Install files automatically to default user paths

July 29, 2026 · View on GitHub

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gup updates and manages the global Go command-line tools in your $GOBIN. go install places each program in $GOBIN ($GOPATH/bin) but never updates it again, keeps no manifest of what it installed, and offers no way to hold a tool at a version you depend on. gup manages that tool set: it brings the whole set up to date in parallel, can pin selected tools to exact versions, and adds the management commands go install lacks: list/check what is installed, remove binaries, export/import the set to reproduce it on another machine, and migrate it to a new $GOBIN. Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Documentation: https://nao1215.github.io/gup/

Supported OS (unit testing with GitHub Actions)

  • Linux
  • Mac
  • Windows

How to install

gup is already available via winget, mise, nix, and aqua in addition to go install and Homebrew.

Use "go install"

If you do not have the Go development environment installed on your system, please install it from the official website.

go install github.com/nao1215/gup@latest

Building from source needs Go 1.25 or newer. On an older Go, install a prebuilt release binary or a package (see below) instead.

Use homebrew

brew install nao1215/tap/gup

Use winget (Windows)

winget install --id nao1215.gup

Use mise-en-place

mise use -g gup@latest

Use nix (Nix profile)

nix profile install nixpkgs#gogup

Use aqua

gup is registered in the aqua standard registry. Add it to your aqua.yaml:

aqua g -i nao1215/gup

Install from Package or Binary

The release page contains packages in .deb, .rpm, and .apk formats. gup command uses the go command internally, so the golang installation is required.

Verifying release integrity

Every release ships supply-chain metadata so you can verify what you download:

  • Signed checksums: checksums.txt is signed with cosign (keyless), producing checksums.txt.sigstore.json.
  • SBOM: an SPDX Software Bill of Materials is attached to each release archive.
  • Build provenance: SLSA build provenance is attested via GitHub OIDC.

Verify the signed checksums (then check your archive against checksums.txt):

cosign verify-blob \
  --bundle checksums.txt.sigstore.json \
  --certificate-identity-regexp 'https://github.com/nao1215/gup/\.github/workflows/release\.yml@refs/tags/.*' \
  --certificate-oidc-issuer 'https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com' \
  checksums.txt
sha256sum --check --ignore-missing checksums.txt

Verify the build provenance of a downloaded artifact with the GitHub CLI:

gh attestation verify gup_<version>_<os>_<arch>.tar.gz --repo nao1215/gup

How to use

Check the gup version

Print the version with either the version subcommand or the top-level --version/-V flag.

$ gup --version
$ gup version

Update all binaries

gup update updates every binary under $GOBIN, in parallel.

update

Update the specified binary

If you want to update only the specified binaries, you specify multiple command names separated by space.

$ gup update subaru gup ubume
update binary under $GOPATH/bin or $GOBIN
[1/3] github.com/nao1215/gup (v0.7.0 to v0.7.1, go1.20.1 to go1.22.4)
[2/3] github.com/nao1215/subaru (Already up-to-date: v1.0.2 / go1.22.4)
[3/3] github.com/nao1215/ubume/cmd/ubume (Already up-to-date: v1.4.1 / go1.22.4)

Exclude binaries during gup update

If you don't want to update some binaries simply specify binaries which should not be updated separated using ',' without spaces as a delimiter. Also works in combination with --dry-run

$ gup update --exclude=gopls,golangci-lint    //--exclude or -e, this example will exclude 'gopls' and 'golangci-lint'

Update binaries with @main, @master, or @latest

If you want to control update source per binary, use the following options:

  • --main (-m): update by @main (falls back to @master only when the repository has no main branch)
  • --master: update by @master
  • --latest: update by @latest

The @main → @master fallback applies only to a missing main branch. Build, network, authentication, timeout, and cancellation failures are reported as-is and never silently install @master.

The selected channel is saved to gup.json and reused by future gup update runs.

$ gup update --main=gup,lazygit --master=sqly --latest=air

Pin a tool to a specific version

Use pin when a global tool must stay on a specific version, for example when it needs to match CI or a team-wide development environment.

