pkgtui

Why pkgtui

The everyday basics of browsing, searching and acting on packages — done once, done well, for every package manager on the machine at once.

●Every backend, one dashboard

A tab per package manager found on the system — apt, snap, flatpak, brew, macports — each with its own state. Search, filter, sort by size, view reverse dependencies.

▲Real live output

Install/remove/upgrade run in a real pseudo-terminal, shown live in a bordered box. sudo prompts and debconf dialogs work exactly as they would from the command line.

▲Upgrade all, with a preview

See exactly which packages will change, security updates called out separately, before you confirm anything.

◆11 built-in themes

From classic Dracula, Nord and Gruvbox to Catppuccin, Tokyo Night and Ubuntu's own palette. Browse them live, no restart needed.

○Rebind every key

Change any shortcut from inside the app, live, with a one-key reset back to defaults if it goes sideways.

●Sources & changelog aware

Add or remove apt PPAs and flatpak remotes, and read a package's changelog before upgrading it, without leaving the TUI.

Beyond wrapping the package managers

None of these tools answers any of this on its own — pkgtui does, from the same dashboard.

Disk cleanup explorerK

Old kernel packages apt's own autoremove deliberately leaves behind, leftover config files from already-removed packages, disabled snap revisions nobody ever revisits, Homebrew's cached downloads, inactive MacPorts versions, unused flatpak runtimes — with total reclaimable space and a direct purge.

Dependency treeW

Manual install or pulled in as a dependency, plus a navigable ├──/└── tree of reverse dependencies with a breadcrumb trail — drill into any of them to ask the same question again.

backend overlapO

Packages installed through more than one backend at once — apt and snap, apt and flatpak, brew and MacPorts — and snaps that haven't been refreshed in 6+ months, using the snap's own on-disk file timestamp, not locale-dependent text.

Unattended-upgrades dashboardA

Whether silent background upgrades are enabled, what the last automatic run actually touched, and when the next one is scheduled — normally visible only by digging through log files by hand.

Install a version, or downgradeV

Pick from every version apt-cache madison knows about across your configured repos — useful right after an upgrade turns out to be the one you wanted to avoid.

RevertV

Snap's own idiomatic undo, from inside the TUI: restores the previous revision's binary and its data/config, not just an older version number.

Metrics dashboardM

Installed packages ranked by disk usage as a bar chart, for every backend that can report one — snap has no size column in "snap list" and brew reports none at all, so pkgtui measures the revision file or the keg itself.

Upgrade conflictsX

Packages a conservative apt-get upgrade would leave behind because it needs to install or remove something else first — distinct from an explicit hold. "Upgrade all" already resolves most of these; this shows which, and why. Also catches packages Ubuntu's phased update rollout is holding back, which neither a plain upgrade nor "Upgrade all" will touch until the rollout reaches this machine.

Action logL

Every privileged action run this session, both backends together, with a timestamp and success/failure — a running record of what you actually did.

In action

pkgtui — apt

Searching an apt package, its dependency tree (W), and the disk-usage metrics dashboard (M).

pkgtui — snap

Same flow on snap, including the channel picker (c to cycle stable/candidate/beta/edge).

Installation

No verification/store required — grab the asset that fits and install it locally.

# replace <version> with the latest release number, no leading "v"
curl -fLO https://github.com/padovanl/pkgtui/releases/latest/download/pkgtui_<version>_amd64.deb
sudo apt install ./pkgtui_<version>_amd64.deb

# side-loaded, classic confinement — not on the Snap Store
curl -fLO https://github.com/padovanl/pkgtui/releases/latest/download/pkgtui_<version>_amd64.snap
sudo snap install --dangerous --classic pkgtui_<version>_amd64.snap

curl -fLO https://github.com/padovanl/pkgtui/releases/latest/download/pkgtui_<version>_linux_amd64.tar.gz
tar -xzf pkgtui_<version>_linux_amd64.tar.gz
sudo mv pkgtui /usr/local/bin/

# macOS (Apple Silicon or Intel) and Linuxbrew
brew tap padovanl/pkgtui https://github.com/padovanl/pkgtui
brew install --cask pkgtui

First launch on macOS: a few one-time clicks (Gatekeeper)

Right after brew install --cask pkgtui finishes, macOS reports "pkgtui" Not Opened since the binary isn't notarized — click Done (not Move to Bin), it's already been placed on your PATH.
Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down to the note that "pkgtui" was blocked to protect your Mac, and click Allow Anyway.
Open a terminal and run pkgtui again — an Open "pkgtui"? prompt appears, click Open Anyway, then enter your password when asked. pkgtui starts normally from then on.

Only needed once, on the very first launch — thanks to @Sk8teb0arder for walking through this and sharing the screenshots.

# without Homebrew: darwin_arm64 on Apple Silicon, darwin_amd64 on Intel
curl -fLO https://github.com/padovanl/pkgtui/releases/latest/download/pkgtui_<version>_darwin_arm64.tar.gz
tar -xzf pkgtui_<version>_darwin_arm64.tar.gz
sudo mv pkgtui /usr/local/bin/

git clone https://github.com/padovanl/pkgtui.git
cd pkgtui
go build -o pkgtui .
sudo mv pkgtui /usr/local/bin/

Full instructions, checksums and arm64 builds on the releases page.

Every key, one dashboard

The complete keybinding reference — also available in-app any time with ?.

Key	Action
`←` / `→`	Switch backend (one tab per package manager found)
`tab`	Switch view (Installed / Upgradable / Orphaned* / Search)
`/`	Search the backend's full catalog, then `enter` to run it
`f`	Filter the packages currently shown, live as you type
`↑`/`↓`, `j`/`k`	Navigate the list (mouse wheel and clicks work too)
`enter`	Show details for the selected package
`space`	Tag/untag the selected package for a batch action
`i`	Install the selected package, or all tagged packages
`d`	Remove the selected package, or all tagged packages
`u`	Upgrade the selected package
`U`	Upgrade all packages, with a preview first
`S`	Sort the current view by installed size
`c`	Cycle the install channel (while confirming a snap install)
`H`	Hold/unhold the selected package (apt, flatpak, brew)
`C`	View the selected package's changelog (apt)
`P`	Manage third-party sources: PPAs (apt), remotes (flatpak)
`s`	Sync the cache (apt-get update, flatpak update --appstream, brew update, port selfupdate; no-op on snap)
`K`	Disk cleanup: old kernels, leftover configs, disabled revisions
`W`	Why is the selected package installed (manual vs. dependency, reverse-dep tree)
`A`	Unattended-upgrades status (apt)
`O`	Backend overlap: packages installed more than once, stale snaps
`V`	Install a specific version / downgrade (apt); revert (snap)
`M`	Metrics dashboard: installed packages ranked by disk usage
`X`	Upgrade conflicts: packages a plain upgrade would keep back, or Ubuntu's phased rollout is holding back (apt)
`L`	Action log: what's run this session, and whether it succeeded
`y` / `n`	Confirm / cancel a pending action
`esc`	Go back
`,`	Open settings (theme, keybindings)
`?`	Toggle the in-app help screen
`ctrl+l`	Force a full screen redraw
`q`	Quit