WrapPac

⚠️ Disclaimer:
This software is experimental and provided as is.
Use at your own risk — I take no responsibility for any damage, data loss, or system issues resulting from its use.

WrapPac is a lightweight desktop companion for Arch Linux users who mix packages from the official repositories, the AUR, and Flatpak. It unifies all installed packages into a single overview and provides convenient tools to inspect, update, or remove them — without relying on internal pacman libraries or background root daemons.

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💡 Motivation

WrapPac was built for users who want a graphical interface that behaves exactly like the terminal — using the same commands they run daily: pacman, yay, paru, and flatpak.

Most graphical package managers access pacman's functionality through the libalpm library, which provides programmatic control over transactions. While this approach works well for many users, some prefer the transparency and predictability of direct CLI invocation.

WrapPac takes a different approach: it's a pure wrapper around existing command-line tools, with no abstraction layers. Every action you perform in WrapPac is identical to typing the command yourself — you see the same output, the same prompts, and the same behavior.

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🧠 Philosophy

WrapPac is not meant to replace your terminal workflow — it complements it. It's for users who value Arch's simplicity and control, but still want a clear overview of installed packages and updates.

No root daemons. No hidden abstractions. No "magic".
Just your real system commands — visualized.

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⚙️ Design Philosophy

Aspect	Traditional GUI Package Managers	WrapPac
Backend	libalpm library (programmatic API)	Direct CLI invocation (pacman, yay, paru, flatpak)
Transaction logic	Library-level transaction handling	Identical to manual terminal commands
Privilege model	Varies (some use persistent daemons)	No persistent root access — uses sudo/doas only when needed
Output visibility	GUI-formatted, abstracted messages	Raw PTY terminal showing live, unfiltered command output
Update checks	Integrated background services	Optional systemd timer with tray notifications
Configuration	Managed through application settings	Uses system pacman.conf and all configured hooks

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✨ Features

Core Functionality

• Unified package view — combines results from pacman -Qn, pacman -Qm, and flatpak list
• Context-aware actions — uninstall packages using the correct backend (pacman, yay, paru, or flatpak)
• Integrated PTY terminal — live output with keyboard control.
• Non-blocking UI — background threads keep the interface responsive during long operations

Update Management

• Optional systemd timer — automatic update checks with configurable intervals:
  • Custom intervals (every N hours)
  • Daily at a specific time
  • Weekly on a specific day and time
  • Optional check on system boot
• System tray notifications — discrete notifications when updates are available
• Single-instance enforcement — prevents multiple windows, allows --show-updates flag for direct access

System Maintenance

• Mirror optimization — integrated Reflector support with:
  • Customizable arguments
  • Automatic backup of current mirrorlist
  • Protocol filtering (prefers HTTPS when rsync unavailable)
• Cleanup helpers — remove:
  • Orphaned packages (pacman -Qtdq)
  • Package cache (configurable retention via paccache)
  • Unused Flatpak runtimes
  • AUR build caches (yay/paru/pikaur/etc.)
  • Old system logs (journalctl --vacuum-time)

Flatpak Integration

• Remote management — add/remove Flatpak remotes directly from settings
• Automatic remote setup — optional auto-add for missing remotes (e.g., Flathub)
• Scope control — choose between user (--user) and system (--system) installations
• Intelligent remote detection — automatically determines installation scope

User Experience

• Multilingual — full support for English and German with auto-detection
• Configurable behavior — extensive settings for:
  • AUR helper selection (auto-detect or manual)
  • Root method (sudo vs doas)
  • Pacman flags for removal (-Rns, -Rn, -Rs, -R)
  • Terminal appearance (font, theme)
  • Auto-refresh after operations
• Rich package insights — dual-tab details dialog with formatted metadata and raw command output
• Persistent search history — autocomplete remembers recent queries for faster lookups
• Backup tools — export installed packages to JSON snapshots and re-import with per-source previews
• Status-aware overview — live package counters, size column, and advanced filters for explicit, dependency, or orphaned installs
• Install queue — batch multiple package installations
• Comprehensive error reporting — shows failed commands with exit codes and stderr

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⚙️ Installation (Arch & derivatives)

WrapPac is designed exclusively for Arch-based distributions.