$ gup pin golangci-lint v1.62.0
$ gup update

A pinned tool is installed with the recorded version (go install <import_path>@<version>), never @latest. gup update keeps it at that version and reinstalls it there if the installed version differs; the rest of the tool set still updates as usual. The pin locks the module version, not the Go build, so a pinned tool is still rebuilt at the pinned version when the Go toolchain changes (use --ignore-go-update to suppress that, exactly as for unpinned tools). The pin is stored in gup.json with channel: "pinned":

{
  "schema_version": 2,
  "packages": [
    {
      "name": "golangci-lint",
      "import_path": "github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint",
      "version": "v1.62.0",
      "channel": "pinned"
    }
  ]
}

gup pin also accepts the tool@version form (gup pin golangci-lint@v1.62.0). The tool must already be installed under $GOBIN. To allow the tool to update again:

$ gup unpin golangci-lint

gup check reports a pinned tool as pinned when it is at the pinned version and built with the current Go toolchain, or pin-mismatch (with a gup update <name> suggestion) when the installed version differs or a Go-toolchain rebuild is pending; it never compares a pinned tool against @latest.

List up command name with package path and version under $GOPATH/bin

list subcommand print command information under GOPATH/binorGOPATH/bin or GOBIN. The output information is the command name, package path, and command version. list

Remove the specified binary

If you want to remove a command under GOPATH/binorGOPATH/bin or GOBIN, use the remove subcommand. The remove subcommand asks if you want to remove it before removing it.

$ gup remove subaru gal ubume
gup:CHECK: remove /home/nao/.go/bin/subaru? [Y/n] Y
removed /home/nao/.go/bin/subaru
gup:CHECK: remove /home/nao/.go/bin/gal? [Y/n] n
cancel removal /home/nao/.go/bin/gal
gup:CHECK: remove /home/nao/.go/bin/ubume? [Y/n] Y
removed /home/nao/.go/bin/ubume

If you want to force the removal, use the --force option.

$ gup remove --force gal
removed /home/nao/.go/bin/gal

In non-interactive execution (when stdin is not a TTY, e.g. CI or a pipe), gup remove no longer blocks waiting for confirmation. It fails fast with a clear message; pass --force to remove without confirmation.

Check if the binary is the latest version

If you want to know if the binary is the latest version, use the check subcommand. check subcommand checks if the binary is the latest version and displays the name of the binary that needs to be updated.

$ gup check
check binary under $GOPATH/bin or $GOBIN
[ 1/33] github.com/cheat/cheat (Already up-to-date: v0.0.0-20211009161301-12ffa4cb5c87 / go1.22.4)
[ 2/33] fyne.io/fyne/v2 (current: v2.1.3, latest: v2.1.4 / current: go1.20.2, installed: go1.22.4)
   :
[33/33] github.com/nao1215/ubume (Already up-to-date: v1.5.0 / go1.22.4)

If you want to update binaries, the following command.
           $ gup update fyne_demo gup mimixbox

Like other subcommands, you can only check the specified binaries.

$ gup check lazygit mimixbox
check binary under $GOPATH/bin or $GOBIN
[1/2] github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit (Already up-to-date: v0.32.2 / go1.22.4)
[2/2] github.com/nao1215/mimixbox (current: v0.32.1, latest: v0.33.2 / go1.22.4)

If you want to update binaries, the following command.
           $ gup update mimixbox

Quiet output for large tool sets

check and update print every binary by default, which is noisy when you have many tools installed. Pass --quiet (-q) to suppress the up-to-date lines and show only the binaries that were updated (or have an update available) plus failures, followed by a one-line summary. Errors are always written to STDERR, so they stay visible. When --json is also given, --quiet is ignored and the full JSON array is printed.

$ gup update --quiet
github.com/nao1215/gup (v0.7.0 to v0.7.1)
gup: 1 updated, 8 up-to-date, 0 failed

$ gup check -q
github.com/nao1215/gup (current: v0.7.0, latest: v0.7.1 / go1.22.4)

If you want to update binaries, run the following command.
           $ gup update gup
gup: 1 update available, 8 up-to-date, 0 failed

Machine-readable JSON output (for scripting / CI)

list, check, and update accept --json, printing a JSON array instead of the human-readable output (which stays the default).

