yaylog

yaylog is a CLI util, written in Go / Golang, for arch and arch-based linux distros to sort/filter installed packages.

despite the name, it's not limited to yay and works with any package manager that uses ALPM; so it can be used with pacman, yay, paru, aura, pamac, and even yaourt if you're somehow still using it.

yaylog supports optional filters/sorting for install date, package name, install reason (explicit/dependency), and size on disk.

this package is compatible with the following distributions:

• arch linux
• manjaro
• garuda linux
• endeavourOS
• the 50 other arch-based distros, as long as it has pacman installed

features

• list installed packages with timestamps
• display package versions
• filter results by explicitly installed packages
• filter results by packages installed as dependencies
• sort results by installation date, alphabetically, or by size on disk
• filter results by a specific installation date or date range
• filter results by package size or size range
• filter results by package name (substring match)

why is it called yaylog if it works with other AUR helpers?

because yay is my preferred AUR helper and the name has a good flow.

is it good?

yes.

roadmap

• rewrite in golang
• additional filters
• list possibly or confirmed stale/abandoned packages
• sort by size on disk
• dependency graph
• concurrent filtering
• filter by size on disk
• asynchronous progress bar
• channel-based aggregation
• concurrent sorting
• search by text input
• list package versions
• filter by date range
• concurrent file reading (2x speed boost)
• remove expac as a dependency (3x speed boost)
• optional full timestamp
• add CI to release binaries
• remove go as a dependency
• filter by range of size on disk
• list dependencies of each package
• list packages that depend on each package

installation

from AUR (recommended)

install the binary using an AUR helper like yay:

yay -S yaylog-bin

if you prefer to install from source using the AUR, use the yaylog package instead.

for the latest (unstable) version from git w/ the AUR, use yaylog-git*.

*note: this is not recommended for most users

building from source + manual installation

note: this packages is specific to arch-based linux distributions

1. clone the repo:

   git clone https://github.com/zweih/yaylog.git
   cd yaylog

2. build the binary:

   go build -o yaylog ./cmd/yaylog

3. copy the binary to your system's $PATH:

   sudo install -m755 yaylog /usr/bin/yaylog

4. copy the manpage:

   sudo install -m644 yaylog.1 /usr/share/man/man1/yaylog.1

usage

yaylog [options]

options

• -n <number> | --number <number>: number of recent packages to display (default: 20)
• -a | all: show all installed packages (ignores -n)
• -e | --explicit: show only explicitly installed packages
• -d | --dependencies: show only packages installed as dependencies
• -v: show column for current version of packages
• --date <filter>: filter packages by installation date. Supports:
  • YYYY-MM-DD → show packages installed on the specified date
  • YYYY-MM-DD: → show packages installed on or after the date
  • :YYYY-MM-DD → show packages installed up to the date
  • YYYY-MM-DD:YYYY-MM-DD → show packages installed within a date range
• --size <filter>: filter packages by size on disk. Supports:
  • 10MB → show packages exactly 10MB in size
  • 5GB: → show packages 5GB and larger
  • :20KB → show packages up to 20KB
  • 1.5MB:2GB → show packages between 1.5MB and 2GB
  • Valid units: B (bytes), KB, MB, GB
• --name <search-term>: filter packages by name (substring match)
  • Example: gtk matches gtk3, libgtk, etc.
• --sort <mode>: sort results by:
  • date (default) → sort by installation date
  • alphabetical → sort alphabetically by package name
  • size:asc / size:desc → sort by package size (ascending or descending)
• --full-timestamp: display the full timestamp (date and time) of package installations instead of just the date
• --no-progress: force no progress bar outside of non-interactive environments
• -h | --help: print help info

examples

1. show the last 10 installed packages:

   yaylog -n 10

2. show all explicitly installed packages:

   yaylog -ae

3. show only dependencies installed on a specific date:

   yaylog -d --date 2024-12-25

4. show all packages sorted alphabetically:

   yaylog -a --sort alphabetical

5. show the 15 most recent explicitly installed packages:

   yaylog -en 15

   note: the -e flag must be used before the -n flag as the n flag consumes the next argument.
6. show packages installed between July 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023:

   yaylog --date 2023-07-01:2023-12-31

7. show the 20 most recently installed packages larger than 20MB:

   yaylog --size 20MB:

8. show all dependencies smaller than 500KB:

   yaylog -ad --size :500KB

9. show packages between 100MB and 1GB installed up to June 30, 2024:

   yaylog --size 100MB:1GB --date :2024-06-30

10. show all packages sorted by size in descending order, installed after January 1, 2024:

yaylog -a --sort size:desc --date 2024-01-01:

11. search for installed packages containing "python":

yaylog --name python

12. search for explicitly installed packages containing "lib" that are between 10MB and 1GB in size:

yaylog -e --name lib --size 10MB:1GB

13. search for packages containing "linux" that were installed between January 1 and June 30, 2024:

yaylog --name linux --date 2024-01-01:2024-06-30

14. search for packages containing "gtk" that were installed after January 1, 2023, and are at least 5MB in size:

yaylog --name gtk --date 2023-01-01: --size 5MB:

license

this project is licensed under the MIT license. see license for details.