Install via PKGBUILD

git clone https://github.com/Zerschranzer/wrappac.git
cd wrappac
makepkg -si

This will:

• Build the package using your local environment
• Install it system-wide under /usr/share/wrappac
• Create a launcher script in /usr/bin/wrappac
• Add a .desktop entry for your menu

Uninstall it as usual:

sudo pacman -Rns wrappac-git

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🧬 Requirements

Runtime dependencies:

• Python ≥ 3.10
• PySide6
• pacman and pacman-contrib (for checkupdates)

Optional integrations:

• yay or paru — for AUR support
• flatpak — for Flatpak management
• sudo or opendoas — for privilege escalation
• reflector — to refresh mirrors
• systemd — for the optional update service timer

All dependencies are handled through the PKGBUILD.

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🚀 Usage

Basic Workflow

1. Browse installed packages — filter by source (All/Official/AUR/Flatpak)
2. Search for new packages — select a source, search, add to queue or install directly
3. System updates — click "System Update" to check and apply updates across all sources
4. System maintenance — use "System Cleanup" to remove orphans, clean caches, etc.

Command-Line Options

wrappac                    # Normal start
wrappac --show-updates     # Open directly to update dialog
wrappac --tray-mode        # Start minimized (for systemd timer)
wrappac --run-update-service  # Internal: check updates and show tray notification

Update Service Setup

Enable automatic update checks in Settings → Update Service:

1. Check "Enable update service"
2. Choose interval (manual hours, daily, or weekly)
3. Optionally enable "Check on system start"
4. Click Save

This creates a systemd user timer (~/.config/systemd/user/wrappac-update.timer) that runs in the background and shows tray notifications when updates are available.

Checking service status:

systemctl --user status wrappac-update.timer
systemctl --user list-timers  # See next scheduled run

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📸 Screenshots

Main Window

Unified view for Pacman, AUR, and Flatpak packages — all in one place.

Package Installation

Search and install AUR, Flatpak, or official repository packages directly.

Package Uninstallation

Context-aware uninstall — automatically uses the correct backend.

Settings: Pacman

Configure removal flags, auto-refresh behavior, and confirmation options.

Settings: Flatpak

Manage Flatpak remotes and user/system installation scopes.

Settings: Language

Switch between English and German — auto-detects system locale.

System Maintenance

Clean caches, remove orphans, and keep your system tidy.

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⚙️ Configuration

Settings are stored in ~/.config/wrappac/settings.json. The settings dialog provides a GUI for all options:

Categories

• AUR Helper — auto-detect or manually select yay/paru/pikaur
• Root Method — choose between sudo and doas
• Pacman — configure removal flags, --noconfirm usage, auto-refresh
• Reflector — mirror update arguments and backup settings
• Flatpak — default scope, remote management, auto-add behavior
• System Maintenance — cache retention, log age limits
• Update Service — timer configuration and boot-time checks
• Language — UI language (English/German)

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🛡️ Security

WrapPac follows these security principles:

• No persistent root daemons — root access is only requested for individual operations
• Transparent command execution — every command is shown in the PTY terminal before execution
• Password masking — passwords are entered in secure dialogs, never echoed in the terminal
• Respect system configuration — uses your existing sudoers/doas.conf rules
• No phone-home — completely offline except for package operations you initiate

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🗺️ Roadmap

Potential future features (not promised):

• Downgrade packages to previous versions
• AUR package build inspection before installation
• Package pinning (exclude from updates)
• Import/export installed package lists

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_{WrapPac © 2025 — developed by Zerschranzer}