$ gup check --json
[
  {
    "name": "gup",
    "import_path": "github.com/nao1215/gup",
    "module_path": "github.com/nao1215/gup",
    "channel": "latest",
    "current_version": "v1.0.0",
    "latest_version": "v1.1.0",
    "current_go_version": "go1.22.4",
    "installed_go_version": "go1.22.4",
    "status": "update-available"
  }
]

Each element has these fields: name, import_path, module_path, channel (latest/main/master/pinned), current_version, latest_version (empty for list and for pinned packages), pinned_version (present only for channel: "pinned"), current_go_version, installed_go_version, status, error (omitted when absent), and hint (a next-step suggestion, present only when one applies to the error). status is installed (list), up-to-date, update-available (check), updated (update), pinned/pin-mismatch (a pinned package at / away from its pinned version), or error.

The array is always valid JSON, including partial failures (those packages get "status": "error"; error detail also goes to STDERR so STDOUT stays pure JSON). Exit codes are unchanged—check reporting update-available still exits 0.

Failure diagnostics / next-step hints

When update or check fails, gup turns the Go toolchain's cryptic output into a short, actionable next step printed on STDERR right after the error (and exposed as the hint field with --json):

$ gup update
gup:ERROR: [1/1] tool: can't install gup.test/moved/cmd/tool:
go: gup.test/moved/cmd/tool@latest: module gup.test/moved@latest found (v1.1.0), but does not contain package gup.test/moved/cmd/tool
gup:HINT : The module no longer provides this command at its import path. The project likely moved to a new major version (e.g. a `/v2` module path) or relocated the command; check its current install instructions and reinstall with the new path.

Hints cover module renames/major-version moves, relocated commands, go.mod replace directives, binaries not installed via go install, missing branch/tag, unresolvable/private/deleted repositories, permission and network errors, and an out-of-date Go toolchain. gup stays silent when it has nothing reliable to add (e.g. a timeout, whose message already names the remedy).

Behavior on an empty environment

An empty global environment (no binaries installed by go install yet) is treated as a normal first-run condition, not an error:

  • list, check, and update exit 0, printing a short informational note (or a valid empty [] with --json).
  • export exits 0 and writes an empty gup.json.

Naming a binary that is not installed, or excluding every binary, is still a usage error and exits 1.

A config problem is also still reported even on an empty environment: if the gup.json that would be read (an explicit --file, or an auto-detected one) is malformed, has an unsupported schema/channel/pin, or is ambiguous (both the user-level config and ./gup.json exist with no --file), check, update, and list --json fail fast and exit 1 instead of silently ignoring it.

Export／Import subcommand

Use export/import when you want to install the same Go binaries across multiple systems. gup.json stores each tool's import path, the recorded binary version, and its update channel (latest / main / master / pinned). For channel: "pinned", version is the exact target version the tool is held at; for the other channels it is the version that was recorded at export time. import installs the exact version written in the file, and a pinned package stays pinned after import.

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "packages": [
    {
      "name": "gal",
      "import_path": "github.com/nao1215/gal/cmd/gal",
      "version": "v1.1.1",
      "channel": "latest"
    },
    {
      "name": "posixer",
      "import_path": "github.com/nao1215/posixer",
      "version": "v0.1.0",
      "channel": "main"
    }
  ]
}

By default:

  • gup export writes to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gup/gup.json
  • gup import, gup check, and gup update auto-detect the config path in this order:
    1. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gup/gup.json (if exists)
    2. ./gup.json (if exists)

If both the user-level gup.json and ./gup.json exist, import, check, update, and list --json fail fast and ask you to disambiguate with --file, instead of silently picking one. You can always override the path with --file (-f); list accepts --file together with --json to choose the config that supplies the reported channel.

schema_version is 1 for configs with no pinned packages and 2 once any package is pinned, so an environment that uses no pins keeps producing the 1 format that older gup releases can read. gup reads both 1 and 2. The pinned channel is only valid under schema_version: 2; a pinned entry under schema_version: 1, a pinned package without a concrete version, an unknown channel value, or an unsupported schema_version is rejected.

A malformed or invalid gup.json (invalid JSON, an unknown channel, an unsupported schema_version, or an unsafe pin) is treated as an error rather than silently ignored: check, update, and export fail fast and name the offending file, so saved per-package channels are never quietly downgraded to latest because the config could not be parsed. An unknown channel is never normalized to latest.

