aur-view

aur-view provides an interface for inspecting and editing package build files.

Synopsis

aur view [options] <repository...>

Description

aur-view is a crucial security step in the aur-sync workflow. It opens the directories containing package build files in a terminal file manager (by default, vifm) so you can review the PKGBUILD and any other source files before building and installing the package.

If any changes are detected between the current state and the last time you viewed the package, it will display a diff. If you exit the file manager with a non-zero exit code (e.g., :cq in vifm), the entire aur-sync process will be aborted.

Options

  • -a FILE, --arg-file=FILE: Read a list of repository directories to view from FILE.
  • --format=<TYPE>: The format for displaying changes. Can be diff (default) or log.
  • --revision=<REV>: The git revision to compare against. Defaults to HEAD.
  • --no-patch: Suppress the patch output in the diff, showing only a summary of changed files.
  • --exclude=<FILE>: Exclude a file path from the diff. Can be specified multiple times.
  • --prefix: Prepend the package directory name to file paths in the diff output.
  • --confirm: Display an additional confirmation prompt after the file manager exits. This is for viewers that do not support exiting with a status code.

Environment Variables

  • AUR_PAGER: The file manager or command to use for viewing files. If unset, defaults to vifm.
  • AUR_VIEW_DB: The directory to store checksums of viewed revisions. Defaults to $XDG_DATA_HOME/aurutils/view.