=v,k=v" — recipe configs (per package)
• --runtimes=MD|MT|MDd|MTd — MSVC runtime
• --ndk=, --sdk=, --mingw=, --vs= — toolchain roots
• --toolchain=<name> — force a specific toolchain
• -v / -vD — verbose / diagnosis

Pitfalls

• Unquoted version strings. xrepo install zlib 1.2.x parses 1.2.x as a second package name. Always quote: "zlib 1.2.x".
• xrepo vs xmake repo. xrepo is global; xmake repo is for project-local repos inside an xmake.lua. They are not interchangeable.
• Forgetting to update repos. If a recipe was added upstream after your last sync, xrepo update-repo before install.
• Exported/fetched paths are absolute. xrepo fetch --cflags prints paths into ~/.xmake/packages/... — fine for local builds, not portable across machines. Use xrepo export to get a self-contained directory.

When to branch out

• Virtual environments (xrepo env) → xrepo-env
• Using packages from inside an xmake.lua project → xmake-packages
• Writing / testing a package recipe → xmake-repo-testing
• Cross-toolchain setup used by -p/-a → xmake-toolchains