When exporting to a file, gup export reads saved update channels from the same gup.json it writes to: a default export (no --file) reads from and writes to the canonical user-level gup.json, while gup export --file <path> reads from and writes to <path>. Exporting back to the same alternate config file therefore preserves its saved channels (round-trip safe) instead of resetting them to latest from another source. A first export to a brand-new file has no saved channels to read, so its packages are recorded as latest. With --output, --file still selects the channel source, but the exported config is printed to STDOUT instead of being written back to that path.

※ Environments A (e.g. ubuntu)
$ gup export
Export /home/nao/.config/gup/gup.json

※ Environments B (e.g. debian)
$ gup import

export can print config content to STDOUT by --output. import can read a specific file by --file.

※ Environments A (e.g. ubuntu)
$ gup export --output > gup.json

※ Environments B (e.g. debian)
$ gup import --file=gup.json

Migrate binaries to a new $GOBIN

gup migrate BEFORE_PATH AFTER_PATH [BINARY...]

gup migrate reinstalls the Go binaries under BEFORE_PATH into AFTER_PATH, using the exact import path@version recorded in each binary's build info (it never silently upgrades to @latest). Internally it just sets GOBIN to AFTER_PATH and runs the normal go install path, so the binaries are rebuilt with the Go toolchain currently in use.

Why this is useful (e.g. with mise)

When you manage Go with mise, updating Go can change the real path of $GOBIN per Go version. As a result, tools you installed under the previous $GOBIN are no longer visible to the new Go. gup migrate lets you reinstall the same Go tool set from the old $GOBIN into the new one:

# Reinstall every go-install tool from the old GOBIN into the new GOBIN
$ gup migrate ~/.local/share/mise/installs/go/1.24.0/bin ~/.local/share/mise/installs/go/1.25.0/bin

# Migrate only specific binaries
$ gup migrate /old/gobin /new/gobin gopls air

migrate is add-only:

  • It never deletes or cleans up files in AFTER_PATH.
  • Binaries that already exist in AFTER_PATH are skipped by default. Use --force to reinstall over them.
  • AFTER_PATH is created automatically when it does not exist.
  • BEFORE_PATH and AFTER_PATH must be different directories.

Binaries whose import path or version cannot be resolved, and development builds (devel / (devel)), are skipped instead of being upgraded, so local or non-reproducible builds are never broken.

Supported flags: --dry-run (-n), --notify (-N), --jobs (-j), --force.

Generate man-pages (for linux, mac)

man subcommand generates man-pages under /usr/share/man/man1 by default. If MANPATH is set, gup writes to the man1 directory under each entry instead, creating it when it does not exist yet. An unwritable target exits with a clear error.

$ sudo gup man
Generate /usr/share/man/man1/gup-bug-report.1.gz
Generate /usr/share/man/man1/gup-check.1.gz
Generate /usr/share/man/man1/gup-completion.1.gz
Generate /usr/share/man/man1/gup-export.1.gz
Generate /usr/share/man/man1/gup-import.1.gz
Generate /usr/share/man/man1/gup-list.1.gz
Generate /usr/share/man/man1/gup-man.1.gz
Generate /usr/share/man/man1/gup-migrate.1.gz
Generate /usr/share/man/man1/gup-remove.1.gz
Generate /usr/share/man/man1/gup-update.1.gz
Generate /usr/share/man/man1/gup-version.1.gz
Generate /usr/share/man/man1/gup.1.gz

Generate shell completion file (for bash, zsh, fish, PowerShell)

completion prints completion scripts to STDOUT when you pass a shell name. To install completion files into your user environment for bash/fish/zsh, use --install. For PowerShell, redirect the output to a .ps1 file and source it from your profile.

$ gup completion bash > gup.bash
$ gup completion zsh > _gup
$ gup completion fish > gup.fish
$ gup completion powershell > gup.ps1

# Install files automatically to default user paths
$ gup completion --install

--install writes to the paths that match your shell/config layout: bash honors XDG_DATA_HOME (falling back to $HOME/.local/share), fish honors XDG_CONFIG_HOME (falling back to $HOME/.config), and zsh resolves both the completion file and .zshrc via ZDOTDIR (falling back to $HOME). It still requires HOME to be set; it fails fast (without writing files into the current directory) when HOME is empty, and exits non-zero if any completion file cannot be written. Re-running --install is idempotent and does not duplicate the zsh init snippet in .zshrc.

