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TSI Package Repository

TSI uses a local package repository to store package definitions. The repository is located at ~/.tsi/packages/ by default.

Development: In-tree package repository

The official package repository (PanterSoft/tsi-packages) is included as a Git submodule at tsi-packages/. This lets you develop TSI and try package definitions without cloning the package repo separately.

Clone with submodules

First time clone (recommended):

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/PanterSoft/tsi.git

If you already cloned without submodules:

git submodule update --init tsi-packages

Use in-tree packages for development

After building TSI (e.g. make dev or cargo build), sync your install prefix from the in-repo packages:

tsi update --local ./tsi-packages/packages

With the default prefix this updates ~/.tsi/packages/ from tsi-packages/packages/. You can also use a dev-only prefix:

tsi update --local ./tsi-packages/packages --prefix ./.tsi-dev

Alternatively, run make dev-packages to sync the default prefix (see Makefile).

Update the in-tree package repo

To point the submodule at the latest commit of tsi-packages:

git submodule update --remote tsi-packages

Commit the new submodule reference in the TSI repo if you want to pin that version.

Repository Structure

~/.tsi/packages/
├── pkg-config.json
├── zlib.json
├── openssl.json
├── cmake.json
├── curl.json
└── ... (other package definitions)

Each package is defined as a JSON file. The filename should match the package name (e.g., pkg-config.json for the pkg-config package).

Updating the Repository

Default Update

Update from the official TSI package repository:

tsi update

This will: 1. Clone or update the TSI package repository from GitHub 2. Copy all .json files from the packages/ directory 3. Update your local repository at ~/.tsi/packages/

Custom Repository

Update from a custom Git repository:

tsi update --repo https://github.com/user/custom-packages.git

The repository should have a packages/ directory containing JSON package definitions.

Local Directory

Update from a local directory (useful for development):

tsi update --local /path/to/packages

This will copy all .json files from the specified directory to your repository.

Custom Prefix

Update repository for a custom TSI installation:

tsi update --prefix /opt/tsi

Repository Sources

Official Package Repository

The default package repository (used by tsi update) is separate from the TSI core repository: - URL: https://github.com/PanterSoft/tsi-packages.git - Location: packages/ directory at repo root - Packages: Essential packages (pkg-config, zlib, openssl, cmake, curl, etc.)

Custom Repositories

You can create your own package repository:

  1. Create a Git repository
  2. Add a packages/ directory
  3. Add JSON package definitions
  4. Update TSI: tsi update --repo <your-repo-url>

Package Discovery

After updating, TSI will automatically discover all packages in the repository:

# List all available packages (from repository)
ls ~/.tsi/packages/*.json

# Get info about a package
tsi info pkg-config

# Install a package
tsi install pkg-config

Repository Caching

TSI caches the repository clone in ~/.tsi/tmp-repo-update/ to speed up subsequent updates. The cache is automatically updated on each tsi update run.

Manual Repository Management

You can also manually manage the repository:

# Add a package manually
cp my-package.json ~/.tsi/packages/

# Remove a package
rm ~/.tsi/packages/package-name.json

# Edit a package
vim ~/.tsi/packages/package-name.json

Best Practices

  1. Regular Updates: Run tsi update regularly to get new packages and updates
  2. Version Control: Keep your custom packages in a Git repository
  3. Backup: Backup ~/.tsi/packages/ if you have custom packages
  4. Testing: Use --local for testing package definitions before committing

Troubleshooting

Update Fails

Problem: tsi update fails with "Failed to clone/update repository"

Solutions: - Check internet connection - Ensure git is installed - Try updating manually: git clone https://github.com/PanterSoft/tsi-packages.git ~/.tsi/tmp-repo-update

No Packages Found

Problem: Update succeeds but no packages are available

Solutions: - Check if packages/ directory exists in the repository - Verify JSON files are valid: cat ~/.tsi/packages/*.json | jq . - Try updating from local: tsi update --local /path/to/packages

Custom Repository Not Working

Problem: Custom repository update fails

Solutions: - Ensure repository is publicly accessible (or use SSH for private repos) - Verify packages/ directory exists - Check repository URL is correct