paruz

A terminal UI package manager frontend for Arch Linux, built with OpenTUI + React and Bun.

Features

• Fuzzy search against a local package cache — instant results as you type
• Full package details (version, repo, license, dependencies, description) fetched on demand
• Install packages via paru or yay with full terminal handoff (sudo prompts work)
• Update mirrorlist via rate-mirrors or reflector
• Switchable themes: ayu-dark, dracula, nord, catppuccin, gruvbox + custom themes
• In-app settings — change AUR helper, mirror helper, and theme without editing config files
• Always-on search input — type to search, ↑↓ to navigate simultaneously

Requirements

AUR Helper (at least one required)

paruz needs an AUR helper to search and install packages. It auto-detects whichever is installed and prefers paru over yay.

Helper	Install
paru (recommended)	sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel git && git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/paru.git /tmp/paru && cd /tmp/paru && makepkg -si
yay	sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel git && git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git /tmp/yay && cd /tmp/yay && makepkg -si

Note: There is no fallback to raw pacman. AUR helpers are required because they wrap pacman and also handle AUR packages. If neither paru nor yay is installed, paruz will fail to search or install packages.

Mirror Helper (optional)

Only needed if you use the Ctrl+U mirror update feature.

Helper	Install
rate-mirrors (recommended)	paru -S rate-mirrors
reflector	sudo pacman -S reflector

Installation

AUR (recommended)

paru -S paruz-bin

From source

Requires Bun v1.0+.

git clone https://github.com/achintya-7/paruz.git
cd paruz
bun install

# Run directly
bun run src/index.tsx

# Or compile a standalone binary
bun run build
./paruz

Configuration

Config is stored at ~/.config/paruz/config.toml and is created automatically on first run with sensible defaults:

aur_helper = "paru"          # or "yay"
mirror_helper = "rate-mirrors" # or "reflector"
theme = "ayu-dark"

You can also change settings from within the app by pressing ,.

Custom Themes

Add custom themes to ~/.config/paruz/themes.toml:

[my-theme]
titleBg  = "#1a1b26"
titleFg  = "#7aa2f7"
border   = "#3b4261"
accent   = "#7aa2f7"
error    = "#f7768e"
statusBar = "#16161e"
text     = "#c0caf5"
textDim  = "#565f89"

Then set theme = "my-theme" in config.toml or change it in the settings view.

Keybindings

Key	Action
Type anything	Search packages
↑ / ↓	Navigate package list
Enter	Install selected package
Esc	Clear search
Ctrl+R	Force refresh local package cache
Ctrl+U	Update mirrorlist
,	Open settings
q	Quit

Settings view

Key	Action
↑ / ↓	Move between settings
← / →	Cycle option values
Enter	Save and return
Esc	Cancel

Package Cache

On first run paruz builds a local cache from pacman -Slq (official repos) and the AUR package list. This makes search instant. The cache lives at ~/.cache/paruz/packages.txt and is refreshed automatically every 24 hours, or manually with Ctrl+R.

Full package details (version, description, dependencies, etc.) are fetched live from paru -Si when you select a package, with results cached in memory for the session.