Desktop notification

If you use gup with --notify option, gup command notify you on your desktop whether the update was successful or unsuccessful after the update was finished.

$ gup update --notify

success warning

Disable colorized output

gup colorizes its output by default. To turn colors off, pass --no-color or set the NO_COLOR environment variable to a non-empty value (following the NO_COLOR convention). This is useful when piping output, in CI logs, or with NO_COLOR set globally.

$ gup update --no-color
$ NO_COLOR=1 gup update

gup vs. go tool

Go 1.24's built-in go tool manages tools scoped to a single project and recorded in that project's go.mod, so those tools exist only inside that module. gup manages the binaries installed system-wide under $GOBIN, the commands you run from any directory and keep alongside your dotfiles, optionally pinned to versions you depend on. Use go tool for per-project tooling and gup for your global toolbox.

Feature comparison

Featuregupgo-global-updatego install loop
Parallel updateYesNoManual
Update time, 9 binaries0.7s2.9s2.9s
Per-package update channels (latest/main/master)YesNoManual
Version pinning / lockYesNoManual
Export/import tool setYesNoManual
Migrate binaries to a new $GOBINYesNoManual
Machine-readable JSON output (--json)YesNoNo
Shell completion generation/installYesNoNo
update reinstalls up-to-date binariesNoYesYes
migrate --force reinstalls when the target already existsYesNoManual
Failure diagnostics / next-step hintsYesYesNo
NO_COLOR supportYesYes—

Update time: 9 binaries each with a newer version available; gup updates in parallel, the others sequentially. AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 / go 1.26.4, median of 5 runs with a warm module cache; times depend on build time and CPU.

FAQ

gup fails with fatal: not a git repository

You are probably on oh-my-zsh, which ships a gup alias for git pull --rebase that shadows this command (#16, #204). Remove or rename that alias, or run gup with a leading backslash to bypass it:

$ \gup update

Contributing

First off, thanks for taking the time to contribute! ❤️ See CONTRIBUTING.md for more information. Developer workflow, quality checklist, and tool management are documented in CONTRIBUTING.md. Contributions are not only related to development. For example, GitHub Star motivates me to develop!

Star History

Star History Chart

Contact

If you would like to send comments such as "find a bug" or "request for additional features" to the developer, please use one of the following contacts.

You can use the bug-report subcommand to send a bug report.

$ gup bug-report
※ Open GitHub issue page by your default browser

LICENSE

The gup project is licensed under the terms of the Apache License 2.0.

Contributors ✨

Thanks goes to these wonderful people (emoji key):

CHIKAMATSU Naohiro
CHIKAMATSU Naohiro
💻		 KEINOS
KEINOS
💻		 mattn
mattn
💻		 Justin Lecher
Justin Lecher
💻		 Lincoln Nogueira
Lincoln Nogueira
💻		 Masaya Watanabe
Masaya Watanabe
💻		 memreflect
memreflect
💻
Akimo
Akimo
💻		 rkscv
rkscv
💻		 Ville Skyttä
Ville Skyttä
💻		 Zephyr Lykos
Zephyr Lykos
💻		 iTrooz
iTrooz
💻		 Tiago Peczenyj
Tiago Peczenyj
💻		 ICHINOSE Shogo
ICHINOSE Shogo
📖 💻
Jean-Yves LENHOF
Jean-Yves LENHOF
📖		 Clara Bennett
Clara Bennett
📖		 Lucas Marchesan
Lucas Marchesan
📖		 Radim Kolar
Radim Kolar
🐛		 Mohannad Abdulaziz
Mohannad Abdulaziz
🐛		 Yannick
Yannick
🐛		 Diego Alcântara
Diego Alcântara
🐛
Crocmagnon
Crocmagnon
🐛		 Luke Hamburg
Luke Hamburg
🐛		 Frederick Zhang
Frederick Zhang
🤔		 Tim Schwenke
Tim Schwenke
🤔		 ybrhue
ybrhue
🤔		 Samuel D. Leslie
Samuel D. Leslie
🤔		 Giovanni Bassi
Giovanni Bassi
🤔
Nick Craig-Wood
Nick Craig-Wood
🤔		 Rui Chen
Rui Chen
🐛		 phanirithvij
phanirithvij
🐛		 Darkcast
Darkcast
🐛

This project follows the all-contributors specification. Contributions of any kind welcome!