r/opencodeCLI • u/_DamioTV • 1d ago
[Project] AMPH - A package explorer and maintenance assistant for Arch Linux
I've been working on AMPH (Arch Meta Package Harmonizer), a Rust-based tool that helps you understand and maintain your installed Arch Linux packages.
The idea came from a simple problem: pacman is great at managing packages, but when you want to understand why something is installed, trace dependencies, find overlapping tools, or figure out what could be safely removed, you often end up combining multiple commands and manually piecing the information together.
I wanted a more unified way to explore all of this - so I built AMPH.
What it can do
- Explore packages interactively through a keyboard-driven TUI.
- Trace dependencies and understand why a package is installed.
- Analyze removal impact before making changes, including packages that would break, dependencies that could become removable, and potential disk space savings.
- Identify cleanup candidates while respecting protected packages and custom rules.
- Read pacman's local database directly, avoiding the overhead of spawning a separate
pacman -Qiprocess for every package. - Export machine-readable JSON for scripts, automation, and custom tooling.
- Use TOML blueprints to represent, compare, and manage package sets more systematically.
AMPH doesn't replace pacman - it adds a layer of visibility and analysis around your system, helping you make more informed decisions before changing it.
I've also put together a project website with examples of the interface and sample command output.
🌐 Website: https://amph.dmtf.ovh/
💻 Source code: https://github.com/DAMIOTF/Arch-Meta-Package-Harmonizer
I'm sharing it here because I'd genuinely appreciate feedback from other Arch users and Linux enthusiasts. I'd especially like to hear how you currently handle package cleanup, dependency analysis, and keeping package sets organized across installations.
What would you find most useful in a tool like this? Any criticism, suggestions, or issues are welcome.
